On the very first day Shen Zhiwei entered the palace, she was terrified: that widely praised emperor turned out to be a big, fat man with a fleshy head and big ears; moreover, at the drop of a hat, he would transform into a pig demon. Yet the palace concubines fought tooth and nail for favor—did everyone in this palace have a fetish for pigs? She plotted how to stay alive and how to run away. Unexpectedly, this pig demon visited her door every night, bringing her candied fruit. To protect herself, Shen Zhiwei recited poetry to lull the pig demon to sleep. Who would have thought the pig demon would seriously ask her, what am I like in your eyes? Beneath the shell of a lunatic comedy wrapped the deep-palace woman's yearning for freedom. What she wanted was never favor, but to walk out of this palace wall and let the wind outside blow on her.