Empresses in the Palace (simplified Chinese: 后宫·甄嬛传; traditional Chinese: 後宮·甄嬛傳, lit. The Legend of Zhen Huan) is a 2011 Chinese television series based on the novel of the same name by Liu Lianzi. Directed by Zheng Xiaolong, it stars Sun Li in the title role of Zhen Huan. The series started airing in China for the first time on 17 November 2011.

In 1722, after the death of the Kangxi Emperor, then Prince Yinzhen and his eight brothers were embroiled in a bitter power struggle for the Qing throne. With the help of powerful allies, Prince Yinzhen becomes the Yongzheng Emperor and the brothers who fought against him were either killed or imprisoned.

Despite becoming Emperor, Yongzheng grows increasingly paranoid of being usurped and vowed to not follow his father's footstep of letting his consorts be unfaithful or have affairs.

Prior to the struggle, he was deeply in love with his first wife, Empress Chunyuan. The consort tragically passed and her younger sister Yixiu became Yongzheng's Empress. Both sisters/empresses were maternal kinswomen of the Yongzheng Emperor as his mother Empress Dowager Renshou was also a member of the Ula Nara clan.

Six months after ascending the throne, the Empress Dowager organizes a selection to bring newer members into the Imperial Harem. Despite not wanting to be selected, the titular Zhenhuan, then known as Lady Zhen Huan, is forced to join the selection and ends up being chosen due to her resemblance to the late Empress Chunyuan. She joins the Imperial Harem alongside her childhood best friend Shen Meizhuang, and low-born lady An Lingrong.

Huan attempted to avoid the Imperial Harem's politics but ultimately falls in love with Yongzheng Emperor at first, causing various schemes to be plotted against her and Meizhuang in retaliation. Due to some misunderstandings and her own sensitive and suspicious personality, and out of jealousy towards Huan's position, Lingrong also begins plotting against the former and works alongside higher-ranking members, notably Empress Yixiu to do so. Despite the scheming and evidence against them, the Empress is never punished due to her status and the emperor's old love for her sister Empress Chunyuan. And Empress Dowager's attempts at protecting Empress Yixiu due to the desire to keep the Ula-Nara clan's influence in the Imperial Court. Huan also learns of why the Emperor favors her, which also fuels the same plots against her, and she becomes disillusioned with the realities of Imperial Harem life despite being favored.

Possessive over his women, Yongzheng Emperor becomes suspicious of her loyalty as she becomes closer to his younger half-brother Prince Guo. While avoiding the pitfalls of schemes against her, she befriends the neglected Prince Hongli, promising to care for him when she can. In the empress's scheme, Zhen learns that he is being used by the emperor as a substitute for Empress Chunyuan. The disillusionment ultimately gets to her and Huan asks to become a nun at Ganlu Temple alone. There, her relationship with Prince Guo secretly blossoms and the two become intimate with each other.

Despite the two planning to elope, Prince Guo is sent away to Tibet by the Yongzheng Emperor's orders and is believed to be dead. Out of revenge for his death and to bring her family back from exile, Huan convinces the Yongzheng Emperor to take her back into the Imperial Harem. She takes on a new identity as Consort Xi, or Niohuru Zhen Huan, the biological mother of Prince Hongli who had supposedly spent years away from the Imperial Court praying at the Ganlu Temple but now returned to serve the Emperor once more, and she formally adopts Prince Hongli as she promised. With her new status, Zhenhuan gains more allies, and the Imperial Harem is divided into two camps: those that support her and those that support Empress Yixiu. The Empress begins to lose favor as her schemes against Zhenhuan backfire and she ultimately confesses to her role in her sister's death and several other crimes as a means of securing the position of Empress Dowager by all means. Yongzheng Emperor attempts to strip her titles as punishment but the Empress Dowager's will forbids him from doing so. Yongzheng Emperor unwillingly promises to uphold the will's command out of love for Empress Chunyuan and Empress Yixiu is put under house arrest instead.

Prince Guo is revealed to be alive and the two attempt to cease their relationship now that Zhenhuan has returned to the Imperial Harem. Despite doing what she can to remain favored by the Yongzheng Emperor and distance herself from Prince Guo, the Emperor's suspicion towards the relationship escalates as time passes and he believes Prince Guo plans to usurp the throne through her. Until one time, the prince of the Jungar tribe requested the emperor to make Zhen Huan marry. And the King of Guojun tried his best to stop him and led the army to try to recover Zhen Huan. This incident led to the emperor's great suspicion of the relationship between the two, and he issued a decree condemning the King of Guojun to not allow him to return home. Zhenhuan is ordered to kill Prince Guo but the latter commits suicide instead, causing Yongzheng Emperor to reward her apparent obedience by promoting her to de facto Empress of the Imperial Harem in all but name. The Emperor is slowly poisoned as he ages and Zhenhuan meets with him one final time before announcing his death. She tells him of the infidelity of some of his concubines, causing the emperor to fall even more severely ill and die. Yongzheng Emperor's final will names Prince Hongli as his successor and the prince becomes the newly crowned Qianlong Emperor. Zhenhuan is granted the coveted title of Empress Dowager, giving her status above all women within the Imperial Court and becoming her son's closest advisor.

