Anshi

Anshi is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. She is the Empress Dowager of Li, as the widow of the Former Emperor, and the mother of the Emperor and the Imperial Brother. Anshi looks quite young, only being ten years older than her eldest son. She is considered a graceful and regal beauty. Because her family produces turmeric, which also serves as a yellow dye, she commonly wears yellow clothing.

To the outside world, Anshi may have seemed like a pitiful woman who had pushed and pulled along by the whims of her unscrupulous father and her pedophile husband, which is true. However, by her own admission, she also recognized the way of the world, her place in it, and what little power she had t...