in 504, Yuan Xiang, who was then powerful, was accused by Gao Zhao of corruption, and he was arrested. He soon died while imprisoned. As a result of this episode, Gao further suggested to Emperor Xuanwu to put the imperial princes under heavy guard, a suggestion that Yuan Xie objected to but Emperor Xuanwu accepted. It was said that Yuan Xie was often depressed from this point on. Late that year, Emperor Xuanwu made Yuan Xie be in charge of supervising a team of officials led by Yuan Fan (袁翻) in revising the empire's laws. In 506, when the official Zhen Chen (甄琛) suggested that the state monopoly on salt be ended, Yuan Xie, along with Xing Luan (邢巒), opposed on account that ending the monopoly would lead to wastefulness and draining of the treasury, but Emperor Xuanwu approved Zhen's proposal anyway.