In 1873, a man named Ge Pinlian died near Hangzhou. The scholar Yang Naiwu and Ge’s wife, nicknamed Little Cabbage (小白菜), confessed to murder under torture. Yang’s family took the case to Beijing by petition. The case was sent back to Zhejiang, and the verdict was upheld.
A censor asked for the case to go to the Board of Punishments. The Empress Dowagers Cixi and Ci’an at first refused, then ordered a review there. The body was exhumed in Beijing and showed no sign of poison. In early 1877 both were acquitted. More than ten officials were punished.