However, it is only the beginning. Song accepts the rules of the game but plays this intricate game very clumsy. Though unexperienced, however her character is just right for this kind of game. Soon it becomes clear that all the characters were disguised and they all reveal their true face, the oppisite to the appearance. To gain her husband's attention Song Lian makes a mistake: she claims to be pregnant before she really is and it is soon discovered by her enemies. But Song makes a more terrible mistake by betraying to their death first her slave-girl and then Me Chang, the opera singer. Both women perish and Song Lian goes out of her mind in the direct meaning. It is obvious that she just cannot conduct such complicated intrigues. She learns the secrets of her rivals but when she tries to use the information to advance her own cause she fails. Her revenge hits not the person it was directed at, but the other people. She is a girl with the strong character but she fails to succeed in that strange world of dirty mysteries, strange amours and convoluted intrigues. At the end of the film she remains alone, still full of dignity but insane. The troubles turned out to be too much for her. Her brain did not endure the fact that Me Chang died because of her. But her insanity produces a favourable impression on the viewer since it is clear that this abnormal mental condition is better for her than sanity in such a mad world. There is a certain humanity in this and of course she also fell a victim of this world.
The operator work in this film is done on the highest level. Every shot is like a picture. Though it is not clear in which period of time the action takes place but it may be at the beginning of the XX century. "Middle Ages dressed in Modern Clothes", because the morals are like feudal ones. In combination with Chinese culture it produces a strong unusual impact.
