Elder Princess

Biodata

Title Usage

• Xiao Yunshu is the principal bearer of the title in the supplied chapters. Her position is unusually influential because the Former Emperor’s final edict originally designated her to inherit the throne 74 284.
• Xiao Zining is also called “Elder Princess” in Chapter 565. She is Yunshu’s niece, not the same person; Yunshu acknowledges a grudge against her and tells Jiang Xiaobai to keep his distance 565.

Power Progression

No numbered cultivation rank is disclosed for Xiao Yunshu. Her documented training milestones are:

Background / History

Xiao Yunshu showed exceptional intelligence from childhood. According to Tang Kui, she could identify the central issue in difficult matters of state with a single remark, even when lengthy ministerial discussions had failed. The Former Emperor consequently considered her capable of succeeding him when she was about thirteen 74.

The Former Emperor’s final edict designated Yunshu as his successor, but she relinquished the throne to Xiao Jinxuan. Tang Kui attributes this decision to anticipated resistance from ministers and the imperial clan, noting that Great Hua had never had a woman rule as emperor 74 284.

After completing her martial training at fifteen, she lived largely in seclusion within the palace. Jiang Xiaobai’s eldest and second brothers both courted her, but she rejected them 298.

Appearance

• Beauty: Widely celebrated as the capital’s greatest beauty; Tang Kui extends that reputation to all of Great Hua 40 73.
• Imperial dress: Wears a phoenix crown and elaborate palace gown at court. On a later public appearance, she wears a long robe embroidered with gold, pinned-up hair, and jade ornaments 284 555.
• Maid disguise: Uses a bamboo hat and maid’s clothing while accompanying Jiang Xiaobai 255 292.
• Court veil: Covers most of her face with a black veil, claiming that a cold has affected her complexion. Jiang Xiaobai and Tang Ningshuang suspect it is meant to preserve her disguise 284.
• Fighting bearing: Her forceful movements and dress billowing under surging internal energy give her a markedly heroic appearance 376.

Personality

Yunshu is politically perceptive and guarded about her intentions. Tang Kui warns Jiang Xiaobai that his tricks may be insufficient if she decides to move against him. She approaches Jiang Xiaobai through the Little Princess’s name and continues concealing her purpose even while living in his household 74 195 246.

Her imperial composure contrasts with a mischievous, retaliatory streak. She deliberately makes painful massages a means of revenge, uses her public status to make Jiang Xiaobai massage her at court, and enjoys teasing her senior sister about his music and poetry 255 285 299.

Despite her strength, she is afraid of thunder and becomes frightened enough by Corpse Transformation to remain awake at night. Liu Guanlan’s notes describe her as quiet, fond of solitude, averse to bustle and rainy weather, and especially fond of sweets 256 257 298.

Her protection of Jiang Xiaobai is practical as well as personal: she intervenes against attackers, arranges his cultivation foundation, and seeks his release from prison. She explains some of this assistance as fulfilling promises exchanged with his elder brothers 326 379 429 499.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Arts and Internal Energy

Yunshu trained at the Hidden Edge Sect and possesses formidable internal energy, though her exact rank remains unknown 297 298.

• Palm strikes: Reportedly splits a palace rockery in anger and decisively defeats Elder Dong with a palm strike to the chest 298 376.
• Overwhelming force: Her exchanges leave Elder Dong’s arms numb; a later burst of internal energy drives back three coordinated attackers 376 499.
• Close-range attacks: Sends opponents flying with slaps and kicks, including Peng Xiao despite his preparation for her attack 453 459.
• Limits: Three attackers initially hold her off through coordinated teamwork, preventing her from immediately reaching Jiang Xiaobai 499.

Cultivation Diagnosis and Assistance

She can examine another person’s internal energy and guide its circulation 381 483.

• Detecting rank and instability: Identifies Jiang Xiaobai’s peak sixth-rank power and recognizes that his absorbed energy has not yet fully become his own 483.
• Balancing yin and yang: Restores balance to his separated energies with Tang Ningshuang’s assistance 381.
• Arranging his foundation: Calls in the Scarlet and Dark Elders, spending a favor they owe her to establish Jiang Xiaobai’s foundation in the Yin-Yang Limitless Art 379 426.
• Limits: Requires her senior sister’s help during his first-rank breakthrough and again when his strengthened Yin-Yang Qi Vortices exceed what she can suppress alone 426 483 484.

Movement and Recovery

• Mountain traversal: Carries Jiang Xiaobai up a mountain by repeatedly pushing off the rock face 475.
• Rapid travel: Covers distances through successive leaps when secretly meeting Jiang Linquan 495.
• Expelling incapacitating effects: Circulates internal energy for four hours to overcome the weakness caused by Drunken Immortal Incense, then carries Tang Ningshuang back to the Northern Guardian Marquis’s Estate 321.

Disguise and Political Influence

• Deaf-mute persona: Pretends to be a deaf-mute maid gifted by Xiao Zijing, allowing her to remain close to Jiang Xiaobai without openly acknowledging her imperial identity 251 252.
• Unusual court access: Enters court and receives a seat below the throne despite the normal restrictions on imperial women attending court 284.
• Martial-world standing: Receives respectful greetings from martial-world guests and hosts the Hidden Edge Banquet alongside the sect master 361.
• Authority over confinement: Xiao Qingxiu and three Li heirs are detained at her residence and prevented from attending the Border Market negotiations 394.

