Princess Taiping

Biodata

Background / History

Princess Taiping received personal martial guidance from her mother, Wu Zetian, during childhood. She cultivated the imperial family’s secret Purple Tenuity Heavenly Heart Formula and attained unity between heaven and humanity. Her martial standing is described as comparable to the renowned Ten Supreme Masters 43.

In court politics, she allies with her elder brother, Prince Xiang Li Dan, against Empress Wei, Princess Anle, and Prince of Liang Wu Sansi. Their outward familial cordiality conceals a struggle over imperial authority: Taiping’s faction opposes Empress Wei’s ambition to emulate Wu Zetian and Anle’s efforts to become crown princess 2 34.

Her household participates directly in this conflict. The Plum Blossom Guards seize prisoners from Wu Sansi’s residence and investigate his connections to the Great Vehicle Sect 34.

During Wu Zetian’s reign, Taiping personally led the Plum Blossom Guards against political enemies and powerful martial figures who resisted imperial authority. Many martial manuals in the Pivot of Heaven Pavilion were collected as spoils from these campaigns 9.

Her first prince consort, Xue Shao, died at Wu Zetian’s hands as a sacrifice to court politics. Her subsequent marriage to Wu Youji was arranged to bind her to the Wu family; Taiping later regards it as a marriage in name alone. Her reflections on these relationships reveal the gap between her outward wealth and authority and her lack of personal security and companionship 75.

Her conflict with the Wei faction eventually contributes to Li Xian’s abdication and Li Dan’s accession. Under Li Dan, her longstanding political network becomes a dominant force: five of the court’s seven chancellors belong to her circle, more than half of the provincial civil and military officials have ties to her, and numerous Imperial Guard commanders have benefited from her patronage 273 379.

Her alliance with her nephew Li Longji subsequently deteriorates into a contest between the Princess’s Residence and the Eastern Palace. Lu Changfeng recognizes similarities to the historical struggle he remembers, but those historical accounts are not an established outcome for Taiping in the novel’s present storyline 375 385 386.

Appearance

Taiping is described as possessing beauty that eclipses Chang’an. Although nearly forty, her mastered cultivation preserves an appearance closer to twenty, with jade-like skin, exquisite features, and an imposing mixture of allure and majesty 1 8.

• Eyes: Frequently described as phoenix eyes; their expression shifts from maternal warmth to icy hostility 3 45.
• Build: Graceful, with full curves apparent when her palace robes become wet during the underground expedition 48.
• Clothing: Wears lavish gowns, including a gold-embroidered peony-patterned dress, a wide-skirted begonia-red gown, and pale blue-green gauze 1 8 19.
• Martial manifestation: A golden phoenix and enormous illusory wings appear when she manifests her intent 45.
• Private attire: During treatment, she wears a moon-white gauze nightrobe with her hair loose and no makeup, displaying a gentler appearance than her usual ceremonial bearing 60 61.
• Go gathering attire: Dresses in Rosy Cloud Brocade embroidered with golden phoenix patterns, accompanied by a Gilt Gold and Kingfisher Hairpin and a floral forehead ornament 81.
• Travel attire: Uses practical Hu-style riding clothes and a raven-blue hooded cloak when departing Chang’an with her guards 103.
• Court attire: Appears in a dark purple, broad-sleeved court gown with a gold phoenix hairpin holding a pearl in its beak during her confrontation with the Crown Prince’s faction 385.

Personality

Taiping is ruthless toward failure, especially when her family is endangered. During Xue Chongyin’s illness, she executes physicians who mistake his condition for possession. With her son recovering, however, she becomes gentle and attentive, straightening his collar, tucking in his blanket, and reassuring him that she will handle political concerns 1 3.

She values competence more than obedient flattery. Lu Changfeng’s reluctance, temper, and ability to conceal anger interest her rather than repel her. Nevertheless, her patronage is controlling: she investigates his past, monitors him through attendants, and makes access to valuable resources conditional on loyal service 2 3 8 19 23 36.

