then-prince hu was born in 94, to prince liu qing of qinghe and his concubine, consort zuo xiao e (左小娥). prince qing was the older brother of emperor he, and had once been crown prince under their father, emperor zhang, until the machinations of emperor zhang's wife, empress dou, led to his removal and his mother consort song's death. during emperor he's reign, however, he was a trusted advisor to the emperor, and he had a major role in emperor he's coup d'état against empress dou's domineering brother, dou xian, in 92.