Princess Guantao initially proposed to marry her teenage daughter to Liu Rong (劉榮), Emperor Jing's eldest son and crown prince at the time, as well as son of his favourite concubine, Lady Li (栗姬). However, Lady Li rudely rejected the proposal as she was upset that Princess Guantao often procured new concubines for Emperor Jing (therefore gaining his favour at the expense of Lady Li). A greatly humiliated and frustrated Princess Guantao then approached Consort Wang Zhi, another concubine favoured by Emperor Jing, and offered to marry her daughter to Consort Wang's 5-year-old son Liu Che, Emperor Jing's tenth (and arguably favourite) son and then the Prince of Jiaodong (膠東王). Consort Wang, who had been watching quietly from the sidelines, saw her opportunity and welcomed the proposal immediately. This political marriage secured an alliance between them. They then plotted together to ensure that Emperor Jing became increasingly annoyed at Lady Li. Coupled with Lady Li's own foolishness, it eventually resulted in the deposition of Liu Rong, who was demoted from crown prince to the Prince of Linjiang (臨江王) in 150 BC and exiled out of the capital Chang'an. Lady Li died soon after, and Liu Rong was arrested two years later for illegally seizing imperial shrine lands and committed suicide in custody. But Emperor Jing initially did not approve of the union between Liu Che and Chen Jiao due to their age difference (Chen was at least 8–9 years older than Liu Che).