it became plain that he resented Wang Mang for slaughtering his uncles in 3 AD and not allowing his mother to visit him in the capital, Chang'an. Wang Mang therefore resolved to murder the emperor. In the winter of 5 AD, Wang Mang gave pepper wine (considered in those days to be capable of chasing away evil spirits) to the 14-year-old emperor, but had the wine spiked with poison. As the emperor was suffering the effects of the poison, Wang Mang wrote a secret petition to the gods, in which he offered to substitute his life for Emperor Ping's, and then had the petition locked away. Historians generally believe that Wang Mang had two motives in doing this—to absolve himself of involvement in the poisoning if Emperor Ping recovered from the poisoning, and to leave evidence of his faithfulness for posterity. After a few days of suffering, Emperor Ping died making Empress Wang a widow at the age of 13. After Emperor Ping's death, Wang Mang assumed the unprecedented title of acting emperor (假皇帝). In April 6 AD, Wang Mang selected Emperor Ping's cousin-once-removed (a great-great-grandson of Emperor Xuan), the one-year-old Liu Ying as the next emperor (to be known as Emperor Ruzi). However, using Emperor Ruzi's young age as a pretext, Wang Mang retained his role as acting emperor, while Liu Ying was given the title crown prince. Empress Wang was given the title empress dowager. Wang Mang promised at the time that he would return the throne to Emperor Ruzi as soon as he was old enough, but on 15 January 9 AD, Wang Mang seized the throne and established the Xin Dynasty. Later in 9 AD, the toddler Emperor Ruzi was created the Duke of Ding'an (定安公), and Empress Dowager Wang was given the title of Duchess Dowager of Ding'an (定安公太后). Life during Xin Dynasty Traditional historical accounts describe Empress Wang as an unhappy widow during her father's reign, still retaining her loyalty to the overthrown Han Dynasty. She often claimed to be ill and refused to attend imperial gatherings. Wang Mang, believing that he could solve her unhappiness by having her remarry, changed her title from Duchess Dowager of Ding'an to Princess Huanghuang in December 10 AD, terminating her formal linkage with the Han Dynasty. He also intended to marry her to the son of one of his important officials, Sun Jian (孫建). He instructed Sun