Natural disasters occurred frequently after 776, and they were dreaded as the acts of the revengeful ghosts of the deposed empress and the deposed crown prince and a rumor started to circulate that the empress became a dragon.
宝亀7年（776年）から天災地変がしきりに起こり、廃后・廃太子の怨霊と恐れられ、また廃后は竜になったという噂が立った。