to dine with the general Zhang Bu instead and casually remarked that he could replace Sun Xiu easily if he wanted to. Later Zhang Bu secretly reported Sun Chen's dissatisfaction to Sun Xiu. Although Sun Xiu continued to pretend to be friendly towards Sun Chen, he began to discreetly prepare to defend himself against Sun Chen. At the same time, Sun Chen had become worried about his relationship with Sun Xiu. So he requested permission to go to Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei) and oversee the defences at the border. Although Sun Xiu approved Sun Chen's request, he suspected that Sun Chen wanted to seize control of Wuchang and then rebel against him. Another official, Wei Miao (), also warned Sun Xiu that Sun Chen might be plotting treason when he asked to leave for Wuchang. By this time, there were widespread rumours that Sun Chen was disloyal towards Sun Xiu. Sun Xiu then conspired with Zhang Bu and another general Ding Feng to assassinate Sun Chen at a feast during the Laba Festival (8th day of the 12th lunar month). Sun Chen got wind of the plot, but still attended the feast where he was captured by Zhang Bu and Ding Feng's soldiers. When Sun Chen begged for his life and pleaded to be exiled to Jiao Province or reduced to the status of a slave, Sun Xiu refused to spare him and told him that he did not spare Teng Yin or Lü Ju either when he came to power in 256. Sun Xiu then ordered Sun Chen to be executed along with his family members. Reign As emperor, Sun Xiu was known for being tolerant of differing opinions, as well as his studiousness. However, he did not appear to be a particularly capable emperor, either in military or domestic matters, and he entrusted most of the important affairs to Zhang Bu and Puyang Xing, neither of whom was particularly capable either. Both were also moderately corrupt. The government was therefore not efficient or effective. For example, in 260, with Puyang Xing's support, a costly project was started to create an artificial lake known as the Puli Lake near present-day Xuancheng, Anhui for irrigation purposes, even though many officials believed the project to be too costly and without any guarantee of success. Eventually, the project had to be abandoned when it became clear that it could not be