Hey guys, I just finished a full playthrough of Road to Empress 2, and I tracked literally every choice, route split, QTE outcome, Bad End, Mid End, Good End, voice message, and achievement along the way.
This guide follows the story in order, so you can use it as a checklist while playing. Let’s get into it.
Do This First (Free Rewards You Shouldn’t Skip)
Before you even start the routes, open the Mail section from the main menu. It instantly gives you 5000 coins — totally free, no reason to skip it.
There are also a bunch of “menu” achievements you can grab right away without touching the story:
- History Buff – Click “All Chapters” in the bottom-right corner of the Storyline.
- Golden Butterfly Chase – Click “Current” in the same corner.
- Perfect for the Lazy – Hit “Claim All” to grab progression rewards (also works from the Feats section).
- Master Detective – Toggle the Hint Mode slider at the bottom of the Storyline.
- Screenshot Addict – Open the UI overlay and tap the top-right screenshot button 10 times. You don’t even need to save them.
My honest tip: knock these out on day one. They’re easy to forget once you’re deep into the story.
Voice Message Achievements
You’ll unlock tons of voice messages as you play, especially through Bad Ends.
- Lingering Echoes (30 messages) – Popped for me in Chapter 18, Ganye Temple, No Escape 2.
- Lingering Voices (100 messages) – This one unlocked after Chapter 17, A New Era, but only after I’d already finished the Side Story first.
Honestly, if you’re someone who likes exploring Bad Endings (and I’d recommend it — a lot of the juicy lore is hidden there), these two achievements will come naturally without any extra grinding.
Chapter-End Features You Need to Trigger Manually
At the end of every main chapter, there are a few interactive bits tied to specific achievements:
- Spread the Word – Use the Share feature at the chapter end. Tap the bottom-right button, then hit “Save.”
- Always Right – Use the Trait Sketch mechanic. Tap the bottom-left icon, then press “Resume” a couple of times.
- Whispers Behind Your Back – Use “How Others See You” 5 times (Main Story only). Look for a character portrait with three dots above their head and click it—clicking the same character repeatedly counts too.
- Curious Cat – Watch a hidden video at a chapter end (Main Story only). Chapter 17, A New Era, alone has 3 hidden videos, so that’s a great spot to grab this.
- Time Rewind – When you hit a Bad End, use the “Tips” button for 995 gold the first time.
Progress-Based Achievements
These come naturally as you progress, but here’s roughly where they hit for me:
- A Long Road Ahead (50 endings) – Around Chapter 22, Another Life 1.
- Hard-won Fight (100 endings) – Around Chapter 23, First Among the Nine Consorts, again after finishing the Side Story first.
- Getting the Hang of It (50% completion) – Near the end of Chapter 22.
- Seen It All (all ending types) – Technically unlocked around Chapter 24, but it didn’t actually trigger until I closed and reopened the game. So if you’ve collected everything and it’s not popping, try restarting the app.
- Flow of the Past – Just reach the Chapter Summary at any true ending (Main or Side Story).
Prologue: The Make-or-Break Choice
This is where everything branches. Right at the start:
- Leave this place for another life → leads to Liu Xi’s Terms
- Return to the palace and claw to the top → leads to Chance to Meet Li Zhi
If you pick Liu Xi’s Terms:
You can grab the hairpin and take Liu Xi out, or:
- Beg her not to mess up your face → Bad End 1 + Achievement: All Part of the Experience
- Give up to keep the Prince of Wei safe → Bad End 2
If you go for the hairpin, there’s a QTE. Pass it for the achievement Nimble Moves; fail it and you hit Bad End 5.
After Liu Xi’s death (regardless of how it happens), you choose how to handle her body — hide it, run, or frame an assassin. Whatever you pick here, you end up in Chapter 17: Ganye Temple, No Escape 1.
If you pick Chance to Meet Li Zhi:
- Bust through → Bad End 3
- Slip the hairpin to the nun → Bad End 4
- Scream Li Zhi’s name → leads to the next scene
There’s another QTE here — pass it to reach Chapter 17: A New Era, or fail for Bad End 7.
My tip: If you’re playing for the first time and want to see the “main” route without too many early Bad Ends, scream Li Zhi’s name and pass the QTE.
Chapter 17: A New Era
This chapter sets the tone for your whole relationship with Li Zhi and the Empress, so pay attention to your stat choices here.
