However, her plan, along with her brothers, to hold on to power for a long time ultimately resulted in failure and the deaths of her clan members.
On 1 June 115,[3] he created her empress—even though she was also described as jealous, to the extent that that year, she poisoned Consort Li, who had given birth to a son of the emperor, Liu Bao (劉保).
It is said that from the beginning she was trying to gain power after her husband's death and tried to eliminate the opposition, establish her own clan in key positions and collect a bunch of officials, generals and eunuchs close to the emperor.
The empress, who was with him, did not immediately announce his death, but conspired with her brothers and the powerful eunuchs Jiang Jing (江京) and Fan Feng (樊豐), to find an alternative to Prince Bao, who would otherwise appear to be his father's natural successor.
They falsely accused some other of Emperor An's trusted individuals—including his stepuncle Geng Bao (耿寶), his wet nurse Wang Sheng (王聖), and the eunuch Fan of crimes.
After some consideration, Emperor Shun declined such action and continued to treat her with the honors due an empress dowager.