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Five of Chinese history's most infamous femme fatales, Bao Si, Sai Jin Hua, Lu Hou, Yu Xuan Ji and Ke Shi have had controversial lives of murder, betrayal and heartache.
They were known to be unusual women of their times, cunning, cruel and gutsy when women were expected to be the very opposite. They achieved great achievements - Lu Hou was China's first female ruler while Yu Xuan Ji was a celebrated poetess - but often at great personal loss and suffering.
Vilified and celebrated by people throughout history,
they have been called murderers, martyrs and survivors.
But what really were they?
Were they really evil spirits who desecrated empires or
were they simply women fighting to live in a man's world?