Her confidence in her ability to manage people is repeatedly challenged by Lu Changfeng. She initially treats him as an unruly talent to cultivate, then recognizes that resources and authority alone cannot tame him. His concern for the experimented-on children later softens her view of him; she responds to their suffering with fury and insists that they be rescued 38 48 49.

Her growing love for Lu exposes regret, insecurity, and a desire to be valued as Li Lingyue rather than solely as an imperial princess. She comes to regret her former indulgence in male favorites and the reputation she allowed to develop, fearing that these have erected a barrier between them. Rather than surrendering to regret, she resolves to pursue him through patience, sincerity, and an understanding of his interests 70 75 87 88.

This pursuit remains possessive. She uses valuable Go wagers to secure time alone with him, expands his official responsibilities when he tries to leave, and deliberately makes her protection of him visible to others. His absences and relationship with Luo Qingge provoke intense jealousy; on one occasion, her emotional upheaval destabilizes her cultivation 81 95 145 146 257 264.

Despite her political ruthlessness, she retains genuine affection for Li Dan. During the impeachment confrontation, she successfully uses his attachment to her to defeat the Crown Prince’s allies, yet feels pain at forcing her elder brother to choose between his sister and his son 386.

Power Progression

Abilities & Skills

Purple Tenuity Heavenly Heart Formula

Taiping practices an imperial art created by Wu Zetian through modification of Emperor Taizong’s Imperial Pole World-Reordering Art. Its true qi carries the force of imperial supremacy and excels at explosive, overwhelmingly powerful attacks 43 47 48.

• Draws upon stellar power during combat 46 47.
• Supports her Fifth Realm Great Grandmaster cultivation and exceptionally keen spiritual senses 48.
• Its extremely hard, yang nature creates a vulnerability when peak strength begins to wane; the black-clad attacker attempts to exploit this transition 47.
• Repeated maximum-force attacks burden her body and disturb her blood and qi, preventing indefinite use at full power 48.
• Severe emotional disruption can destabilize its circulation. Her jealousy and distress over Lu’s absence cause uncontrolled purple-gold qi, internal injury, and a cultivation-deviation crisis 146 147.

Heavenly Pivot Falling Star Palm

Her principal demonstrated palm technique concentrates stellar force into devastating blows 45 46.

• Pulverizes a closing Dragon-Severing Stone door with one strike, shaking Jade Pillar Peak 45.
• Meets the black-clad attacker’s Great Sun Heaven-Burning Hand head-on 47.
• Breaks his right shoulder after Zhao Lanjun’s hidden-weapon attack creates an opening 47.
• Repeated use against a powerful opponent imposes substantial strain 48.
• Clashes directly with the transformed Soldier Mingyang during the Sun-Burning Temple battle 53.

Golden Phoenix Manifestation

Taiping condenses her intent into a golden phoenix aspect, accompanied by luminous wings and a purple halo. She explains that manifesting the primordial spirit allows intent to protect the practitioner inwardly or establish a domain outwardly 45.

• Resonates with surrounding heavenly and earthly qi 45.
• Combines spiritual perception with her cultivation art’s true qi to extend her influence over the surrounding area 45.
• Appears during her coordinated attack with Zhao Lanjun against the black-clad assailant 47.

Five Elements Positioning

An advanced application of yin-yang arts that unfolds a rotating formation diagram over a radius of several dozen yards 45.

• Allows her to perceive and control the distribution of the five elemental qi within its domain 45.
• Detects an unnatural gap in earth-vein qi, helping locate the concealed passage near the Jade Belt River 45.
• Requires focused perception to distinguish subtle changes in the terrain’s qi 45.
• Can be used at the Xiantian Realm, but reaches its greatest effectiveness in the Grandmaster Realm 106.
• Taiping gives its manual to Lu as a congratulatory gift after his Grandmaster breakthrough, enabling him to establish his own elemental array 106.

