The Palace plot of Renyin year (), also known as the Palace Women's Uprising (), was a Ming dynasty plot against the Jiajing Emperor, where 16 palace women attempted to murder the emperor. It occurred in 1542, the 21st year of the reign of the Jiajing Emperor and the renyin year of the sexagenary cycle, hence its name. Causes The Jiajing Emperor has been called the “Daoist emperor”, due to his adherence to Daoist beliefs, particularly that of divination and alchemy. One of the alchemical concoctions he took to prolong his life was red lead (), a substance made from the menstrual blood of female virgins. Girls aged 13–14 were kept for this purpose, and were fed only mulberry leaves and rainwater. Any girls who developed illnesses were thrown out and they could be beaten for the slightest offence. It has been suggested that this cruel treatment led to the uprising. Another version of the story is that the Jiajing Emperor's garden had many banana trees, and the morning dew collected from the leaves tasted sweet and refreshing. The Jiajing Emperor thus drank the water, believing it would promote longevity. Young girls in the palace were made to collect the dew every morning, and many of them fell ill due to the cold. Sometimes older women were sent to collect the dew as a form of punishment. One time, the emperor was given a 'longevity turtle' dyed in 5 different colours, and he ordered his lower-ranking concubines to care for the animal. However, the turtle died, and the furious Emperor ordered the concubines to collect the morning dew. Around the same time, Imperial Concubine Wang Ning was spreading rumours that the emperor had lost the favour of Heaven because he had been enchanted by his favourite concubine, Consort Duan. The rumour alleged that Consort Duan was actually a fox spirit and her spell on the emperor offended Heaven. When the emperor found out, he ordered Imperial Concubine Wang Ning to collect the dew as punishment. When in the garden, the Imperial Concubine met other concubines who had been similarly punished, and they hatched a plan. If the emperor were found dead in Consort Duan's quarters, the incident of the dead turtle would be forgotten, and the Imperial Concubine would be vindicated for saying that the emperor had lost Heaven's favour due to Consort Duan. Events In 1542, the emperor was