Zhenhuan visits Empress Yixiu, still under house arrest, one last time to let her know of the coronation. Although Empress Yixiu should have been given the title of Empress Dowager upon the Yongzheng Emperor's death, a loophole in the previous Empress Dowager's command forces Empress Yixiu to remain Empress indefinitely instead. Before leaving, Zhenhuan thanks Empress Yixiu for all the hard lessons she endured as a result of the latter's scheming and harm. Empress Yixiu is left to realize all her efforts to be Empress Dowager had been for nothing and later dies out of madness.

Zhenhuan spends the rest of her life serving as the Empress Dowager: planning the next Imperial Harem selection, advising Qianlong Emperor on royal matters, and warning his wives of the consequences of scheming or causing harm against each other. Years of surviving in the Imperial Harem has been shown to harden Zhenhuan and the series ends with her going to bed after a long day while her dreams replay memories of her past.

• Publishers: Zheng Xiaolong, Zhong Yi, Dun Yong, Li Ruigang
• Producers: Cao Ping, Dun Qi, Xu Xiaoou
• Supervisors: Liu Zhiyuan, Wang Xiaodong, Zhang Suzhou, Chen Liang, Tang Rang, Zhang Ping, Li Junming, Zhang Ping, Zhao Hongmei, Chen Yaping
• Director: Zheng Xiaolong
• Deputy director's assistants: Dong Xiaoyun (Assistant Director), Liu Le (Assistant), Zheng Hanqing (Assistant)
• Script writer: Liu Lianzi, Wang Xiaoping
• Photographer: Li Zhiqiang, Li Qiang, Yu Fei, Zhang Yuanshou, Feng Yucheng, Wang Lindong, Zhao Hao, He Lichun, Chen Jianwei, Wei Liangliang, Li Meng, Yang Jinbo
• Music: Liu Huan, Meng Ke, Ding Ji, Zhao Liang, Song Lei, Wang Songyang, Wan Xiaoyuan, Li Wei, Sui Jing, Asian Philharmonic Orchestra, Huang Lijie
• Editor: Jin Ye, Jiang Jimei, cao translation
• Props: Wang Yue, Liu Yuanfei, Wang Guiqing, Wang Shili, Gao Guiyong, Liu Jiye, Zhang Yanlong, Fang Jie, LiBiao, Cao Yongli, Wang Yanhua, Su Huizhi, gao Yashi, Gao Xian, Young spring library, Lv Qiang, Zhang Fengjun
• Casting director: Li Yang
• Voice acting directors: Liao Jing and Zhang Wei
• Art designers: Chen Haozhong, Luan Hexin, Wang Yongkang, Yang Kun
• Modeling designers: Chen Minzheng, Li Yuanyuan, Wang Yingkai, Kou Hainan, Yang Jia, Sun Yue, Guo Yang, Min Cong, Zhang Rongbin, Qin Yiping, Wen Lulu, Xing Lu
• Fashion designers: Chen Tongxun, Shi Dongling, Ji Doni, Zhu Yuxiang, Tang Biyun, Liu Xiaohu, Chen Guanglin, Guo Sheng, Shi Jianmin
• Visual effects: Beijing Huacai Shengtang Mathematics Technology Co., LTD
• Lighting crew: Li Tianlei, Zhang Xin 'an, Zhang Cun, Wang Zhonghai, Xu Wanfei, Zhang Feng, Lin Shucong, Wu Tianzhao, Zhang Yunling, Meng Xudong, Chen Guofu, Xu Bing, Zhang Jiayu
• Recording crew: An Wei, Liu Xinghe, Lin Xin
• Directors: Zhang Xiaonan, Zhang Xiaofeng, Wang Gaofeng, Wang Kuanxi, Guan Xiaoming, Wang Kuandong, Zhang Yongbo, Zhang Wei, Dai Zuyin, Dai Zuyuan, Li Shunyi, Li Weitan, Jia Xinquan, Liu Quanmin
• Script supervisor: Guo Guanhua, Yu Feng
• Issuing: Cheng Ting ^[1]

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The drama was first aired in China in 2011 on Shaoxing News, a regional channel. As it gained popularity there it was picked up by national TV channels and first aired nationwide in 2012.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2015, the series was added to US region of Netflix and has since been taken off and put on Amazon Prime Video. It was edited down to six episodes, each with a ninety-minute duration. The original audio was kept intact with the addition of closed captions in English.^[11]

In Thailand, the series was first aired in 2016 on Channel 7^[12] and in 2018 on One31 and LINE TV.

The series was uploaded on YouTube by LeTV in 2018.