Sword Qi and Force Manipulation

Taiping can attack and manipulate objects without direct physical contact 19 25.

• Uses sword light to execute a physician during her son’s medical crisis 1.
• Pierces the frozen Ba Serpent with Sword Qi, forcing it to release the disguised Great Vehicle Sect holy maiden 25.
• Draws an intelligence document into her hand from a nearby table 19.

Martial Insight and Instruction

Her long experience in the Fifth Realm gives her a deeper understanding of cultivation design than Lu initially possesses. When reviewing his adapted method for the Blood Tai Sui victims, she identifies ways to simplify qi-circulation routes and convert Blood Ape fire poison into fire-aspect vital qi. She prioritizes a method the children can actually learn over theoretical perfection 117.

Political Strategy and Intelligence

Taiping combines court influence, household surveillance, and covert operations rather than relying solely on martial strength 19 40 41.

• Talent assessment: Recognizes the military, medical, commercial, and diplomatic value of Lu Changfeng’s distilled alcohol and perfumes 8.
• Intelligence gathering: Obtains detailed records of Lu’s childhood, including his Go games for stakes at age twelve 19.
• Factional maneuvering: Uses Gao Jian’s misconduct to purge her own ranks and investigate hostile political connections 19.
• Networking: Uses literary gatherings to discuss appointments, military supplies, transport, and exchanges of political interests 40.
• Appointment power: Can recommend a commoner directly for an official position as high as the second rank 41.
• Covert planning: Arranges a false attempt to steal the Poison-Averting Pearl and seeks assistance through Nanzhao’s Heavenly Spider Envoy 41.
• Counter-schemes: Recognizes the Buddha-Bathing Festival appointment as a possible trap and considers using it against Wu Sansi and the hidden masterminds 62.
• Specialist intelligence: Consults Lu to identify an unknown attacker’s grafted beast limb and agrees to seek Luo Qingge’s bird-based reconnaissance rather than expose Zhao Lanjun to an uncertain danger 124 207.
• Staged misinformation: Cooperates with Lu in fabricating an attack on her residence and the theft of the Azure Volume of the Heavenly Book, drawing Dragon-Slaying City into pursuit 328.
• Policy intervention: Uses a memorial and evidence of Tubo bribery to defeat the proposed cession of Nine Bends 373.
• Court counterattack: Anticipates impeachment, prepares an apparent concession to relocate to Luoyang, and turns the resulting debate against Li Longji’s closest ministers 385 386.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Spirit Radiance Pills — Superior third-tier healing medicine; supplied to Lu Changfeng after he breaks the Immeasurable Seal and to Mu Qinghong after the mountain battle 22 48.
• Hundred Herbs Garden — A source of rare medicinal resources. Taiping appoints Lu its steward and rewards him with a five-hundred-year-old fleeceflower root 8 23.
• Pivot of Heaven Pavilion — Her household’s repository of medical and gu texts, with a treasury containing fourth-tier weapons 8 38 40.
• Phoenix Feather Invitations — Personally issued invitations to her elite gatherings; Lu receives one after proving his value in the Su Bonian affair 23 24.
• Ice Silkworm Silk Armor — Offered to Lu for protection before their expedition to Jade Pillar Peak 43.
• Secret passage — Connects her residence to an abandoned well outside Chang’an’s Western City Wall, permitting a concealed departure 44.
• Langhuan Blessed Land — A secluded cultivation area within her residence, reputedly formed by drawing spiritual veins together. Its abundant spiritual energy makes it especially favorable for internal cultivation 9.
• Go board and wagering treasures — Uses rare Visualization Diagrams, secret manuals, and medicinal resources as prospective stakes to encourage Lu to spend time playing Go with her 81.
• Shennong Tastes the Hundred Herbs — A Visualization Diagram she promises to obtain for Lu; she later explains that it has been lent to Jiang Li, who is away gathering herbs 23 81.
• Five Elements Positioning manual — Gives Lu an aged booklet containing the technique after his Grandmaster breakthrough 106.
• Personal carriage — A spacious, luxurious carriage drawn by eight white horses, used to take Lu away after the Kunming Pool incident 264.