- Pay Respects to His Majesty – Greeting him calmly gives Li Zhi +1, while greeting him with restrained grievance gives Strategy+ and Li Zhi +2.
- Unexpected Summons is a pivotal moment. Acting submissive raises Wang (Empress) affinity by +2, while staying composed lowers it by -2. This single choice splits you into very different branches with multiple Bad Ends depending on how honest you are afterward.
If you want to avoid most Bad Ends here, staying composed and then choosing honesty carefully (Yes, it’s true) keeps you on a relatively safe path toward The Invitation.
- The Invitation – Choosing “I am willing” gives Fortitude+. The other two options both lead to Bad Ends with multiple voice messages, so if you’re achievement hunting, deliberately picking those once isn’t a bad idea.
The chapter ends with a big personality choice — What Matters Most:
- Power → Ambition+
- Li Zhi’s Love → Fortitude+, Decisiveness+
- I want it all → Ambition+, Decisiveness+, Strategy+
This choice quietly determines which “route” (top, bottom, or mixed) you follow for the next several chapters, so think about which ending type you’re chasing before picking.
Chapters 18–20: The Unfathomable Rear Palace 2.0
This is where the game really opens up. Your Chapter 17 ending choice creates an auto-split — Power and “I want it all” send you down the top path, while Li Zhi’s Love sends you down the bottom path.
A few highlights from this stretch:
- Empress’s Question – Choosing “Aunt, don’t speak of Her Majesty that way” gives Strategy+ and the achievement Exactly My Type.
- Empress’s “Concern” – Picking “I enjoy doing chores” gives Fortitude+ and unlocks Hard Worker.
- What Do You Want? – “Let me gain status by bearing your child” massively boosts Li Zhi affinity (+99) but leads to Bad End 18.
- A Familiar Face – If you choose to slap her 3 times here, and you’ve done this 5 separate times across your playthrough (15 slaps total), you unlock Slap Specialist. A bit of a grind, but funny once you realize what it’s tracking.
- A Bedtime Story – Selecting all three conversation options across playthroughs unlocks Sleep Can Wait.
This whole section also contains the Spend Your Stipend choice, which is pivotal — distributing it to chamberlains gives Prestige+, while buying gifts triggers a longer chain ending in Bad End 26.
By the end of Chapter 20, you’ll get the achievement The Unfathomable Rear Palace 2.0 regardless of whether you spare or kill Liu Xi in the final confrontation.
Chapters 21–22: The Unnecessary Mother
This arc is heavier emotionally — lots of palace politics and betrayal.
- The Poisoned Earrings – Telling Li Zhi the truth gives Decisiveness+ but leads to Bad End 39. Replacing them quietly gives Strategy+ with Bad End 38. Honestly, this is one of those choices where every option feels “wrong,” which I think is the point.
- Who Will Inherit the Crown? – Choosing pregnancy-related options gives a massive Li Zhi affinity boost but ends in a Bad End either way.
- Li Zhi Wants You to Stay – Choosing to flirt and walk away unlocks Dragon Tamer, which I found pretty satisfying — it rewards playing a bit coy instead of always agreeing.
The chapter wraps up regardless of your final choices in How Will You Use Li Zhong?, but your selections here affect later rumor-spreading scenes.
Chapters 23–24: First Among the Nine Consorts
This section has one of my favorite mini-games — Fill the Verses. The solution is simple: left poem goes in the left slot, the middle poem goes in the right slot, and the right poem goes in the middle slot. Took me a couple of tries to figure out, so hopefully this saves you time.
Other key moments:
- A Bedtime Story (again) – Picking all three options across different playthroughs gives Sleep Can Wait.
- Recruiting Youzi – If you’ve maxed all 5 Traits, choosing “Be fiercer than the Empress” leads to Bad End 52, while “Be kinder” continues the story.
- Do You Trust Me? – “I’ll help you” gives both Ambition+ and a big Li Zhi affinity boost (+9).
This arc ends with the achievement First Among the Nine Consorts, no matter which final choice you make with Gaoyang.
Chapters 25–26: Closer to Power
This is where the political stakes get serious.
- Resignation Petition – Reading through all three officials and picking “Ji” gives Ambition+ and Strategy+. After this, there’s an auto-split I genuinely couldn’t figure out the trigger for — I failed to get the “top path” the first time, but after closing and reopening the game, it automatically placed me on it. So if you’re stuck here, try restarting the app.
