led by Ruan Dianfu () and Wang Daolong (), continued to be powerful behind the scenes and influential, and Chu and Yuan were unable to curb their powers. Chu and Yuan soon added Emperor Houfei's distant relative Liu Bing to their own rank to be involved in important decisions. In 473, Yuan's mother died, and he left the government to observe the three-year mourning period. One crisis that Emperor Houfei's administration needed to deal with almost immediately was that Emperor Houfei's single remaining paternal uncle, Liu Xiufan () the Prince of Guiyang and the governor of Jiang Province (江州, modern Jiangxi and Fujian), was becoming displeased that he was not made prime minister, as the emperor's uncle (Emperor Ming, because he had been apprehensive about his brothers taking power after his death, had killed all of his remaining brothers in 471, except for Liu Xiufan, because he had considered Liu Xiufan incompetent and therefore not much of a threat). In summer 474, Liu Xiufan declared a rebellion, accusing Wang Daolong and another associate of Emperor Ming, Yang Yunchang (), of having wrongly instigated the death of Liu Xiuren () the Prince of Jian'an and Liu Xiuruo () the Prince of Baling. Taking lesson from past rebellions that had failed because they had proceeded too slowly, Liu Xiufan ordered his troops to advance on the capital Jiankang as quickly as possible, and it took only five days for them to arrive at Jiankang. The general Xiao Daocheng volunteered to face Liu Xiufan's forces, and while Liu Xiufan's forces were initially able to prevail over Xiao's, the battles were not particularly decisive. Meanwhile, Xiao was offered a plan of deception by his subordinates Huang Hui () and Zhang Jing'er () -- that they would pretend to surrender to Liu Xiufan and then assassinate him, and he agreed with it. Huang and Zhang then pretended to surrender to Liu Xiufan, but then took the opportunity to kill him. However, Liu Xiufan's troops were not aware that Liu Xiufan was dead, and they initially continued fighting. Indeed, Liu Xiufan's general Ding Wenhao () soon engaged and defeated the forces under Wang Daolong's and Liu Mian (), killing Wang and Liu Mian, and then put the palace under siege. Eventually, though, Ding's forces became aware that Liu Xiufan had died, and began to collapse on their own. Xiao and Yuan Can (who had returned to