As his reign was short and considered at least somewhat illegitimate, he is often omitted from the official list of emperors.
It is not known when Liu Yi was born—other than he was described as young at the time he ascended the throne on 18 May 125[2] and therefore must have been born late in the reign of Emperor An.
[3] Empress Dowager Yan's decision was supported by other powerful people trusted by Emperor An—his stepuncle Geng Bao (耿寶), the eunuchs Jiang Jing (江京) and Fan Feng (樊豐), and his wet nurse Wang Sheng (王聖).
The Yan brothers became the most powerful officials in the capital Luoyang and ruled autocratically.
Late in the year, however, the young emperor grew gravely ill, and eunuchs loyal to Prince Bao, led by Sun Cheng (孫程), formed a conspiracy to overthrow the Yans.