Xiao Tong died in 531. Under Confucian rules of succession, his oldest son Xiao Huan () the Duke of Huarong was expected to succeed him as crown prince, and Emperor Wu summoned Xiao Huan back to the capital Jiankang in order to do so. However, still resentful over the wax duck affair, he hesitated for days without carrying out the creation, and finally did not do so. Instead, against popular opinion, he installed Xiao Gang, his then-surviving oldest son, as crown prince. Xiao Gang's staff advisor Zhou Hongzheng () wrote a memo to Xiao Gang advising him to decline, but Xiao Gang did not do so, although he subsequently avenged Xiao Tong's disgrace by executing Bao Miaozhi.