He became briefly in charge of editing imperial edicts, but soon left his post as his mother died and he underwent the mandatory three-year mourning period.
In late 417, after Liu Yu completed the campaign and accepted the title Duke of Song, Fu became a high-level official for the dukedom.
In 420, Liu Yu, then at Shouyang, was intending to usurp the Jin throne, but could not bring himself to say it completely, and so invited his high-level staff to a feast where he talked about his achievements but his intent to retire afterwards.
When Emperor Wu grew ill in 422, he entrusted his crown prince Liu Yifu to Xu, Fu, Xie Hui, and Tan Daoji, and soon died.
Liu Yifu succeeded him (as Emperor Shao), and in the mourning period, he had Xu and Fu handle important matters for him.
(Fu had changed his mind after advice from the official Cai Kuo (蔡廓), but his letter to Xu to try to stop the assassinations arrived too late.)
In 425, Xu and Fu offered to resign, and Emperor Wen approved and began to handle important matters of state himself.
However, Emperor Wen was resentful that Xu, Fu, and Xie had killed his two older brothers, and in late 425 planned to destroy them, particularly at the urging of Wang Hua and the general Kong Ningzi (孔寧子).
He therefore mobilized troops and publicly declared that he was going to attack rival Northern Wei, but was privately preparing to arrest Xu and Fu while engaging in a military campaign against Xie.
However, Fu defiantly responded that he, Xu, and Xie deposed an incompetent emperor and installed a capable one for the empire's sake, and that the charges against him were bogus.
The manuscript is accompanied by the sequel pieces written in the 5th century by Zhang Yan 張演, a Buddhist layman, and Lu Gao 陸杲 (459-532).