Is a drag queen the main muse of an 18th c. polyamorous pansexual polymath?

Part 3 of “Li Guiguan and Bi Yuan: a celebrated Qing Dynasty gay romance”

We met Bi Qiufan in earlier posts, when he was a low-paid bureaucrat in his 20s, high on talent but low on funds. His star began to rise in his thirties, due in no small part to the care and inspiration of Li Guiguan, a famous opera star and female impersonator. In 1760, Bi took top honors in the highly competitive national civil service exam. From then on, his companion Li was known as zhuangyuan furen, Lady Wife of the First Place Candidate.