Loading screen image theory
Today while the game was loading I had a thought. Is that character the empress? I have theorized that she’s a noble consort or other high-ranking woman in the harem. With Xiao Shouli being a prince the most likely person to be using him as a puppet is his mother who must be a member of the harem.
Here’s where the idea that this might be the enoress comes in. Since first seeing it, I believed her huadian looked the way it does because it was AI-generated, but the more I look at it, the more it looks like a bird with long tail feathers. Possibly a phoenix or peacock. If it's a phoenix that means she’s the empress. What do y’all think? To me, this is just a fun little theory and I still believe she is more than likely a high-ranking consort.