During the Kaiyuan era, she was born bearing the title of “Auspicious Child,” accompanied by the auspicious appearance of a five-colored bird, but her birth mother died in childbirth. Raised by a princess consort, she grew up carefree until the age of fifteen, when her father granted her permission to study at the Imperial Academy. There she met the man who would profoundly shape her life: Yan Zhenqing. Just as she childishly swore to become a nun and devote herself to spiritual cultivation for his sake, fate played another trick on her. The Wei and Yang clans lost their struggle for power, and Consort Wei was divorced and shaved her head to become a nun. To secure his position as crown prince, Li Heng arranged two marriages with the Yang family: one between Prince Guangping and Consort Cui, and the other between her and Liu Tan.
The An Lushan Rebellion, however, upended the entire board for the Li imperial house and the Yang family. The Great Tang dynasty teetered on the brink. She shouldered the weight of her country and family on her slender shoulders. After the rebellion was quelled, her suspicious and timid father, Emperor Suzong, and Empress Zhang, who aspired to follow in Wu Zhao's footsteps, brought new challenges to her and Crown Prince Li Yu. After years of supporting one another, she and her brother ultimately rebuilt a golden age together. Yet she remained worried for her country until the end, dying at the age of thirty-six.
As she lay dying, her husband Liu Tan took her hand. Though Liu Tan was the Yang family's nephew by marriage and their spy, the two had been swept up in heartfelt love from the start of the An Lushan Rebellion, and had stood together for nine years.
After she passed away, the person she had cherished all her life returned to Chang'an and completed her spirit stele, fulfilling both their shared pursuit and the bond they had sought throughout their lives.
