A very unexpected read. It is annoying in so many ways, but that's only because I realized that this world was built around men since the beginning of time.
I was even more surprised to find out that, even though this is a fictional story, Lady Tan actually existed. Powerful women have existed for ages, and some of them found a way not only to survive in a man's world, where men's pleasure was even above women's lives but to become known over centuries. 
 It's also additional proof that it's always been extremely important, as a woman, to be surrounded by women who take care of each other. The circle of good has always been the safe shelter in a patriarchal world.