Relationships

• Wu Zetian / Wu Meiniang — Mother and childhood martial instructor; creator of Taiping’s cultivation art. Also responsible for Xue Shao’s death and the politically arranged marriage to Wu Youji 23 43 47 75.
• Prince Xiang Li Dan — Elder brother and political ally against the Wei–Anle–Wu Sansi faction. Taiping helps confront the Wei faction before his accession; as emperor, he trusts and protects her. His affection for his only remaining sister becomes decisive during the impeachment struggle 2 34 273 386.
• Xue Chongyin — Eldest son. His collapse provokes her violent response to failed treatment, while his recovery reveals her maternal tenderness 1 3.
• Xue Shao — First prince consort, whose death at Wu Zetian’s hands Taiping remembers as a consequence of court power struggles 75.
• Wu Youji — Current consort. She treats him coldly and dismisses him from their son’s chamber, leaving him resentful and humiliated. She later describes their political marriage as existing in name alone 3 75.
• Lu Changfeng — Initially her household physician and later guest adviser; their early relationship combines patronage, coercion, growing admiration, and his insistence on maintaining the boundary between subject and sovereign. He is not initially established as her male favorite 2 19 33 38 44. He subsequently becomes her treating physician during the Golden Silkworm Gu crisis and is appointed Pavilion Commander of the Plum Blossom Guards and Military Affairs Advisor 54 73 95. Taiping pursues a personal relationship, while Lu initially resists because her status and power make intimacy dangerous to his independence 81 88 148. By the later storyline they are lovers and political collaborators; he agrees to try for a child with her, and she subsequently announces her pregnancy 264 385 456.
• Jinghong — Trusted female official who handles intelligence, household orders, and arrangements for Lu; she also cautions Taiping against personally entering danger. Remains closely involved in Taiping’s treatment, emotional crises, and political administration 3 8 41 43 146 257 456.
• Gao Jian — Male favorite and subordinate. Taiping strips him of his posts and confines him after his attempt on Lu’s life, while investigating his family’s ties to Wu Sansi. In later reflection, she regards male favorites such as Gao as ornaments rather than sources of genuine reassurance 17 19 75.
• Zhao Lanjun — Senior protector addressed as “Aunt Lanjun.” Defends the residence and fights alongside Taiping at Jade Pillar Peak and against Soldier Mingyang 25 47 53.
• Mu Qinghong — Senior protector addressed as “Aunt Mu.” Taiping is alarmed by her injury and refuses a reckless pursuit while she remains wounded 47 48.
• Princess Anle / Li Guo’er — Niece and political rival. Their banquet exchanges conceal hostility, and Anle later seeks to lure Lu away from Taiping. Taiping intervenes against Anle’s attempts to secure his company; Anle eventually loses her title and is confined by Li Xian 34 38 108 273.
• Empress Wei — Political opponent whose growing ambitions Taiping monitors through intelligence reports. Their struggle culminates in Wei poisoning Li Dan as leverage before Li Xian strips her title and orders her confinement 21 34 273.
• Wu Sansi — Rival competing for prisoners, intelligence, and the Blood Tai Sui; his agents watch Taiping’s residence. Taiping later considers using the Buddha-Bathing Festival scheme to eliminate him 19 22 43 62.
• Shangguan Wan’er — Longstanding acquaintance whose familiarity with Taiping includes an unspoken complexity; she defuses Taiping and Anle’s barbed exchange at the banquet 34.
• Great Vehicle Sect — Hostile organization whose secrets Taiping exposes when its holy maiden attempts to capture Lu 25 26.
• Li Xian — Elder brother and reigning emperor during her early factional struggles. His trust in Empress Wei and Zong Chuke increasingly constrains her, leading her to contemplate replacing him. He ultimately abdicates in favor of Li Dan 134 207 273.
• Li Longji — Nephew, initially favored alongside Li Dan, but later a political rival as Crown Prince. His advisers view Lu’s attachment to Taiping as a potential threat; the later confrontation between their factions culminates in Taiping’s impeachment counter-scheme and the demotion of Yao Chong and Song Jing 70 161 375 385 386.
• Luo Qingge — Lu’s lover and a source of Taiping’s jealousy. Despite these personal tensions, Taiping accepts that Luo’s ability to understand birds can assist in investigating Zong Chuke’s mysterious aide 146 207 257.
• Lan Die’er / Five Immortals Cult — The Heavenly Spider Envoy arrives under an agreement between Taiping and the cult to break Chi Ming’s Ten Thousand Gu Devouring Spirit Array 55.
• Master Sengjia — Buddhist master whom Taiping visits with Lu. She seeks his guidance about her emotional predicament, and he later warns that the consequences of the seed she has planted in Lu may exceed her expectations 95 105 106.
• Jiang Li — Borrower of the Shennong Visualization Diagram and a medical expert who studies the Blood Tai Sui’s poison in her residence 81 124.
• Zong Chuke — Major political enemy associated with Empress Wei. Taiping investigates his mysterious aide and later has his household slaughtered; stripped of cultivation, he is sent to the Ten Directions Secret Prison 134 207 273.
• Guo Yuanzhen, Yao Chong, and Song Jing — Important figures on Li Longji’s side. Taiping and Lu plan pressure against Guo and his allies, while her court maneuver results in Yao and Song being demoted to prefectures outside the capital 385 386.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruiting Lu Changfeng

