ely, I was lucky in giving birth to a
son, as it made me the Emperor's undisputed favorite; but after that
I had very bad luck. During the last year of his reign the Emperor was
seized with a sudden illness. In addition to this the foreign soldiers
burnt down the Palace at Yuen Ming Yuen, so we fled to Jehol. Of course
everybody knows what took place at that time. I was still a young woman,
with a dying husband and a young son. The East Empress Dowager's nephew
was a bad man, who coveted the throne, which he had no right to in
any event, as he was not of royal blood. I would not wish anyone to
experience what I myself passed through at that time. When the Emperor
was in a dying condition, being practically unconscious of what was
taking place around him, I took my son to his bedside and asked him what
was going to be done about his successor to the throne. He made no reply
to this, but, as has always been the case in emergencies, I was equal to
the occasion, and I said to him: 'Here is your son,' on hearing which he
immediately opened his eyes and said: 'Of course he will succeed to the
throne.' I naturally felt relieved when this was settled once and
for all. These words were practically the last he spoke, for he died
immediately afterwards. Although it is now so many years ago, I can see
him now in that dying condition, just as though it all happened only
yesterday.

"I thought that I could be happy with my son as the Emperor Tung Chi,
but unfortunately he died before he was twenty years of age. Since that
time I have been a changed woman, as all happiness was over as far as I
was concerned when he died. I had also quite a lot of trouble with the
East Empress Dowager and found it very difficult to keep on good terms
with her. However, she died five years after the death of my son. In
addition to all this, when the Emperor Kwang Hsu was brought to me as a
baby three years old, he was a very sickly child, and could hardly walk,
he was so thin and weak. His parents seemed to be afraid of giving him
anything to eat. You know his father was Prince Chung, and his mother
was my sister, so of course he was almost the same as my own son,
in fact I adopted him as such. Even now, after all my trouble on his
account, he is not in perfect health. As you know, I have had plenty of
other troubles beside these, but it is useless to mention them now. I
am disappointed with everything, as nothing has turned out as I had
expected." With