Chu Yuan - Service Under Emperor Houfei

Service Under Emperor Houfei

After Emperor Ming died in 472 and was succeeded by Crown Prince Yu (as Emperor Houfei), Chu Yuan and Yuan Can became in charge of the government, although Emperor Ming's associates Ruan Dianfu (阮佃夫) and Wang Daolong (王道隆) continued to be powerful and corrupt, and Chu and Yuan were unable to curb them. In late 472, they added Emperor Ming's distant cousin Liu Bing into the decision process, and after the general Xiao Daocheng suppressed the rebellion of Emperor Houfei's uncle Liu Xiufan (劉休範) the Prince of Guiyang in 474, Xiao was added to the circle as well, and the four were known as the "four nobles" (四貴).

In 477, Emperor Houfei, by now aged 14, was growing increasingly impulsive and violent, often wandering outside the palace with his guards and killing all people or animals they encountered. One day, he suddenly charged into Xiao's headquarters, and saw Xiao sleeping naked. He was intrigued by the large size of Xiao's belly, and he woke Xiao up, drew a target on Xiao's belly, and prepared to shoot Xiao with arrows. Xiao pled for his life, and Emperor Houfei's attendant Wang Tian'en (王天恩) pointed out that if he killed Xiao with an arrow, he would lose Xiao's belly as a wonderful target—and so at Wang's suggestion, Emperor Houfei shot Xiao with bone-made round-point arrows and was pleased when he was able to target Xiao's bellybutton successfully. Xiao became fearful after the incident, and he initially discussed with Yuan and Chu the possibilities of deposing the emperor, but could not get them to go along with his plan. Xiao therefore acted on his own, associating with Emperor Houfei's attendants, and eventually getting one of them, Yang Yufu (楊玉夫), to kill Emperor Houfei while Emperor Houfei was asleep. Xiao then forced Yuan and Liu Bing to effectively grant him near-imperial powers, leading to concerns that Xiao would next take the throne. During this process, Chu, who had been friends with Xiao, largely supported Xiao's power-grabbing moves.