During the Xianfeng period, Wang Ku'er, a fugitive peddler who accidentally picked up a palace badge, sneaked into the Forbidden City and sold steamed buns for a year and a half. Even Emperor Xianfeng and his concubines became his customers. He witnessed the huge separation between the extravagance of the palace and the suffering of the people, and was eventually exposed and punished. This bizarre experience of breaking into the emperor's home became a ridiculous legend among Tianqiao storytellers.
