[1] As part of her scheme to secure the succession to her son, the concubine Li Ji removed Xiqi's older siblings from the capital on the pretext of pacifying their territories.
After the death of Duke Xian in the ninth lunar month during 651 BC, Li Ji placed the 15-year-old Xiqi on the throne and made Xun Xi (荀息) chancellor to help him with administration.
In the tenth lunar month of 651 BC, before Duke Xian had even been properly buried, a Jin minister named Li Ke (里克) killed Xiqi.
He then repeated a story he had heard that the famous politician Jizi had once praised the Jin patriarch Shu Yu, saying that his descendants would thrive and be prosperous.
Because many of his ministers held his older brother in affection and were open to the idea of a change in leadership, Yiwu sent assassins to the Di tribe (翟族) of the northern Rong (戎族) to kill him.
The count had been attempting to massively fortify his capital but construction was not complete, his people were tired and dissatisfied from their forced work, and Qin was able to conquer them easily.
In the thirteenth year of his reign (638 BC), Yiwu grew gravely ill. Crown Prince Yu and his wife Huai Ying (懷嬴) heard of this and fled their captivity in Qin, arriving in Jin before the duke had died.