Qin Xuehua

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Qin Xuehua (秦雪华)
Alias(es)	Lady Qin; Empress Houtu
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Qin Family; Marquis Yong'an Estate by marriage
Occupation/Role	Matriarch of Marquis Yong'an Estate; Zhang Yu's birth mother
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Chapter 2

Background / History

Qin Xuehua was Duke Qin's only daughter and was once regarded as one of the capital's most accomplished women for her family background, talent, and beauty. She fell in love with Sheng Yuntang, the Third Prince of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom, and became pregnant with Zhang Yu before being forced into marriage with Zhang Jiuling of Marquis Yong'an's Estate. During Zhang Yu's birth, Zhang Jiuling secretly damaged her womb so she could not bear him further children. 40 88 105

Sheng Yuntang's departure left Qin Xuehua resentful of Zhang Yu, whose resemblance to his father constantly reminded her of the affair. She treated him as a stain on her life: neglecting him, permitting his siblings to bully him, and wishing for his disappearance. She later admitted that she had directed or condoned the mistreatment herself. 88 90

When Zhang Heng assaulted an Imperial Relative, Qin Xuehua accepted Zhang Yu's offer to take the blame and personally arranged his surrender to Jingzhao Prefecture. At the time, she regarded his imprisonment as a minor inconvenience and prioritized protecting Zhang Heng. 2

After Zhang Yu's rise within the Heavenly Prison, Qin Xuehua continued seeking his death and initially believed that Qin Zhen's intervention and Zhang Lingyun's connection to a Great Grandmaster would restore her position. Her confidence collapsed when Zhang Heng and Zhang Wanning revealed that they were not her biological children, but the children of Zhao Kingdom princess Lin Ruoxi and Zhang Jiuling; the Zhang Family had used Qin Xuehua and the Qin Family for political influence. 87 94 95 105

Following the defeat of the Zhang-Qin alliance, Qin Xuehua attempted an apology. Zhang Yu spared the Qin Family out of consideration for Qin Zhen, but severed all ties with her; the rejection caused her to faint. 101

Qin Xuehua later displayed knowledge of Systems and recognized that Zhang Yu's eight-day rise from First Rank to his current combat power indicated a System likely ranked among the top ten. 116 After awakening memories of her past life, she revealed overwhelming hidden power, casually defeating Grandmaster Xiao Xuan and beginning to act with an impersonal, ancient authority. 140

Her true identity was subsequently exposed as Empress Houtu. She stated that Qin Xuehua's body was Zhang Yu's mother's body, but that she and Zhang Yu were “theoretically” unrelated as individuals. 182

Appearance

In her later awakened state, Qin Xuehua manifests in black robes with an aura described as abyssal and overwhelming. Though her face remains identical to Qin Xuehua's, her expression and presence are markedly different. 182

• Eyes compared to a cold, star-filled sky that can see through illusion. 182
• Her calm gestures can overpower a Grandmaster without visible effort. 140
• Her awakened demeanor is detached from the emotional instability she displayed earlier in life. 140 182

Personality

Before recovering her past-life memories, Qin Xuehua was calculating and socially composed when defending the Marquis Estate, but her judgment was warped by hatred of Sheng Yuntang and obsession with erasing the evidence of their relationship. She projected that hatred onto Zhang Yu, while placing all of her maternal devotion in Zhang Heng and Zhang Wanning. 71 88 90

Her devotion proved tragically misplaced. Even after Zhang Heng and Zhang Wanning rejected her, Qin Xuehua was devastated not simply by their betrayal, but by the realization that the family, children, and status she had protected at Zhang Yu's expense were built on manipulation. 94 95

After her awakening, she becomes restrained, insightful, and coldly purposeful. Despite her fractured relationship with Zhang Yu, she intervenes to protect him from mental manipulation and later treats their shared karmic connection as strategically significant. 140 143 182

Abilities & Skills

Reincarnated Power

Qin Xuehua possesses power far beyond the martial hierarchy recognized by Wei Kingdom cultivators.

• Dismissed Grandmaster Xiao Xuan with a casual sleeve-wind, breaking his protective aura and sending him flying. 140
• Her sudden strength led Xiao Xuan to suspect that she, like Zhang Yu, was a reincarnated great being. 140
• She identifies herself as Empress Houtu after fully emerging from Qin Xuehua's identity. 182

Soul Power

Qin Xuehua wields Soul Power of a level that overwhelms Donghua Daoist and Maitreya.

• Sent a wisp of Soul Power through Donghua Daoist's connection to Zhang Yu. 143
• Instantly dismantled an ancient brainwashing imprint that had nearly overwhelmed Zhang Yu's consciousness. 143
• The destroyed imprint's remaining mental energy was absorbed by Zhang Yu's Spirit Soul. 143

Heavenly Dao Law

Qin Xuehua understands the incomplete Heavenly Dao of her world and seeks to stabilize it through a complete law.

