Leader of the Mirage Pavilion intelligence network (original character)
The Mirage Pavilion Master always wears a mask — and the true face beneath it is the game's most closely guarded secret. As the leader of the most powerful intelligence network in the empire, the Pavilion Master operates outside all factions, selling information to the highest bidder and manipulating events from the shadows. Their INTJ personality manifests as infinite patience and terrifying strategic depth.
The Mirage Pavilion Master cannot be allied with in the traditional sense — you can only negotiate temporary arrangements. Their true identity, when revealed, reframes the entire story. The reveal is foreshadowed across multiple chapters, but most players miss the clues on their first playthrough.
The Mirage Pavilion Master is Road to Empress II’s answer to the question of who really runs the empire — not the emperor, not the empress, not the chancellor, but the one who knows everyone’s secrets. As the masked leader of the most powerful intelligence network in the realm, the Pavilion Master operates outside every faction, selling information to the highest bidder and shaping events from the shadows. For players on the Side Story route, this figure is impossible to ignore: the Ganye Temple chapters put the protagonist inside the Pavilion’s machinery, and an entire hidden mechanic — Mirage Suspicion — exists to track how much the organization distrusts you. The Master’s true face is the game’s most closely guarded secret, and the reveal reframes the entire story.
Strictly speaking, the Mirage Pavilion Master has no role in the palace at all — that is the source of their power. The Mirage Pavilion is an extra-legal intelligence network with its own territory and jurisdiction; even government officials within its reach, like Official Xia, operate under its shadow rather than the throne’s. Where court factions fight over proximity to the emperor, the Pavilion trades in something more durable: verified secrets about everyone.
This makes the Master a power broker in the purest sense. The key traits are unambiguous — they work with all factions but belong to none, and the organization is described as the most dangerous force in the game. The mask itself is a statement about power: the most dangerous person in the room is the one you cannot identify.
The Pavilion Master is typed INTJ, and the personality shows through the organization’s design rather than through dialogue. INTJ hallmarks — infinite patience, systems thinking, terrifying strategic depth — describe an intelligence apparatus built to outwait emperors. The favor attribute is listed as “None — enigmatic power broker,” which is mechanically honest: there is no affection meter to farm here, no gifts that soften the mask.
What the player experiences instead is negotiation. The routeInfo is explicit that the Master cannot be allied with in the traditional sense; you can only arrange temporary accommodations, priced in usefulness. Every interaction with the Pavilion treats sentiment as a liability — fitting for a leader whose INTJ calculus values outcomes over relationships.
The Master’s direct appearances are guarded, but the Pavilion’s presence saturates the Side Story route of Road to Empress II. Side Chapter 17: Ganye Temple, No Escape places the protagonist inside Pavilion territory while disposing of Liu Xi’s body and assuming her identity; the arc culminates in the “Mirage Pavilion’s Offer” choice, where how you frame your value to the organization determines whether the route continues.
Side Chapters 19-20: Dangerous Reunion go further — the protagonist now operates as a Mirage Pavilion agent while concealing her identity from Li Tai, and every choice moves the hidden Mirage Suspicion counter. The chapter data is precise about the stakes: suspicion spikes of +9 or more trigger bad endings, claiming you “personally killed Xiao Nian” instantly triggers BE 32, and accurate intel deliveries lower the counter. The Dangerous Reunion ending page confirms this arc is essential groundwork for the Beyond the Chains and Another Life endings.
The Master’s own hand shows at the route’s climax: the Another Life ending requires rejecting the Mirage Pavilion’s offer in Chapter 22, and its lockout condition is stated as “accepting the Mirage Pavilion Master’s bargain.” One decision about this figure decides which version of freedom — if any — the protagonist earns.
Two relationships anchor the Master in the cast. With Xiao Nian, the Pavilion’s steward and most versatile operative, the bond is professional loyalty — she manages the network’s field operations, and her allegiance is to the Pavilion rather than to any sentiment, which is why her death (or your false claim of causing it) is treated as a red line by the organization. With Wu Yuanzhao, the relationship is described as complex, their interests intersecting in unexpected ways: employer, handler, threat, and — depending on the route — the obstacle standing between the protagonist and another life. The Master’s faction dynamic with the court at large is simpler and colder: every house is a customer, and none is a friend.
Mechanically, the Pavilion Master is experienced as the Mirage Suspicion system. Guidance consistent with the chapter data: first, learn the counter’s logic early — choices that raise suspicion by +9 or more force bad endings, so consistently prefer options that lower it (-1 or -2) when delivering intel. Second, never boast falsely to the Pavilion; the “personally killed Xiao Nian” report is the classic instant-death blunder. Third, carryovers matter: what you leave at the well in Chapter 17 alters branches in Chapter 19, so players report that replays are essential for full completion. Fourth, plan your ending backwards — if you want Another Life, you must decline the Master’s bargain in Chapter 22, which means treating every earlier accommodation as strictly temporary. In most playthroughs, the Pavilion is survivable only if you remember the rule its Master embodies: you are not an ally, you are an asset.