empress dowager deng died in 121. at the age of 27, emperor an finally had the reins of the imperial administration. he posthumously honored his father prince qing as emperor xiaode and his mother consort zuo as empress xiaode; his paternal grandmother consort song as empress jingyin; and his stepmother consort geng with the unique title of "grand consort of gānlíng" (甘陵大貴人, ganling being prince qing's tomb), a title inferior to his mother's, even though consort geng was his father's wife. he, however, was close to her and her brother geng bao (耿寶), and he quickly made his step-uncle a powerful official in his administration.