孙綝
Sun Chen knew that the people and the young emperor were both angry at him, and chose not to return to Jianye, but instead sent his confidants to be in charge of the capital's defences. Sun Liang became angrier, and plotted with his sister Sun Luban, the general Liu Cheng (), his father-in-law Quan Shang (), and his brother-in-law Quan Ji (), to have Sun Chen overthrown. However, Quan Shang did not keep the plot secret from his wife, who was Sun Chen's cousin, and she told Sun Chen. On 9 November 258, Sun Chen quickly captured Quan Shang and killed Liu Cheng, and then surrounded the palace and forced the other officials to agree to depose Sun Liang – falsely declaring to the people that Sun Liang suffered from psychosis and was therefore incompetent. Sun Liang was demoted to a prince under the title "Prince of Kuaiji".