• Summons Lu during Xue Chongyin’s medical crisis after several physicians have been killed for failed diagnoses 1.
• Retains him following the successful treatment, assigns Qing Dai to attend him, and orders the highest household standard of support 2 3.
• Grants archive access and stewardship of the Hundred Herbs Garden in exchange for his alcohol and fragrance formulas, while continuing to monitor him 8.

Gao Jian’s Plot and Su Bonian’s Secret

• Punishes Gao Jian after the ambush on Lu, but stops short of the sweeping retaliation Lu might otherwise have wanted 19.
• Rewards Lu with three-hundred-year-old red ginseng and assigns him to examine Su Bonian’s sect poison 19.
• After Lu breaks the Immeasurable Seal, secures Su Bonian’s disclosure of the Blood Tai Sui’s location beneath Jade Pillar Peak 22.
• Requests the Shennong Glazed Glass Art from Lu and directs him to research ways of countering gu poison 23.

The Great Vehicle Sect Infiltration

• Identifies the Ba Serpent and exposes the false Qing Dai as the sect’s holy maiden 25.
• Deduces that the sect targeted Lu because he could break the Immeasurable Seal, then orders the intruders taken into custody 26.

Nine-Shao Music Bureau Gathering

• Assigns Lu a prominent fourth seat after learning of his poems and visit to Luo Qingge, intending to test his claimed detachment 32.
• Publicly elevates him as a guest adviser and makes him open the poetry contest 33 36.
• Rewards his performance with the Lovesick Zither and permission to select a fourth-tier weapon 38.
• After the Wind-Raising Sword acknowledges Lu, orders protection against further interference over Zhang Shouzhuo’s death 41.

Jade Pillar Peak Expedition

• Uses a household double and secret exit to investigate with Lu while evading surveillance 43 44.
• Locates the hidden route through Five Elements Positioning and destroys the stone door intended to trap them 45.
• Reveals that her personal appearance was bait to draw out the concealed adversary, with protectors prepared to intervene 46.
• Helps gravely wound the attacker, but refuses pursuit because his apparent identity and destination may be a smokescreen 47 48.
• Discovers the Blood Tai Sui workshop and mutilated experimental subjects. She orders that the children be saved and suspects involvement by the Li Tang imperial family 48 49.
• Later helps refine the cultivation method intended to preserve the lives of the twelve surviving children, emphasizing practicality and their differing aptitudes 117.

