During the succession issues of 342 and 344, Yu Bing pushed for his nephews to inherit the throne to retain his clan's power, in contrast to his court rival and brother-in-law He Chong,[3] who supported the dying emperors' sons to succeed instead.
Yu Liang made Bing his Interior Minister of Wu to prepare against Su Jun.
Shortly after the war began, Yu Liang was driven out of Jiankang by Su Jun's forces.
Yu Bing retreated and fled to Kuaiji, so Su Jun placed a bounty on his head.
[5] When a loyalist coalition was created against Su Jun in 328, the Interior Minister of Kuaiji, Wang Shu, made Yu Bing General Who Asserts Valour and ordered him to lead troops to Zhejiang.
[6] After Wang Dao died in 339, Yu Bing took his place as Chief of the Palace Secretariat, Inspector of Yangzhou, and advisor of affairs of the Masters of Writing.
During this time, he rectified the household rolls by registering more than 10,000 unlisted people and increased the military figures.
Together with Yi, Bing filled in his late brother's role and maintained their family's prominence in the court.
Meanwhile, Huang sent a memorial to the court accusing the Yu brothers of monopolizing power and calling for their removal.
He also wrote a personal letter to Yu Bing faulting him of inefficiently running the state despite holding high positions.
They feared that if either one of Cheng's sons were to ascend, their ties to the throne will become more distant which in turn will diminish their influence.
However, He Chong successfully convinced the dying emperor to go with Sima Dan, much to the anger of the Yu brothers.
Sima Dan ascended the throne as Emperor Mu of Jin with Empress Dowager Chu acting on his behalf.