She was directly involved in two imperial successions and is credited with changing expectations of widows in Khitan society.
[2] In 916, Yelü Abaoji, having consolidated the power over the Khitan tribes into his hands, declared himself emperor of a new Liao dynasty, and created Shulü Ping empress.
As empress, she was described as brave, resolute, and full of strategies, often participating in Emperor Taizu's military decisions.
Hearing that he was away, two Shiwei tribes, the Huangtou (黃頭) and the Choubo (臭泊), decided to raid the Khitan headquarters.
As, at that time, the Shatuo prince of Jin, Li Cunxu, was locked in a war against archrival Later Liang, he sought an alliance with the Khitan, and he honoured Emperor Taizu as an uncle and Empress Shulü as an aunt.
About the same time, two coups occurred within the domains of Jin allies Zhao and Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei)—as Zhao's prince Wang Rong was assassinated and his adoptive son Zhang Wenli seized control of the domain, and Yiwu's military governor Wang Chuzhi was overthrown by his adoptive son Wang Du.
He converted it to a kingdom named Dongdan, creating his and Empress Shulü's oldest son Yelü Bei its king, with the title of "Imperial King Ren" (人皇王, Ren Huangwang)—while their second son Yelü Deguang was, at the same time, given the title of "General Crown Prince".
Empress Shulü, at that time with Yelü Bei at Dongan, apparently to destroy potential dissent, gathered the wives of many generals and officials that she considered difficult to control, and stated to them, "I am now a widow.
She then, leaving Emperor Taizu's younger brother Yelü Anduan (耶律安端) temporarily in charge at Dongdan, returned to the Khitan capital Linhuang (臨潢, in modern Chifeng, Inner Mongolia) with Yelü Bei, escorting Emperor Taizu's casket.
Yelü Bei, angry over this turn of events, took several hundred soldiers and wanted to flee to Later Tang (Jin's successor state), but was intercepted by Khitan border guards.
[5] Meanwhile, Empress Dowager Shulü continued to carry out killings of those she considered difficult to control.
[5] (Another account had it that she wanted to die as well at Emperor Taizu's death, but was dissuaded by her relatives, so she then came up with the solution of cutting off one of her hands.
When one of the Later Tang generals that Emperor Taizong captured, Zhao Dejun the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), was delivered to Empress Dowager Shulü, she pointed out Zhao's hypocrisy in claiming to want to defend the Later Tang emperor while actually engaging in negotiations with Emperor Taizong to have his support for the throne instead.
As a result, Emperor Taizong entered into some peace negotiations with Shi Conggui in 945 that, however, were ultimately fruitless.
With the capital defenceless because the army had been given to Du, Shi Chonggui surrendered, ending Later Jin.
To congratulate him for this great victory, Empress Dowager Shulü sent wine, delicacies, and fruits from Khitan lands to Kaifeng.
Both Shizong and Muzong resented her for supporting Lihu, so neither lifted her house arrest, nor honored her as grand empress dowager.
[1] While Empress Shulü dominated the court in the first succession, she also made other contributions to Khitan culture.
Ethnic Han empress dowagers of the era were expected to wield their influence behind the scenes.
However, Khitan women held a far higher status than their Han counterparts in the tenth century.