The former empress refused to let her feelings show. Instead, she bowed three times, and said: 'I wish my former husband every happiness in the future. Bright Virtuous Wu has ensnared the love of His Majesty, nothing remains for me but death. Do as you will.'3 Xiao Liangdi, the Pure Concubine, did not accept her fate with such a serene air. She yelled at her captors: 'Wu is a treacherous fox, who has bewitched the Emperor and now sits on the throne. I hope I shall be reborn as a cat, and the bitch Wu as a rat, that I may bite out her throat.'