Equipment / Items

• Phoenix Carriage — Used for public travel and imperial appearances 73 555.
• Bamboo hat and maid’s outfit — Conceal her appearance while she accompanies Jiang Xiaobai 255 292.
• Black veil, phoenix crown, and palace gown — Worn when she returns to court without abandoning her maid disguise 284.
• Hidden Edge Tokens — Stakes two of her own tokens to begin the banquet wagers; later borrows three from Jiang Xiaobai 361 371.

Relationships

• Jiang Xiaobai — Initially distrusts her because of his eldest brother’s warning. Their relationship develops through her maid disguise, mutual teasing, and substantial protection and cultivation assistance. Other characters suspect romantic interest, but no formal relationship is established in the supplied chapters 40 251 379 454 495.
• Xiao Jinxuan — Her full elder brother and Great Hua’s reigning emperor. She yielded the throne to him; Jiang Xiaobai later suspects his proposed marriage arrangements are intended to reduce her potential threat to his rule 74 297 542.
• Former Emperor — Her father, who valued her intelligence, arranged her martial training, and designated her as his successor 74 297.
• Chu Qingci / White-Dressed Woman — Her senior martial sister and the Hidden Edge Sect’s master. They share a close bond, teasing exchanges, and repeated cooperation in stabilizing Jiang Xiaobai’s cultivation 257 361 367 483 484.
• Xiao Zijing — The Little Princess, whose name Yunshu uses when dealing with Jiang Xiaobai. Zijing gives Yunshu to him as a maid after Yunshu agrees to the arrangement 246 251.
• Tang Ningshuang — Knows Yunshu’s identity while helping maintain the disguise. Assists with Jiang Xiaobai’s energy imbalance and later inadvertently confirms that he has known the truth for a long time 284 381 382 449.
• Jiang Linquan and Jiang Xiaobai’s eldest brother — Former suitors whom Yunshu rejected. Her people later rescue them; she and the brothers exchange promises whose full terms remain undisclosed 298 379 519.
• Liu Guanlan — Receives her orders after the Guanlan Tower attack and acts as an intermediary in negotiations with Jiang Xiaobai 158 225.
• Li Bingzhang — Asked by Yunshu to investigate forged evidence and secure the release of Jiang Xiaobai and Jiang Jingcheng 326.
• Xiao Zining — Her niece, with whom she has an unexplained grudge 565.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Warning and Guanlan Tower

• Jiang Xiaobai first learns of her through the blood-written message, “Beware of the Elder Princess!” Her subsequent invitation therefore prompts suspicion rather than trust 40 73.
• After the Guanlan Tower assassination attempt, Yunshu orders Liu Guanlan to find the attackers and show no mercy. She also acknowledges pushing Jiang Xiaobai toward an opportunity connected to reopening Orchid Pavilion Tower 158.

Living as Jiang Xiaobai’s Maid

• Jiang Xiaobai asks that the Elder Princess become his personal maid while negotiating with Liu Guanlan. Yunshu unexpectedly accepts and enters his household under the supposed sponsorship of the Little Princess 225 251 252.
• At court, she and Jiang Xiaobai pretend to be strangers. She turns the household arrangement back on him by demanding a thorough shoulder massage in front of the officials 284 285.
• She later realizes he identified her as early as Guanlan Tower. Rather than confront him immediately, she chooses to continue the act and take revenge at her leisure 449 450.

Protecting the Jiang Family

• Yunshu admits rescuing the two survivors of the incident three years earlier, but refuses to tell her senior sister where they are 319.
• When Jiang Xiaobai and Jiang Jingcheng are imprisoned, she presses Li Bingzhang to investigate the forged letters and free them 326.
• During Jiang Jingxuan’s rebellion, she rebukes an attendant for suggesting that the loyal Northern Guardian Marquis’s Estate would exploit the uprising, although she privately remains uncertain about Jiang Xiaobai’s response 337.

Hidden Edge Banquet and Cultivation

• Hosts a banquet where guests wager Hidden Edge Tokens, with the banker choosing the contest. She delegates early matches to skilled maids, later takes the field herself, and defeats Elder Dong 354 361 362 376.
• Lets Jiang Xiaobai set the terms when her remaining tokens are borrowed from him, placing Helian Zhaoyue at a disadvantage 374.
• The banquet is revealed to have been arranged for Jiang Xiaobai. Yunshu then uses the Scarlet and Dark Elders’ debt to her to establish his cultivation foundation 379 426.

Hidden Edge Sect and the Iron Box

• Accompanies Jiang Xiaobai to the sect and insists that the group stay in Clearheart Courtyard 475 476.
• Secretly meets Jiang Linquan after he delivers instructions to retrieve an iron box from the Mysterious Dragon Gate. He warns that Northern Yu’s delegation may also be seeking its contents 495.
• Jiang Linquan later confirms that Yunshu’s people rescued him and his eldest brother, while asking Jiang Xiaobai to keep their survival secret 519.
• Back at court, Yunshu questions Jiang Xiaobai about the retrieved objects and appears disappointed when he describes the Succession Edict found in the box 542.

Seventh Prince’s Residence

• Arrives during Jiang Xiaobai’s confrontation with the Seventh Prince’s household. Jiang Xiaobai immediately regards her as an ally and appeals to her for justice 555.
• Although she claims to have been passing by, her clenched fingers relax only after she sees that Jiang Xiaobai is uninjured 555.

Notable Quotes

“Heir Jiang will do...”
“Have him give my shoulders a good, thorough massage!!!!” 284

“His two elder brothers once promised to do something for me!”
“And I... also promised his two elder brothers something!” 379

“Going straight to confront him now would let him off far too easily!” 449