Sun-Burning Temple and Golden Silkworm Gu Poison

• Leads her Inner Guards to the burning Sun-Burning Temple, refusing to let the destruction of its buildings erase the evidence 52.
• Fights Soldier Mingyang alongside Zhao Lanjun until Lu kills him with the Peacock Plume 53.
• Defends against the blood arrows and poisonous mist released by the Sacrificial Gu in Mingyang’s exploding corpse, but secretly suffers an intrusion of foreign blood qi 53.
• Orders the ruins searched and the temple dissolved, then returns with Lu to Jade Pillar Peak, where he diagnoses Golden Silkworm Gu Poison 53.
• Entrusts herself to Lu’s Shennong Qi treatment after he explains four difficult alternatives: the Myriad Poisons Insect-Repelling Pill, fighting poison with poison, the Red-Eyed Jade Toad, and the Golden-Thread Pusi Snake 54.
• Receives continuing treatment; Lu later combines Shennong Qi, acupuncture, and the Nine Dragon Stone to force poisonous energy from her body 61 73.
• Receives Lan Die’er under her agreement with the Five Immortals Cult to break the Ten Thousand Gu Devouring Spirit Array 55.

Buddha-Bathing Festival and Expanding Lu’s Role

• Receives an imperial decree appointing her to oversee the welcoming and enshrinement of the Buddha’s bones. She and Lu suspect the festival will be used against her and Wu Sansi, and she considers turning the scheme on its organizers 62.
• Consults Lu about Crown Prince Li Chongjun’s treatment, balancing factional interests, concern for Lu’s safety, and her resentment of Anle’s interest in him 70.
• Uses a Go wager offering a Visualization Diagram to obtain private time with Lu; his potential obligations include additional companionship and massage treatment 81.
• Counters his attempt to leave by appointing him Pavilion Commander of the Plum Blossom Guards and Military Affairs Advisor, requiring seventy percent of the pills he produces 95.
• Orders increased punishment for prisoners who framed or attacked him, making her protection of him unmistakable 95.
• Visits Master Sengjia with Lu, seeks guidance on her feelings, and gives Lu the Five Elements Positioning manual after his Grandmaster breakthrough 103 105 106.
• Summons Lu to identify the attacker who disrupted Wu Sansi’s Buddha Bone cultivation; he traces the strange limb to Corpse Sage Tulingzi’s grafting art and the beast Mengji 124.
• After the festival conflict, judges that the Crown Prince–Li Qianli faction and Wu Sansi’s faction have devastated one another, strengthening Li Dan’s position while leaving Empress Wei and Anle as major remaining opponents 130.

Emotional Crisis and the Changing Relationship with Lu

• Confides her trust and weariness to Lu in her private waterside study over Jade-Ice Shao. Their closeness is interrupted by an imperial decree summoning him to treat Li Qianli 134.
• Mobilizes an extensive search when Lu is absent, demanding that the guards find him alive or recover his body 145.
• Learning of his involvement with Luo Qingge overwhelms her composure and causes her cultivation to run out of control 146.
• Lu subdues her uncontrolled attacks, seals three vital acupoints, and stabilizes her with Shennong Qi 147.
• During their subsequent frank discussion, Lu explains that her power to determine status, freedom, and even life or death is precisely what makes him unwilling to accept the future she offers 148.
• Later grows furious when he spends three additional days with Luo Qingge before returning to her residence 257.
• At Kunming Pool, rushes to support the apparently wounded Lu and takes him away. After he admits he was feigning injury, she declares that she wants everyone to know he belongs to her 264.
• Their relationship eventually becomes explicitly intimate; Lu agrees to her request that they try for a child 385.

