He buried Jia'ao at Jia, thus making the place name the style for the late young king.
As King Ling did not receive the throne legally, he was eager to gain a good reputation with the other lords.
In his third year after taking the throne, King Ling tried to gather the lords at Shen (in the State of Chu), but he was disappointed.
But Zhao and Guo knew that Yanshi would rather pass the throne to his own adult son, Wu.
So they killed Yanshi, which also led to the death of Duke Ai, who was so upset when he heard what had happened.
Zhao and Guo installed Liu as the new marquis of Chen, so Wu and Sheng, the youngest son of Duke Ai, went to King Ling for help.
Later, after becoming frustrated by Wu troops, King Ling built a grand palace for his enjoyment.
He considered the family of his consort too humble to be related to his queen, so he sought and gained a marriage to a high born woman from the State of Jin.
As soon as the message spread, most of the soldiers scattered, leaving only a few hundred still supporting King Ling.
The rebels threatened the people and told them not to provide food or shelter to him, so the king became hungry.
Shen Hai led King Ling to his home, provided a meal for him and asked his two daughters to serve him.
But King Ling was too sad to make love with the young girls, instead, he kept crying all night.
After he took power, some innocent ministers such as Wei Yan, Bo Zhouli and Qu Shen were executed.
Chuan Fengshu once threatened his life while arguing about events that had occurred at the time of King Kang of Zhou (reigned 1020-996 BC) involving his ancestor Xiong Yi, but King Ling installed him as a duke instead of taking revenge.