in 249, after cao shuang was ousted from power by sima yi, his co-regent, wang chen initially lost his appointment but was later restored to the civil service as a palace attendant (侍中). he co-wrote the 44-volume historical text "book of wei" (魏書) with xun yi and ruan ji. the wei emperor cao mao, who was fond of reading, called wang chen a "master of literature" (文籍先生). in 260, when cao mao planned to launch a coup to seize back power from the regent sima zhao, he summoned wang chen, wang ye and wang jing to meet him in private and discuss their plans. however, wang chen and wang ye reported the plot to sima zhao instead, and cao mao ended up being assassinated by sima zhao's men. after cao mao's death, sima zhao awarded wang chen the title "marquis of anping" (安平侯) and 2,000 taxable households in his marquisate.