At O-oku (the inner palace of Edo-jo Castle), she called herself Momonoi and served Kazunomiya very well as a close adviser as well as Kangyoin, Tsuguko NIWATA and Katsuko ICHO; following Kangyoin's death in 1865, she cooperated with Tsuguko and even devoted herself to the difficult role to protect Kazunomiya who suffered from the bitter complaints by elder influential women such as Tenshoin.
江戸城大奥では桃の井と称し、和宮の側近として、観行院、庭田嗣子、鴨脚克子らと共に大いに貢献し、慶応元年（1865年）に観行院が死去すると、それまで以上に和宮に尽くし、庭田嗣子と共に和宮を批判する天璋院ら大奥老女と対立した。