After Chen Shubao became crown prince in 569 after his father Emperor Xuan took the throne, she was initially selected into the palace to serve as a servant to his concubine Consort Gong.
Two of the particularly known songs, Yushu Houting Hua (玉樹後庭花) and Linchun Yue (臨春樂), were written to praise the beauties of Consorts Zhang and Kong.
In 588, he deposed his oldest son and crown prince Chen Yin because he suspected Chen Yin (who, while not born of Empress Shen, was raised by her and considered her son) of despising him for not favoring Empress Shen.
Chen Shubao and Consorts Zhang and Kong hid in a well, but were eventually found and taken captive.
Chen Shubao was spared (and eventually treated with kindness by Emperor Wen of Sui), as were Chen Yuan and Chen Zhuang, but the Sui general Gao Jiong, blaming her for Chen's collapse and comparing her to Daji, the wicked wife of King Zhou of Shang who was beheaded by the Zhou dynasty general Jiang Ziya after Zhou conquered Shang, beheaded her despite an order from Emperor Wen's son Yang Guang the Prince of Jin, who commanded the entire operation, to spare her.
Many traditional historians believed that he was punishing Gao for having executed Consort Zhang despite his order.