An idea I drew from a previous thread of mine.
So in 1881, right after installing her nephew as Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi got ill, what prevented her from participating in the earlier regency. However, what if she died there, instead of Empress Ci'an, the main wifr of Emperor Xianfeng that died in the same year from an aparent stroke (theories that Cixi killed her are considered false).
So, now it's question time! Is it possible for Prince Gong to get the regency? Details about Ci'an don't describe her as a political ambitious woman, preferring to restrict herself to family affairs, so he could get a shoot. With Cixi out of the window, who is more likely becoming the "face" of the conservative faction at the court? And the main one, assuming Gong does get a favorable place in the regency, how could it influence the War with France (The Qing did kinda well there... relative to the other wars, and the fact that the French had little enthusiasm for the whole deal)?
So, thoughs?