A
Yuan Dynasty play (in the form of
zaju) called
Chen Lin Carrying the Box at Gold Water Bridge (金水橋陳琳抱妝盒) told the story of how Consort Li and her baby son were victimized by a jealous
Consort Liu. This story, which probably borrowed elements from the play
The Orphan of Zhao that is more historically plausible, became incredibly popular and saw many different versions in later periods, including the
Qing Dynasty novel
The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants, where it is referred to as
The Wild Cat for Crown Prince. In this later version, Consort Li was an equal of
Consort Liu when she gave birth to
Emperor Renzong.
Consort Liu plotted with
eunuch Guo Huai to secretly swap the infant with a
skinned Chinese wild cat. Outraged by the "monster baby" and believing her
cursed,
Emperor Zhenzong demoted Consort Li to the forbidden palace. Meanwhile,
Consort Liu ordered her maid Kou Zhu to murder the infant and dump the body, but Kou Zhu gave the infant to
eunuch Chen Lin, who hid him in a box and carried him to emperor's brother
Eighth Prince, who took his infant nephew in as one of his sons. Later,
Consort Liu persuaded
Emperor Zhenzong to have Consort Li killed.
Eunuch Yu Zhong volunteered to die in her place, and with the help of another
eunuch Qin Feng, Consort Li finally escaped from the palace. Several years later, as an old blind woman in a poor village, she found the opportunity to tell the story to the good official
Bao Zheng. Finally the hidden secret was unearthed and the
crown prince, now
Emperor Renzong, eventually accepted his birth mother. == Title ==