[1][2] It is not known when she became Li Song's concubine, but it appeared to be during the time that he was serving as crown prince under his father Emperor Dezong.
Li Song had, in late 804, suffered a debilitating stroke that rendered him partially paralyzed and unable to speak.
It was said that, as a result, after he became emperor, he rarely met the officials and was often in the palace behind a screen, attended to by Consort Niu and the eunuch Li Zhongyan (李忠言).
[4] It was said that Consort Niu and Li Zhongyan formed a group of decision-makers, along with Emperor Shunzong's trusted officials Wang Shuwen and Wang Pi and the chancellor Wei Zhiyi, and they effectively made the decisions on Emperor Shunzong's behalf.
By written proposal of the imperial scholar Zheng Yin, however, Li Chun was created crown prince anyway.