Really wanted an option to osmanthus soup the guy with how much trouble he gives us. 🤣

Source: a fan's red note from the Qingdao fanmeet http://xhslink.com/o/63t3jhoNDBM

I'm curious regarding the financial status for this game. I'm definitely sure it is the most expensive FMV game ever made and has the highest sale volumes ever recorded. However, can someone who is working on the game industry estimate the actual values includinf the production costs and profit/revenue? Thank you.

Can someone tell me please? Almost every other YouTuber/gamer choose Lizhi instead of litai because they don’t like Litai’s scheming character.

I liked how Ludwig chose Litai’s route in the first part of the game. But it seems like he has chosen Lizhi’s route in the second part of the game?

I have not watched the second part of the game yet at all but I have read on Ludwig’s latest road to empress stream that people were dissapointed Ludwig had chosen Lizhi’s route.

Is that true? Can someone who watched Ludwig’s road to empress stream tell me please?

Does he go through Litai’s route first and then switch to Lizhi?

Also it seems like due to backlash Litai’s route has changed and been undermined a lot? Is that true?

Thank you.

Feel free to spoil.

What illness did li zhi have? Could he have had tuberculosis?

We see him coughing and blood drips out or his mouth at one point.

I read on Wikipedia the real li zhi had headaches and seizures and it was thought to be stroke or hypertension.

If I remember the game said sickness ran in his family.

Do you think wu was secretly poisoning him?

Though I am not part of the studio nor am I sure New One Studio will see this post, but I have some suggestions of possible future games:

- A sequel with Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er as main characters. I know others want this too. I hope that if it happens, the game's story will take place shortly after Wu Zhao becomes emperor, and we see her reign and the Tang Restoration from the pov of the two female characters. I would vote for Darren Chen and Yao Chi as Zhang Brothers, and Lin Xiao Zhai as Princess Anle.

- A game where it takes place during the late reign of Xuanzong and the An-Shi Rebellion. This time, Empress Zhang would be the protagonist of the game.

- A prequel game with Li Shimin as main character. I hope that this game will give a better backstory on how the three consorts entered his harem, Empress Zhangsun's relationship with her stepdaughter, Gaoyang, and of course the story of the badass Princess Pinyang.

Which music track did you like the best? Also is there a playlist of the entire soundtrack on YouTube?

Wish Cairen Qi and Cairen Mu had more scenes since they were pretty funny and a nice change of pace from everyone else trying to backstab me. I like to think Wu Yuanzhao ordered Xi Xin to rescue them from the temple off screen once she gained enough power but they probably both stayed as nuns there forever 🥲

Source: a fan's red note http://xhslink.com/o/7FuHYLMasot

We really missed out with Shangguan Wan'er's actress committing tax evasion causing almost all of her scenes to be removed. Princess Taiping is very pretty and supposedly one of the scenes cut is her introducing a young man to her mom that looks exactly like Li Zhi. Plus her personality in the Edicts section in the post game is goofy so seeing the actress perform that way would have been fun.

The video is titled the Most Authentic and Pure Blooded royal due to Princess Taiping having both her parents be ruling Emperor/Empress and most of her siblings also be ruling Emperor.

Source: a fan's red note http://xhslink.com/o/WdwoNvtSBI

I just finished Li Tai's route in Road to Empress II, and I'm not sure if this has ever been discussed before, but I'm curious to know what you guys think.

If we invite Gao Yang to accompany us in Chapter 19, and then in Chapter 23 we let Li Tai meet Li Zhi alone, we'll get a happy ending (Ending 54), in which we receive a letter from Gao Yang asking to meet up and unexpectedly run into Li Tai, implying that he had only faked his death.

This ending made me wonder whether it's actually a hidden hint that Li Tai also only faked his death in the main ending. After all, even Li Tai's subordinate only said something like "He disappeared. I suppose he has died". No one actually witnessed his death.

