her, and she released him. Service under Emperor Ming After Emperor Qianfei was assassinated by his attendants in 465, his uncle Liu Yu the Prince of Xiangdong succeeded him (as Emperor Ming). Because Emperor Ming and Chu Yuan were friends when Emperor Ming was still an imperial prince, he trusted Chu Yuan and continued to promote him, although in 471, when Emperor Ming grew ill, Chu was not at the capital but was the governor of Wu Commandery (roughly modern Suzhou, Jiangsu). Emperor Ming, wanting to entrust his son Liu Yu the Crown Prince (different character) to Chu, recalled him to the capital, and distrusting his brother Liu Xiuren (劉休仁) the Prince of Jian'an and the prime minister, plotted with Chu to have Liu Xiuren killed. (Initially, Chu opposed this, but when Emperor Ming got angry with him, Chu acquiesced.) Soon, Emperor Ming promoted Chu and Yuan Can to high level posts, preparing them to be in charge of the government after his death. Service under Emperor Houfei After Emperor Ming died in May 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 pleaded 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