Yu Xiaoxi

Empress Yu Xiaoxi (余晓曦, 余皇后) is the current Empress, wife of the Shaozhi Emperor.

She is the daughter of Yu Mingze, who is one of the four Grand Secretaries at the start of the Shaozhi reign.

Life
Born in the 7th year of Yongfeng (1640 CE), Yu Xiaoxi is in fact one year older than the Emperor. As Yu Mingze has been an important official in Court even during the reign of the Jianzhang Emperor, he naturally was able to let even his daughter enter the Palace.

It was in one of these visits, in the 7th year of Jianzhang (1649), that Xiaoxi first ran into Xiao Xuhuan - later the Yuanlu Emperor - and Xiao Xuyu, her eventual husband.

The Jianzhang Emperor - mindful of Yu Mingze's position - was reluctant to let one of his daughters marry the heir presumptive; as a result, he shunted Xiaoxi off to the younger son instead. Therefore, in the 13th year of Jianzhang (1655), the 15-year old Xiaoxi was married to 14-year old Xiao Xuyu.

The wedding was meant to be a "Counter-Celebration", for the Jianzhang Emperor was already seriously ill at the time and it was felt that a wedding would help wash away the ill-fortune. This was not to be, unfortunately; 5 months after the wedding, the Jianzhang Emperor ascended to heaven, and the Yuanlu era began.

Description
Empress Yu is an avid reader of history books, and a lover of maps. It's an unusual habit for a woman, but the high rank of her family has allowed her to indulge in this.

Residence
The Empress resides in the Palace of Eternal Spring. This is the customary residence of all Empresses of the Wei Dynasty, ever since the completion of the Palace of Primal Harmony.

The Inner Apartment of the Palace of Eternal Spring has an entire wall with ornate wooden shelves - each bearing an array of history books.

Six ornate brass censers - four shaped like turtles, two shaped like cranes - that spew a sweet, floral incense. It's not that she likes the incense that much - it's that she doesn't like the musty smell of books, even though she loves the books themselves.

Relationships
As the most powerful of the women in the Inner Palace, Xiaoxi has become a patroness of sorts for several of the consorts in the palace.