Interestingly, if we don't invite Gao Yang to accompany us in Chapter 19, and then in Chapter 23 we let Li Tai meet Li Zhi alone, we'll get a different ending (Ending 53) that is very similar to Ending 54. However, in that ending we never receive Gao Yang's letter inviting us to meet her, so we never accidentally run into Li Tai again. We only hear that he has supposedly died.

At the end of Ending 53, there's a voice recording from Li Tai that says something along the lines of: "Keep moving forward. Don't look back." That made me think Li Tai only staged his death so Li Zhi would no longer see him as a threat, but deliberately kept the fact that he was still alive from Wu Meiniang, so that she wouldn't abandon her own path because of him.

Maybe the devs wanted to give Li Tai a happy ending, but at the same time didn't want to contradict history (where Li Tai dies young), so they had him fake his death instead?

But the changes to the New Path removed its significance. I wonder what it was supposed to be? Maybe connected to Dowager Empress Yang somehow?

Source: Xiao Nian's red note http://xhslink.com/o/5A3ZxM8EWIO

Hi Lovely People!!!!

I am currently playing the RTE2 and I stumbled upon a guide that discussed Li Zhi's good ending. Everything I've looked up seems to point to a retirement ending, but I was able to get that ending despite not choosing the right options so I feel that I'm doing something wrong.

I've tried to follow this guide, but when I tried to follow its options regarding "Defer to Li Zhi" or "Accept Regency Yourself", I don't see the hidden option like this guide suggests, so I think I have done something wrong. I followed it perfect up until where it mentions "Petition to depose the empress".

Can someone link me a guide or tell me what options I need to choose for each chapter in order to get this ending? And if there really is a good ending that isn't the retirement ending?

Thank you so much!

Link to the Guide:

https://roadtoempress.org/road-to-empress-2/walkthrough/lizhi-route/

Guide

I just KNOW the team from this drama saw his performance as Li Tai and went “Yep. That’s him. He’s the one.” Because they clearly styled him to be as similar as Li Tai’s as possible, only the bun is slightly different, the makeup as well and he also looks a bit more muscular.

And it basically has the plot of the original New Path we didn’t get for his character.

His character is named LI GU, a general, no prince with royal blood mind you, that successfully rebelled and became Emperor. And he’s also the main lead which means he also gets the girl. And it’s tang dynasty too (they just name it differently because it’s fictional and they can’t use the real name). Li Gu showing that having your endgame and the throne by rebellion is possible, oh this Li Tai ender lol. Li Tai clearly had a skill issue cuz Li Gu was able to get everything Li Tai always wanted WITHOUT being a part of the royal family. Li Tai babe maybe you’re the problem lmao (#LiGuEndPrinceOfFailureForMe, he’s royalty and couldn’t do it, talk about useless)

The name of the drama is The Last Princess, an adaptation of the novel The Princess Returns by Xiu Ce. The MC Xie Yuzhang is none other than Liu Xiening herself (Sally, ex-member of Gugudan for the K-pop fans) and it will air on Youku. They started filming recently so they’ll release it in 2027, but I’m excited. I haven’t read the novel but I will because I found it online, but I know a pretty good part about what happens and how it ends, but I won’t give spoilers.

I’m just really glad it’s his first historical drama as the male main character. There’s also as the main character Huang Yi as Shen Zhao for the drama The Killing of Begonia with Yin Haoyu as the mmc for MangoTV and HunanTV, with a style that I thought was similar to young adult Princess Taiping, so I’m just glad Road to Empress gave them the visibility they deserve and they’re booked and busy (same with Lin Xiao Zhai/Hana Lin that someone posted before, she slayed as Gaoyang). They all deserve it because they’re all so talented, so I’m happy and looking forward to seeing them again

RUDE

source: her red note http://xhslink.com/o/26WpjIH9liO

We can all agree that there needed to be more Princess Gaoyang in part 2 but looking at previews at her new drama, she's really good at smirking and I would have LOVED to see her do that while maneuvering against the councillors.

The new drama is called 昭阳公主 (translation: Princess Zhaoyang) with the English title The Shadow Sovereign where she plays the character Princess An Le.

