In 1860, just before his death, the emperor appointed eight ministers to act as regents to his five-year-old son. But the newly named Empress Dowager Cixi quickly ousted them on fabricated charges ...

So her advisers called in Lady Yugeng, the half-American wife of a Chinese diplomat, and her daughters, Deling and Rongling, to familiarize Cixi with Western ways. With them came their son and ...

5/5 Cixi faces her greatest challenge as ruler, when anti-Western feeling leads to violence.