- Promotions – Choosing the high-paying honorary post keeps the story going, while the lower stipend option leads straight to Mid End 53.
- Throw Them Off Balance – This is a big one. Petitioning to depose the Empress with Strategy+ seems to be the “safe” continuation, while the other two options lead to Bad End 55 or Mid End 56.
Side Chapters 17–18: Ganye Temple, No Escape
This side route is honestly one of the most emotionally intense parts of the game — lots of survival, deception, and hard choices.
- Prince of Wei’s Promise – “Take me with you” gives Bad End 8 and the achievement Distant Echoes.
- What Will You Leave Behind? is a pivotal choice between an Amulet, a Sun and Moon Hairpin, or a Soaring Red Kite. Each item changes which scenes you see later at the well, and which auto-split path you follow afterward.
- Witness Yue’s Crisis – Choosing to step in and save her daughter unlocks Time to Step In, and also changes whether certain later scenes (like Reveal Her Identity) are even available.
- The Relationship – If you’re carrying Li Tai’s baby, you get a double Bad End (18 & 19) along with the achievement That Sounds Familiar.
- Assassin’s Blade – Picking “That won’t work, we don’t even look alike” gives Not a Good Match.
The chapter ends with Fight Back, where passing the QTE gives you the chapter-clear achievement Ganye Temple, No Escape. Failing it leads to Bad End 26, so make sure you’re ready for this QTE — it’s one of the harder ones in this section.
Side Chapters 19–21: Dangerous Reunion & Beyond the Chains
This route focuses heavily on trust and suspicion mechanics with the Prince of Wei.
- What Intel to Deliver is pivotal — telling them about meeting General Yuan Lichen or splitting into groups lowers Mirage Suspicion, while admitting you personally killed Xiao Nian spikes it massively and leads to Bad End 32.
- There are several QTEs in a row here (Scatter Dust, Throw the Wine Jug) — failing either leads to Bad Ends, so take your time with the timing.
- A Proposal of Marriage – Choosing “Knock some sense into him” gives a huge Li Tai affinity boost (+9) but also leads to Bad End 42.
- Persuade Xu Minhui – If you push for “His Majesty is more appealing,” you’ll unlock Raise Your Standards.
Side Chapter 21 ends with The Letter to Xu Xiaode — saying you’re already married to Danlichi gives you the chapter-clear achievement Beyond the Chains.
Side Chapters 22–23: Another Life
This is the emotional climax of the side story, and where a lot of threads come together.
- To Be, Or Not To Be is pivotal. Taking the evidence leads to a proper ending (END 52), while confessing to Li Tai or leaving evidence behind both lead to Bad Ends.
- The achievement A Long Road Ahead unlocked for me right around here, which lines up with the 50-endings milestone mentioned earlier.
- After Rebirth – Choosing “I’m finally free to chase a new life” gives you a proper Good End and the achievement Another Life. If you want a happier conclusion to this route, this is the choice to make.
- A Trap in the Capital is another pivotal moment, and it auto-splits based on a choice you made way back in Chapter 19 (Gaoyang’s Interception). If you picked “A Calculated Retreat” there, you’ll head toward END 53; if you picked “Gaoyang, come with me,” you’ll head toward END 54.
The final stretch — Wine at a Treacherous Feast, Li Zhi’s Concerns, and Li Zhi’s Proposal — has a top/bottom auto-split based on a combination of earlier choices. From my testing, picking “I do,” “Your Majesty, I’d like a cup as well,” “Remnants of Chancellor Zhangsun,” and “He lacks the power to rebel” together pushes you toward END 56 with 2 extra voice messages. There may be other combinations that also lead here, but this is the one I confirmed.
The very last scene, Yue’s Questioning, has one more hidden split tied all the way back to whether you revealed Yue’s identity in Side Chapter 18. To get the “deeper” bottom-path ending, you need to have kept her identity hidden back then, and then choose to lie to her in this final scene.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, what I love about Road to Empress 2 is how interconnected everything is — a tiny choice in Chapter 17 or Side Chapter 18 can completely change which ending you’re even able to reach 20 chapters later. That’s exactly why I tried to note down every auto-split I noticed.
If you’re going for 100% completion, my honest advice is: don’t rush. Let yourself hit Bad Ends on purpose at least once for each major choice — that’s how you’ll naturally rack up voice messages, endings, and most of the hidden achievements without extra grinding.
Hope this helped, and good luck on your playthrough!
