When Wanrong became the Empress of China, she was already ruling over a ghost land. In a matter of months, her country abolished the monarchy, turning all Wanrong’s decadent pleasures into dust.
At first, when Wanrong became engaged to Emperor Puyi, people called it a fairy tale—but it was really a horror story. Puyi married two women on the very same day: Wanrong and his consort Wenxiu. But on the wedding night, he took one look at his brides and fled the bedroom. It was an ominous start to what became a horrible marriage.
Wanrong’s relationship was already on the rocks when a coup ousted she and her husband from the Forbidden City. As they fled from home to home, she became increasingly isolated. Bored and lonely, she struck up affairs with two of her husband’s aides.
Somehow, though, this was just the beginning of her tragic tale. By the end of her life, Wanrong would lose her crown, her child, and most infamously of all, her sanity.
