She was selected in to the palace of the Jiajing Emperor in 1522.

Later that year, she was appointed empress upon the wish of the emperor's aunt, the Empress Dowager Zhang.

[1] Because of the tense personal relationship between the Emperor and his aunt, however, he did not take a liking to Chen.

During the pregnancy, the Emperor exposed her to a fit of rage, which caused a fatal miscarriage.

[3] The Emperor did not permit her to be buried in the imperial mausoleum: this was not done before 1567.