One of the most circulated rumours is that before his death, the Xianfeng Emperor wrote a secret imperial edict and gave it to Ci'an. Apparently, the emperor foresaw that Cixi would try to overrule Ci'an and dominate the imperial court, so he wrote the edict to authorise Ci'an to have Cixi eliminated if necessary. Ci'an, believing that Cixi would not harm her, showed her the secret edict and burnt it to demonstrate her trust in her co-regent. She died under mysterious circumstances later that day.