The show is set in ancient China and a large exploration of it is the treatment and expectations of being female set in the era. This includes trafficking, kidnapping, concubines (including those that are underage), and the exploration of the likelihood at being assaulted. That said the show does not romanticize or fetishize this instead seems set to explore just how women suffered. S1E1: the main character is kidnapped by men and sold to work for forced labor at a palace. S1E3: a concubine escapes a marriage she did not want. There is a brief discussion between female characters about how trapped they feel in the situations they live in as women. S1E5: Aafemale character explains to a male character that she uses cosmetics to hide her appearance because she is afraid and aware of the likelihood of being sexually assaulted . This scene is done very respectfully with the male character being visibility distraught, asking her gently about her experience, and being angry that those that treated her to feel this way were not punished. S1E6: there is a discussion about women and girls becoming concubines and having children when they were underage. One character in particular is discussed to have been sexually abused by the emperor and had a child around the age of 9: the main character is disturbed by learning this. S1E15: a man describing a woman he was once infatuated with casually mentions that he seriously considered sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions.