In 1869, she made a plea for sparing a life of the Tostugawagoshi (a samurai from Totsugawa area of Nara) who assassinated Shonan YOKOI and this brought a displeasure to the new government and she was placed under house arrest away from the Empress.
明治2年（1869年）には、横井小楠を殺害した十津川郷士の助命嘆願を行うが、これが新政府の不興を買い、皇后から遠ざけられ蟄居の身の上となる。