Li Xilie
Virtually nothing is known about Chen Xianqi's background, including his birth date or his family origin. It is known that he had risen from soldier ranks to serve as an officer below Li Xilie while Li Xilie was the Tang military governor ("Jiedushi") of Huaixi Circuit. His wife carried the surname Dou, the same surname as Li Xilie's favorite concubine, a daughter of the official Dou Liang (), whom Li Xilie had forced to become his concubine during the time he claimed imperial title at the emperor of his own state of Chu (a title he claimed in 784). Dou Liang's daughter, however, was secretly plotting against Li Xilie, and she persuaded Li Xilie that Chen was faithful and capable and thus should be trusted. Because she and Chen's wife shared the same surname, she informed Li Xilie that she would try to enter a friendship with Chen's wife in order to ensure his loyalty. After she befriended Chen's wife, she instead involved Chen and Chen's wife in the plot to destroy Li Xilie. When Li Xilie grew ill after eating beef in summer 786, at Chen's instigation, Li Xilie's physician poisoned him to death.