[2] The grand secretary Zhang Juzheng wrote to both empress dowagers, arguing that Wang Xijie and the Wanli Emperor were too young.

[3] Initially, Wang's father was made a member of the Jinyiwei with authority over 1,000 households as a result of his daughter's success.

[4] Since the time of the Jiajing Emperor, inheritance of a feudal title by lineal descendants was not permitted.

[1] During the period when the succession was undecided, the emperor's eldest son by Lady Gong was attacked at his palace in the east of the imperial city.

These included her phoenix crown, which the empress would have worn when visiting and making sacrifices in the ancestral temple.