emperor hsien feng dies whilst in exile. nonetheless, orchid's life is still in danger from su shun (a corrupt official) as the emperor has not yet named an heir. later on in the novel orchid persuades hsien feng to name tung chih as the new emperor, with herself and nuharoo as co-regents. su shun is named as the head of the board of regents. as su shun had previously expected to gain more power from the death of hsien feng without orchid's interference, tensions between the two increase.