The newly enthroned Liu Xie, historically known as Emperor Xian, was in fact a puppet ruler under Dong Zhuo's control.

In 195, Emperor Xian managed to escape from Chang'an and return to the ruins of Luoyang during a feud between Li Jue and Guo Si, where he soon became stranded.

He skillfully used Emperor Xian as a "trump card" to bolster his legitimacy when he attacked and eliminated rival warlords in his quest to reunify the Han Empire under the central government's rule.

He then established the state of Cao Wei with himself as the new emperor – an event marking the formal end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in China.

The dethroned Emperor Xian received the noble title Duke of Shanyang (Chinese: 山陽公) from Cao Pi and spent the rest of his life in comfort and enjoyed preferential treatment.

[7] During her pregnancy, Consort Wang, fearful of Emperor Ling's Empress He, had taken drugs that were intended to induce an abortion, but was not successful in her attempt.

After Liu Bian became emperor, He Jin became the most powerful official in the imperial court, and he and his advisor Yuan Shao quickly entered into a conspiracy to exterminate the eunuchs.

The remaining eunuchs initially took the young emperor and Liu Xie hostage, but were eventually forced to commit suicide when the battle turned against them.

In the spring of 190, a number of local officials, loosely forming a coalition led by Yuan Shao, quickly rose up against Dong Zhuo.

Even though they still feared Dong Zhuo's military power and did not directly advance on Luoyang, Dong Zhuo was also fearful of their collective strength, and therefore determined to move the capital west to the old Han capital Chang'an, closer to his power base in Liang Province (涼州; covering present-day Gansu).

Dong Zhuo's former subordinates, led by Li Jue and Guo Si, took Emperor Xian and the imperial court under their control.

However, Li Jue and Guo Si did not have serious ambitions, and their incompetence in governance furthered the breakdown of the Han Empire into warlord regimes.

While they were never able to capture him, Emperor Xian's court was rendered poor and unable to fend for itself, and once it returned to Luoyang, it lacked even the basic essentials of life.

At this time, Yuan Shao's strategist Ju Shou suggested that he welcome Emperor Xian to his base in Ji Province so that he could effectively be in control of the central government, but the other strategists Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong opposed – under the faulty logic that if he did, he would have to yield to Emperor Xian on key decisions.

His son and successor, Cao Pi, soon forced Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne in favour of himself, ending the Han dynasty.

The line was exterminated during the Jin dynasty in June or July 307,[14] when rebel forces led by Ji Sang and Shi Le sacked the city of Ye.

In the tenth month of 220 (November), various ministers proposed that Cao Pi replace Liu Xie as the emperor, citing various astrological signs.