Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Empress |
| Original term | 皇后 |
| Type | Imperial title |
| Affiliation | Northern Li and Qin Ye imperial courts 144 146 |
| Occupation/Role | Wife of an emperor; in Northern Li, the holder is entrusted with management of the inner palace 51 146 |
| Documented holders | Lu Yuanxi, Shen Qingqing, and Ye Tangtang 134 144 146 |
| First Appearance | Referenced through the Empress’s residence 7; the incumbent appears at Tangtang’s recognition banquet 14 |
Known Holders
| Holder | Kingdom | Documented tenure and outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Lu Yuanxi / Empress Lu | Northern Li | The initial incumbent. Her administrative authority is withdrawn before she is formally deposed and sent to cultivate at a temple 14 51 134 143. |
| Shen Qingqing / Empress Shen | Northern Li | Identified as empress during Tangtang’s disappearance and again three years later, before her daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony. Her investiture is not depicted in the supplied passages 96 144. |
| Ye Tangtang | Qin Ye | Crowned alongside Jun Yuyuan after their wedding. Years later, she remains the only woman in his harem 146 148. |
Rank and Authority
- Management of the inner palace: Ye Yubei explicitly places Empress Lu in charge of its affairs. She invokes this responsibility to justify seizing Tangtang, but he rejects it as permission to mistreat his daughter 51.
- Authority over servants: Empress Lu orders Phoenix Hall maids beaten and transferred to the Bondservant Office after learning that they bought portraits from Tangtang 39.
- Status of children: Ye Muxue’s birth to the Empress is repeatedly treated as a distinction from concubine-born princesses. Lu uses that status to reassure her daughter when Tangtang receives a bestowed title 14 15.
- Limits of rank: Empress-born status does not prevent Ye Yubei from honoring Tangtang or overruling Lu’s objections. Muxue and Tangtang later dispute whether birth status or a bestowed title gives precedence 14 86.
- Rank comparison: The system describes a First-Rank Imperial Lady as occupying a level equivalent to an empress or noble consort and ranking above Tangtang as a titled princess 62.
- Dependence on imperial approval: The emperor can withdraw the holder’s administrative authority, impose confinement, and ultimately remove the title 51 134 143.
History
Empress Lu’s Political Position
Lu Yuanxi’s position rests heavily on the Lu family’s influence. She encourages Ye Muxue to secure Lu Wuyou’s support because his family and allied clans could help her eldest son become crown prince 39. When her father, Grand Secretary Lu, loses office for concealing a plague and refugee crisis, she fears the consequences for both her own security and her son’s prospects 122 123.
Lu also maintains influence through concealed wrongdoing. Before marrying Ye Yubei, she knew of Consort Shu’s affair with Prince Yue; she subsequently used that secret to control Shu and have her kill people over more than a decade 134. Earlier, she silences Lady Shu’s attempted disclosure about events thirteen years before by invoking the danger to her family and directing her to write a letter 20.
Withdrawal of Authority
Lu attempts to use rumors about Tangtang’s dinosaur pajamas and unfamiliar possessions to portray the Ninth Princess as a demon. Her attendants restrain Shen Qingqing while taking Tangtang before the Empress Dowager, but the Dowager accepts the child’s explanations and demonstrations 48 49 50.
Ye Yubei responds by confiscating Lu’s investiture document and seal and ordering her to reflect behind closed doors. This removes her authority without immediately ending her tenure as empress 51 57. She later continues trying to embarrass Tangtang through public poetry, painting, and singing challenges 110 111.
Deposition
The decisive confrontation follows an attempt to harm Shen Qingqing with altered incense. A young eunuch identifies Lu as the person who ordered its replacement, and Ye Yubei announces that he will depose her and confine her to the Cold Palace 134.
After the rebellion, the recorded outcome differs from that announced punishment: Lu has been deposed and sent to cultivate at a temple. The Lu family is exiled, and the eldest prince is imprisoned 143. Tangtang’s earlier recollection that Lu would die in the Cold Palace describes the anticipated original plot, not this documented outcome 42 143.
Shen Qingqing and Ye Tangtang
Shen Qingqing is later identified as Northern Li’s empress. Before Tangtang’s marriage, she remains protective of her daughter and warns that Jun Yuyuan’s rise into a powerful, expansionist ruler may have changed him 144.
Tangtang becomes Qin Ye’s empress following her wedding to Jun. Their marriage is celebrated as an alliance offering Northern Li protection from war, while Jun publicly promises that she will be his only wife and that he will never take a concubine 146. His harem remains exclusive to her years later 148.
Residences and Regalia
- Fengxi Palace: Named as the Empress’s residence when the Palace of Gathered Elegance is described as second only to it 7.
- Phoenix Hall: Lu’s residence and the location of her political discussions and eventual confrontation with Ye Yubei 39 134.
- Investiture document and seal: Symbols associated with the office; their confiscation marks Lu’s loss of administrative authority 51 57.
- Phoenix robe and crown: Worn by Lu while presiding over a palace banquet 108.
- Phoenix crown and ceremonial cape: Worn by Tangtang at her wedding, where Jun personally receives her with honors befitting an empress 146.