Despite this, the general Tan Daoji later remarked that of the ten strategies that Liu Yu used to conquer Later Qin in 416 and 417, nine came from Xie.
They then sent soldiers into the palace to arrest Emperor Shao, after first persuading the imperial guards not to resist.
Before Emperor Shao could get up from bed in the morning, the soldiers were already in his bedchamber, and he made a futile attempt to resist, but was captured.
The officials then, in the name of Emperor Shao's mother Empress Dowager Zhang, declared Emperor Shao's faults and demoted him to Prince of Yingyang, offering the throne to his younger brother Liu Yilong the Prince of Yidu instead.
Xu and Fu subsequently assassinated both Emperor Shao and Liu Yizhen, and it is unclear whether Xie participated in this decision.
In order to counteract imperial authority, prior to Liu Yilong's arrival, made Xie the governor of Jing Province (荊州, modern Hubei) to replace Liu Yilong, with the intent that Xie and Tan can counteract against the emperor should the emperor act against them.
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.
Emperor Wen, believing that Tan Daoji was not initially involved in the plot to depose and kill Emperor Shao and Liu Yizhen, summoned Tan to the capital and put him in command of the army against Xie Hui.