Spiritual Treasures and the Fall of the Wei Faction

• Questions Li Longji about the response he senses near Zhongnan Mountain and suspects he is withholding information 176.
• Orders the Plum Blossom Guards to support Lu’s southern search for a spiritual treasure, while preparing to go to Li Mountain with Zhao Lanjun, Mu Qinghong, and the Twenty-Four Floral Periods to retrieve something herself 176.
• Plans with Lu to investigate Zong Chuke’s unknown aide using Luo Qingge’s ability to communicate with birds 207.
• Concludes that Li Xian’s continued protection of hostile ministers may make replacing the emperor necessary, though open action risks rebellion and upheaval 207.
• Has Zong Chuke’s household killed and sends him, deprived of cultivation, to the Ten Directions Secret Prison 273.
• Confronts Empress Wei alongside Li Longji after Wei uses a forged decree and the Fate-Locking Seal to summon and poison Li Dan 273.
• After Lu cures Li Dan and helps Li Xian recover his resolve, Li Xian deposes Empress Wei and Princess Anle, orders their confinement, and abdicates to Li Dan 273.

Dragon-Slaying City and the Crown Prince Rivalry

• Stages a destructive battle at her residence with Lu, the Plum Blossom Guards, and black-clad Inner Guards to make the Azure Volume appear stolen 328.
• Allows a false report that she was wounded by attackers using the Twelve Mountains and Rivers Seal. Dragon-Slaying City’s Liu Xuance orders pursuit, while Xu Lou remains suspicious 328.
• Promises to rebuild the destroyed Golden Scale Pool Pavilion to Lu’s liking 328.
• At the Mid-Autumn banquet, presents a memorial against surrendering Nine Bends and forces Yang Ju to confess that Tubo’s tsenpo bribed him to secure the cession. Li Dan rejects the proposal and orders Yang Ju and his accomplices punished 373.
• Her faction’s confrontation with Li Longji becomes increasingly overt. Lu recognizes that her political advantage is strongest before the Crown Prince consolidates control of the Golden Scale Guards 375 379.
• Agrees with Lu to pressure Guo Yuanzhen’s faction, considering that desperation may lead its members to cooperate with Dragon-Slaying City 385.
• Prepares to exploit hostile impeachment memorials by offering to leave Chang’an, encouraging the court to interpret the attacks as persecution of a meritorious servant 385.
• At court, admits several accusations and volunteers to move to Luoyang. The maneuver turns opinion against Li Longji and results in Li Dan demoting Yao Chong and Song Jing to posts outside the capital 386.
• Receives gold, five thousand bolts of silk, and an imperial warning against reckless criticism of her or attempts to sow discord within the imperial family 386.
• Her enemies subsequently consider attacking Luo Qingge to lure Lu into a prepared trap, intending his death to weaken Taiping’s position at court 387.

Pregnancy and Renewed Administration

• Summons her officials and announces her pregnancy while resuming leadership of the Princess’s Residence 456.
• Invites Lu to advise on accumulated court business. His proposals, including three Surrendering Cities in Shuofang, win the assembled officials’ respect 456.
• Her household receives Lu’s order for Plum Blossom Guard surveillance of key passes for Göktürk troop movements 456.
• After Fu Rong delivers a letter from Immortal Master Yuan, Lu warns her that the Heart Demon has come 456.
• Her faction’s administrative strength deepens Li Longji’s despair, after which a mysterious figure approaches him claiming that they share a common enemy 456.

Notable Quotes

“If you hold an office, fulfill its duties! I don’t keep useless men in my household!” 3

“Precisely because the situation is unknown, I must see it myself.” 43

“No matter what, we must save them. Our immediate priority is to get them out of here safely...” 49

“In your heart, could it be... that between you and me, there is nothing to discuss beyond martial cultivation and political interests?” 69

“Lu Changfeng, you will be mine...” 88

“A cultivation method shouldn’t be too perfect, either. The more profound it is, the harder it is to master; the more flawless it is, the more likely it is to end up gathering dust on a high shelf. These twelve children have varying aptitudes. Keeping them alive should come first.” 117

“Fail to act when the moment demands it, and the resulting chaos will turn against you. Everything This Palace possesses is mine by right. Why should I give it away?” 385

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