Iron Widow

Gao Yizhi is the 18-year-old son of Hauxia’s richest man, Gao Qiu, and is romantically involved with both Zetian and Shimin. Yizhi is immaculately well-kept, educated, and unafraid of using his privilege in society to further gender equity. He teaches Zetian to read and gives her access to the internet, both privileges that are only granted to men. Yizhi believes that love is “infinite” and that women are autonomous people no different than men. It is implied that Yizhi’s LGBTQ+ identity as a bisexual, polyamorous man has led to his rebellious views on gender inequality in an extremely misogynistic society that favors men.

Yizhi is the corner of the metaphorical triangle that stabilizes the relationship between Zetian and Shimin, allowing them all to work together and love one another. Yizhi is Zetian’s first love interest, causing her to feel indebted to him and ignore her feelings for Shimin. Yizhi, who is also attracted to Shimin, soothes her guilt and opens her up to the possibility of unorthodox relationship structures. Similarly, Yizhi helps Shimin heal from his alcohol addiction and provides a stable, reassuring presence for him. Zetian often awakens from episodes of passing out or sleeping to find Yizhi and Shimin holding hands, a dynamic that indicates Yizhi’s role of providing a level of tender support that Zetian’s outlook on life has rendered impossible for her to adopt.

Li Shimin is the 19-year-old ace convict-pilot of the Vermillion Bird and is romantically involved with both Zetian and Yizhi. Li Shimin is part Rongdi and part Huaxian. The Rongdi are looked down on in Hauxia as “barbarians” (260). Shimin’s mother died at an early age, and prior to the events of the novel, he supported himself through school by participating in illegal fight clubs. Shimin killed his brothers when he discovered them sexually assaulting a young girl and then killed his own father for attacking him in the aftermath. For his crimes, Shimin is sentenced to death and hard convict labor. As a death row inmate, his kidney and half of his liver are harvested. Shimin’s half-liver makes the alcohol addiction forced on him by strategist An Lushan particularly deadly to his body. Before Zetian, Shimin was part of another Balanced Match named Wende who died the first time she entered the Vermillion Bird with Shimin. Shimin is the archetypal tragic hero with a heart of gold, a character who appears to all others as threatening and dangerous when he is the opposite in every regard.

Shimin is a complimentary foil to Zetian. As a result, the relationship between the two is an example of the enemies-turned-lovers trope. Shimin, like Zetian, has experienced several tragedies and injustices due to the sexist society they both live in. Both characters want to improve the world, but Shimin has no idea how until he meets Zetian. The balanced power of the two characters also symbolizes the philosophical similarities between them.

Ma Xiuying is the Iron Princess of the Black Tortoise. She has two toddler sons with her co-pilot, Zhu Yuanzhang. Xiuying is one of three Iron Princesses alongside Wu Zetian and the White Tiger’s Pilot, Dugu Qieluo. Xiuying values family bonds and believes that the issue of misogyny in Huaxian society is far more complex than Zetian believes. Xiuying understands that very few women have the power Zetian does to defy the men in their lives and that many women are trying to scrape by, which inadvertently reinforces the patriarchy. Xiuying’s own betrayal of Zetian in order to save her sons is an example of the tricky web of relationships that women must navigate in a patriarchal society.

Xiuying complicates Zetian’s black-and-white understanding of the world. While Xiuying advocates for a kinder view of other women and the world to Zetian, Qieluo acts as Xiuying’s foil and presents Zetian with a much more cynical and harsh view of the world. Zetian’s role as an anti-hero and her extreme actions at the climax of the novel are driven by Xiuying’s betrayal. Zetian views Xiuying’s worldview as a trap meant to keep her tethered and obedient to men; when Zetian listens to Xiuying and moves her family to Chang’an for a better life, they are eventually used as hostages in a futile effort to bargain with Zetian. Zetian’s dismissal of Xiuying’s outlook is part of her larger rejection of redemption and the possibility of pivoting toward a more heroic role at the end of the novel.