Thank you for your feedback!
Ah empress is just a shorter form of empress dowager. The Forbidden City is the most famous location in China and is known to house many of the famous emperors. It's purposely mentioned in the blurb to indicate that the setting is in ancient China.
Regarding the writing style, I've purposely made it more flowery and (in certain places) more formal to fit the setting and to convey the beauty of the Chinese language (yes, I'm ethnically Chinese. )
Tufan actually refers to the Tibetian empire during the Tang dynasty, which is the same era as Wu Zetian - the Empress Dowager's reign.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give it some thought.