He was the son and heir of Emperor Wen, but after he came to the throne in 566, the imperial administration fell into infighting almost immediately.

In 562, Emperor Wen selected the daughter of the official Wang Gu (王固) to be Chen Bozong's wife.

Emperor Wen therefore did not make Chen Xu crown prince, but entrusted the important matters to Chen Xu, Kong, Dao Zhongju (到仲舉), Yuan Shu (袁樞), and Liu Shizhi (劉師知).

When Chen Xu considered doing so, his associate Mao Xi (毛喜) and the general Wu Mingche persuaded him that he needed to remain in the palace.

Chen Xu therefore invited Liu to a meeting—and while the meeting was still going on, had Mao confirming with Empress Dowager Shen and Emperor Fei that it was not their order that he leave the palace.

Once Mao confirmed so, Chen Xu arrested Liu and ordered him to commit suicide, while demoting Dao to a lesser position.

Emperor Fei's brother Chen Bomao the Prince of Shixing, whom Chen Xu believed to have participated in both Liu's and Dao and Han's plots, was stripped of his governmental posts and ordered to keep Emperor Fei company.

Wu and Chunyu were able to ram Hua's, Northern Zhou's, and Western Liang's fleets, causing them to collapse.

Both Hua and the Northern Zhou general Yuwen Zhi (宇文直) the Duke of Wei fled to Western Liang's capital Jiangling (江陵, in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), while the Northern Zhou general Yuan Ding (元定) were captured.

In winter 568, Chen Xu had an edict issued in Grand Empress Dowager Zhang's name, falsely accusing Emperor Fei of having been part of the plots of Liu and Hua.