Zhāng Chūn Huá 张春华

Translated Description:
Cold-blooded Empress 冷血皇后 (lěng xuè huáng hoù)

Who is she:
At first glance, you might probably think that this is one of Cao Cao 曹操's many wives who later became Empress of Wei Kingdom 魏国. Yet on closer scrutiny of history, her identity comes as a shock! Zhang Chun Hua is not wife of any within the Cao family. She is, in fact, the wife of Si Ma Yi 司马懿, the nemesis of Cao Cao! So why is she an Empress and given the colours of the Wei Kingdom in this character card? Since Zhang Chun Hua is the wife of Si Ma Yi, and Si Ma Yi was one of Cao Cao's most important advisors at the time, it is natural that her "allegiance" lies with the Wei Kingdom. However she never became Empress in her lifetime. It was only after her grandson, Si Ma Yan 司马炎, established the Jin Dynasty 晋朝 that she was posthumously honoured as Empress.

What about the "Cold-blooded" part of her description? Read on the find out!

[2011 Old version]
Character ability 1: "Ruthless 绝情 (jué qíng)" [Enforced ability]
All damage caused by you is viewed as "loss of health". (Character abilities or card abilities that are activated when damage is "caused by" or "received" will not activate).

Character ability 2: "Bereavement 伤逝 (shāng shī)"
With the exception of the discard phase, whenever your number of on-hand cards is less than the number of units of health loss thus far, you can immediately draw from the deck till your on-hand cards equal number of units of health loss.

Example of usage for "Bereavement" - When you have 1 unit of health left, the number of health loss thus far is 2 units. Suppose you have 2 on-hand cards, a WINE 酒 and an ATTACK 杀, and you use both simultaneously on another player, you will have zero on-hand cards left. You can thus immediately draw 2 cards from the deck.

[2012 New version]
Character ability 1: "Ruthless 绝情 (jué qíng)" [Enforced ability]
All damage you are about to inflict is converted to "loss of health".

Character ability 2: "Bereavement 伤逝 (shāng shī)" [Enforced ability]
With the exception of the discard phase, your minimum number of on-hand cards is X, X being the number of units of health you have loss and X has a maximum of 2.


Ability's relation to story:
The link to the story is more obtuse. "Ruthless" is supposed to describe her cold-blooded nature, however this ability does not intuitively describe cold-bloodedness. Instead the ability crafter mentioned that this ability was meant to counter her husband, Si Ma Yi's "Retaliation 反馈" ability. The aim was to demonstrate that Si Ma Yi was unable to outsmart his wife, which was what happened in the story. The mechanics of "Bereavement" has very little connection to the story. This ability apparently hints at the love that Si Ma Yi has lost for Zhang Chun Hua in her later years, especially after she was neglected in favour of Si Ma Yi's other love, Lady Bai 柏夫人.

Additional info based on story:
1. Most famous achievement - Cold-bloodedly murdering her own servant maid. When Si Ma Yi began plotting to overthrow the Cao family, he avoided going to battle by feinting illness. The malingering Si Ma Yi slacked away in his abode, so carefree that he put out his books to dry in the sun. Unfortunately, it began to rain and Si Ma Yi leapt out of bed to bring his books indoors. One of the maids saw his sudden burst of energy and was shocked that Si Ma Yi has recovered miraculously from his illness. The guileless maid informed Zhang Chun Hua that Si Ma Yi seems to have recovered overnight. Yet Zhang Chun Hua was no fool, she knew about Si Ma Yi's reasons for feinting illness. Fearing further complications if the maid were to speak of this to others, Zhang Chun Hua murder the maid there and then to ensure that Si Ma Yi's feint is safe from suspicion.

2. Cause of death - Old age, but probably suffering from disaffection before her death. Si Ma Yi once called her "old and ugly", whereupon Zhang Chun Hua decided to starve to death and take her own life. Upon hearing this, all of their children vowed to starve with their mother and die alongside her. Si Ma Yi then took back his words and his family did not go ahead with their suicide, but Si Ma Yi later told Zhang Chun Hua that he could not have cared less if she starved to death. He only took back his words to save his children.

Wiki Link:
Zhang Chun Hua Wiki