After the fall of Nanjing, Tieliang fled to Shanghai on a Japanese warship and was dismissed by the imperial court.

After returning to Beijing, he formed the Royalist Party with Zaixun, Zaitao, Liangbi and others to oppose the abdication of the Qing emperor.

He traveled between Qingdao, Dalian, Japan and other places, planning the restoration of the Qing dynasty with Shanqi and others.

Tieliang took the opportunity to encourage Zhang Xun to lead his Queue Army to restore Puyi.

[citation needed] In 1938, Tieliang died of illness at his residence on Gordon Road in the British Concession in Tianjin.