As much as I don’t like Gao Qing, It is kinda unfair for her to be tricked into that. But hey, if she really was a good person, i don’t think she would have left the other people behind. (Though they aren’t good either.) But realistically, she probably would have died or have been assaulted in the original timeline. (Though I’m not sure what choice I would have made, I probably would have made a similar choice, just not with the whole white lotus.)