As Li Zhirou headed for Qinghai, he went through Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan) in 896. Instead of preparing to welcome him, however, the Qinghai officers Lu Ju (盧琚) and Tan Hongqi (譚弘玘) instead prepared to resist him and took up defensive positions, with Tan defending Duan Prefecture (端州, in modern Zhaoqing, Guangdong). an tried to enter an alliance with Liu Yin the prefect of Feng Prefecture (封州, in modern Zhaoqing as well) to defend against Li and promised to give his daughter to Liu in marriage. Liu pretended to agree, but instead, under the guise that he was going to go to Duan Prefecture to marry Tan's daughter, ambushed Tan and killed him. He then attacked Qinghai's capital Guang Prefecture (廣州) and killed Lu, and then welcomed Li to Guang Prefecture to take command. Li commissioned Liu as the commander of the Qinghai army.
