Li Lingrong was born of a humble origin, and she became a servant girl in the household of Sima Yu the Prince of Kuaiji.
Sima Yu originally had a wife from high birth, Princess Wang Jianji (王簡姬).
The practitioner looked at all of them and opined that none was destined to give him an heir—but then he saw Li Lingrong, who was tall, dark-skinned and who was derogatorily referred to as "Kunlun".
In September 394, after a petition by Sima Daozi (by now the Prince of Kuaiji), she was finally honored as empress dowager.
[4] She died on 9 Aug 400 and was mourned with ceremony due an empress, but was not buried with Emperor Jianwen or worshipped with him in his temple, but instead was worshipped in the same temple that housed Emperor Jianwen's mother, Consort Zheng Achun (鄭阿春).