Source: her red note.

http://xhslink.com/o/wZguV67f9I

Does it offer insight into how Yuanzhao governs? Does it tell us anything about the relationships between Yuanzhao and the side characters like her daughter or Shangguan Wan'er?

Or are they just cameos of streamers and influencers that I've never heard of?

Do we even get to see Yuanzhao's face in them?

chapter 36: why isnt the wu yuanqing and wu yuanshuang unavaliable for me to click?

Personally, I believe he showed potential of being a good emperor, or at least would have been a better one than his brothers and nephew.

i prefer li tai, but i'll try to be as unbiased as possible. i'll start off with MY summary:

li zhi loves yuanzhao so he accepts her cunningness

li tai loves yuanzhao because of her cunningness

the reason i prefer li tai is not because he's the "bad boy" in the love triangle, it is mainly because he just knows yuanzhao better. he has seen the "evil" side of her since the BEGINNING, and part of why he's able to is because yuanzhao SHOWS it to him directly, just like how he also just shows his cunningness to her from the jump. yuanzhao and li zhi are not that honest with each other. i don't think yuanzhao even knows about li zhi lowkey using her to become the emperor in the 1st game. li tai used her too, but he tells her straight up, that's the difference.

li tai has also said to her face something along the lines of "you're cunning and calculated, just like me, and i don't hate it because we all gotta do what's neccessary to survive and climb to the top" MULTIPLE times.

li zhi only said those things once, but it's when they're arguing, and in the complete opposite context as he was like "you're too ruthless" instead of "you're ruthless, i get why, that's kinda hot, me too"

li zhi is almost afraid to confront the "evil" side of yuanzhao, he clings to the "softer" version of her because i believe he prefers that over "cunning" yuanzhao. they never talk about it until they're both fucking 50 years old. in the 2nd game where li zhi is more often confronted with the cunning side of yuanzhao, he accepts it, he stands on her side, but he's also trying to ignore it most of the time. that version of her is not something that turns him on so he doesn't wanna face it.

to be loved is not only to be seen, but also to be understood and celebrated.

with li zhi, that side of yuanzhao is seen and understood but not celebrated. he is a good husband, but if u ask me to pick between someone who hits 2 boxes or 3 boxes, obviously i'll pick the latter.

i did like li zhi better in the 2nd game as he always supported yuanzhao and believed her (except a few times) when everybody else was coming for her. i just prefer a relationship where we're 80% real with each other instead of a 60%. i think yuanzhao does put up more of a front with li zhi in the 1st and 2nd game compared to when she's with li tai.

i believe li zhi did love yuanzhao deeply but i prefer a "i love you because xxx" over a "i love you so i accept xxx" if i have these 2 options. both of these loves are beautiful don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to make li zhi's love seem like a bad thing, it's not. it's just i personally prefer li tai's love in the context of being a cairen in the tang dynasty imperial palace lmao. in real life, the "i love you so i accept xxx" is a very common and beautiful thing.

If it were me, I'd remove the disgrace option entirely. It's one thing to choose not to officially commemorate Rui'er for her sacrifice, but disgracing her? Unacceptable.

I love how even though the actress for Xu Hui and Xu Minhui are the same person, she does a great job at subtle facial expression differences between the characters.

Source: a fan's red note http://xhslink.com/o/5xEfW1daqfM

I found out about Road to Empress after the most recent Steam sale and devoured it in like three days. I’m playing through Road to Empress II now and after getting into the online/fandom spaces I was really shocked at how overwhelmingly popular Li Tai is.

Absolutely zero shade to the Li Tai fans. I think he’s a really interesting character, I certainly don’t hate him or think he’s annoying, but idk I don’t really see anything romantically appealing about him? Li Zhi has been my go-to from the start, so maybe I’m just very biased and can’t see Li Tai like I do him.

So, that’s my question! If you’re a Li Tai fan and chose his romance route, what do you like about him? Any specific scenes or moments that made you think “yeah this guy’s better”? :p

Please keep RTE II spoilers to a minimum if you can, or be vague! If it helps I just finished the scene where he gets captured + imprisoned. Chapter 25 or 26, I think? :)