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When her son was seventeen years old he was married to Alute, a
young Manchu lady of one of the best families in Peking and was
nominally given the reins of power, though as a matter of fact
the supreme control of affairs was still in the hands of his more
powerful mother. The ministers of the European countries,
England, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, now
resident at Peking, thought this a good time for bringing up the
matter of an audience with the new ruler, and after a long
discussion with Prince Kung and the Empress-mother, the matter
was arranged without the ceremony of prostration which all
previous rulers had demanded.
The married life of this young couple was a short one. Three
years after their wedding ceremonies the young monarch contracted
smallpox and died without issue, and was followed shortly
afterwards by his young wife who heeded literally the instruction
of one of their female teachers in her duty to her husband to
Share his joy as well as sorrow, riches, poverty or guilt,
And in death be buried with him, as in life you shared his guilt.
That her nearest relatives did not believe, as has often been
suggested, that there was any "foul play" in regard to her death,
is evident from the fact that her father continued to hold office
until the time of the Boxer uprising, at which time he followed
the fleeing court as far as Paotingfu, where having heard that
the capital was in the hands of the hated foreigners, he sent
word back to his family that he would neither eat the foreigners'
bread nor drink their water, but would prefer to die by his own
hand
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