I really like that she pardoned the old woman. Shows that (for now, at least) she's not afraid to use her power to perform random acts of charity, even if doing so could potentially cause trouble. She didn't even look at Dowun first, or try to use it as leverage over Baek Han. She was just like, "Yeah, that sounds reasonable. Done." She hasn't become so absorbed by the battle for power that she's forgotten how to do something good and right for its own sake.
Not to say that she's pure and noble and faultlessly altruistic, either - the old lady didn't end up as the last surviving member of her family by accident, after all - but when she's given the option to grant clemency to someone who hasn't harmed her in any way, her natural reaction was to give it. It's really interesting that she's managed to become empress while holding on to that instinct. I'm really curious if she's going to be able to keep that aspect of herself as the series goes on, and she (presumably) starts coming into friction with Dowun.
Also, I'm really excited about how Dowun looks to be positioning himself as the principle antagonist of the series, now that almost all the childhood enemies of our empress are now dead. There was that other princess, I guess? I honestly can't remember if she's still alive or not.