• Plans to combine her own law fragments with those within Donghua and Maitreya to complete an unfinished Heavenly Dao Law. 182
• Intends to use the completed law to bind Zilu and the world together, preventing information from escaping to foreign realms or reaching the traitor. 182
• Later joined Donghua and Maitreya in using a complete Love Dao Law to restrain Zilu. 219
• Acknowledges that neither she nor Zhang Yu could directly stop Zilu while their current cultivation remained limited. 182

Knowledge of Systems and Ancient History

Qin Xuehua retains knowledge unavailable to ordinary cultivators.

• Recognized the abnormal causal reversal behind Zhang Yu's rapid growth and inferred the high rank of his System. 116
• Identified the Flower Monk and Black-robed Daoist as remnants connected to the shattered Three Realms. 141
• Knows Zhang Yu is a transmigrator rather than the original consciousness of the body she bore. 182

Relationships

• Zhang Yu — Her biological son by Sheng Yuntang. Qin Xuehua abused and attempted to destroy him because she saw him as proof of her past; after awakening as Empress Houtu, she protects him from brainwashing but describes their personal relationship as only theoretical. 88 90 143 182
• Qin Zhen — Her father, Duke Qin. He sabotaged the Heavenly Prison Formation and risked the Qin Family's future to save Qin Xuehua and Zhang Heng; she was moved to guilt by his devotion. 93
• Sheng Yuntang — Third Prince of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom and Zhang Yu's biological father. His abandonment fueled Qin Xuehua's resentment toward Zhang Yu, though she continued to hold unresolved feelings after awakening. 40 88 140
• Zhang Jiuling — Her husband by political arrangement. He married her for the Qin Family's backing, secretly damaged her womb, and used her as a tool while maintaining a relationship with Lin Ruoxi. 105
• Zhang Heng — Raised as her son and the object of her obsessive favoritism. He later revealed that he was Lin Ruoxi's child and rejected Qin Xuehua once the Zhang Family no longer needed the Qin Family. 90 95
• Zhang Wanning — Raised as her daughter and likewise favored over Zhang Yu. She joined Zhang Heng in revealing that Qin Xuehua was only a stand-in mother. 94 95
• Zhang Lingyun — Regarded by Qin Xuehua as her daughter and a source of immense pride after becoming the East Green Mountain sect master's direct disciple. 94
• Donghua Daoist — Ally in matters involving Zhang Yu's Spirit Soul and the Heavenly Dao Law; Qin Xuehua used Donghua as the conduit for her Soul Power. 143 182
• Maitreya / Flower Monk — Allied remnant who later joined Qin Xuehua and Donghua in restraining Zilu with the Love Dao Law. 143 219

Story Role / Major Arcs

Zhang Yu's Scapegoat Imprisonment

Qin Xuehua pressures Zhang Yu into accepting imprisonment in Zhang Heng's place, viewing his sacrifice as a convenient means of preserving the Marquis Estate's interests. 2

Exposure of the Marquis Estate

At the Heavenly Prison, Zhang Yu confronts Qin Xuehua over her favoritism and reveals his true parentage. Qin Xuehua responds by confessing that she hated him as Sheng Yuntang's “stain” and had deliberately allowed his abuse. 88 90

Collapse of Her Family

Qin Xuehua briefly regains hope through Qin Zhen's alliance with Grandmasters and Zhang Lingyun's status. Her confidence is shattered when Zhang Heng and Zhang Wanning expose their true parentage and the Zhang Family's exploitation of her. 91 94 95

Awakening and Intervention

After recognizing the implications of Zhang Yu's System, Qin Xuehua awakens her past-life memories and reveals the power to defeat Xiao Xuan effortlessly. She later saves Zhang Yu from a hidden brainwashing attempt directed through an Eastern Sheng Kingdom Memory Crystal. 116 140 143

Empress Houtu and the Heavenly Dao

Qin Xuehua reveals herself as Empress Houtu and proposes completing the Heavenly Dao Law to contain Zilu and isolate the world from outside forces. She subsequently aids Donghua and Maitreya in restraining Zilu through the Love Dao Law. 182 219

Notable Quotes

“You are the shame of my life. Xiao Heng is everything to me.” 90

“This body of mine is the Mother of your body. As for you and me... theoretically, we have no relation.” 182

Trivia

• Qin Xuehua's womb and pregnancy channels had been damaged for many years, a fact noticed by Hu Qingxuan before the truth about Zhang Heng and Zhang Wanning emerged. 90
• Her System knowledge predates her public awakening as a reincarnated being. 116 140
• Xiao Xuan was the first character to explicitly suspect that Qin Xuehua was a reincarnated great being after witnessing her power. 140