In May 1452, Jingtai declared the son of his secondary Consort Hang heir to the throne.
At the same time, he promoted Hang to the position of empress, being the mother of the crown prince, and demoted Wang and stripped her of the title.
After her demotion, the ex-empress Wang lived a quiet life outside of the palace walls.
She survived the deposition and death of Jingtai in 1457, when the rest of his concubines and spouses were ordered to commit suicide.
The reason for this was possibly because she had assisted the nephew of her spouse, the future Chenghua Emperor, to hide from Jingtai.