Her father was originally a military attache, because he was a member of the Donglin Party, he was convicted by Wei Zhongxian and a group of eunuchs.

[8] Because her adoptive mother Li Zhenli was generous and elegant, most of the guests at Meixiang Lou were literati and upright and loyal ministers.

That night, Hou Fangyu gifted Li Xiangjun a traditional Chinese fan, on which he wrote a poem as a token of love.

Ruan was a cunning senior official in the court, who conspired with the eunuch Wei Zhongxian (Chinese: 魏忠贤).

After learning the truth, Li Xiangjun removed the hairpin from her head, sold her jewelry and borrowed from other Gejis to return the debt.

She comforted Hou Fangyu: "Remove my dresses, it is fine to be poor; wear commoners clothing, your reputation will be clean."

After Hou Fangyu failed the scholar exam because of his controversial criticism in his article, he left Nanjing in a hurry.

She urged him to cut ties with minister Ruan Dacheng and supported him to join Shi Kefa's anti-Qing struggle.

A furious Tian Yang sent orders to kidnap Li, who struggled violently and splattered blood on the fan gifted by Hou.

With the city of Nanjing in chaos, Li Xiangjun escaped from the palace and from the Changban bridge, saw Meixiang Tower being burned.

[14] In 1645, Li Xiangjun became a Taoist nun in Baozhen Temple, Qixia Mountain with his former Geji friend Bian Yujing.

Concealing her Geji identity, Li moved into Xiyuan Feicui Building as Hou Fangyu's concubine with her old surname Wu.

The father-in-law Hou Xun chased Li out of Feicui Building and reluctantly allowed her to live in a desolute village, fifteen miles away from the city.

[15][16][17] The residence of Li Xiangjun (Chinese: 李香君故居) is open to the public as part of Nanjing's literary cultural heritage.