Li Zu'e

Emperor Wenxuan also created Empress Li's son Gao Yin crown prince.

Emperor Wenxuan was violent and capricious in his behavior, fueled by his alcoholism, and often beat his consorts, although he never touched Li Zu'e.

However, despite Emperor Wenxuan's violent behavior—which included battering his concubines and sometimes even killing them—he remained respectful of Empress Li herself.

Another instance of violent behavior was when Emperor Wenxuan's concubine Consort Xue asked him to promote her father to a higher rank position as official.

Consort Xue was a former servant of Emperor Wenxuan's relative Gao Yue, and had entered the palace with her sister.

However, the political climate of the time was uncertain, as there were suspicions that Emperor Wenxuan's mother, Grand Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun, would encourage her sons Gao Yan the Prince of Changshan or Gao Zhan the Prince of Changguang to seize the throne.

The two princes responded by arresting and executing Yang and his associates Kezhuhun Daoyuan (可朱渾道元), Song Qindao (宋欽道), and Yan Zixian (燕子獻).

Some time after Emperor Wucheng's taking the throne, he began to force Empress Li to have a sexual relationship with him—threatening her that he would kill her son Gao Shaode if she did not agree.

She suffered severe injuries, but eventually recovered, and Emperor Wucheng expelled her from the palace to be a Buddhist nun.

After Northern Zhou's own destruction in 581, Emperor Wen of Sui permitted her to leave Chang'an, and she returned to her home in Zhao Commandery.

Some scholars have argued that a depiction of Maya (mother of the Buddha) in cave 5[7] of the Xiangtangshan site in Henan represents the empress Li Zu'e mourning the death of her son Emperor Fei of Northern Qi.