structural:expansion, stylistic:style_transfer, stylistic:tone, structural:reformatting
Early reign (690–696)

Shortly after Wu took the throne in her newly established dynasty, she elevated the status of Buddhism above that of Taoism. She officially sanctioned Buddhism by building temples named Dayun Temple (大雲寺) in each prefecture belonging to the capital regions of the two capitals, Luoyang and Chang'an, and created nine senior monks as dukes. She enshrined seven generations of Wu ancestors at the imperial ancestral temple, while continuing to offer sacrifices to the Tang emperors Gaozu, Taizong, and Gaozong.

Wu faced the issue of succession. At the time she took the throne, she created Li Dan, the former Emperor Ruizong, crown prince, and bestowed the name Wu on him. The official Zhang Jiafu convinced the commoner Wang Qingzhi (王慶之) to start a petition drive to make her nephew Wu Chengsi crown prince, arguing that an emperor named Wu should pass the throne to a member of the Wu clan. Wu Zetian was tempted to do so, and when the chancellors Cen Changqian and Ge Fuyuan opposed sternly, they, along with fellow chancellor Ouyang Tong, were executed. She ultimately declined Wang's request to make Wu Chengsi crown prince, but for a time allowed Wang to freely enter the palace to see her.

On one occasion, when Wang angered her by coming to the palace too much, she asked the official Li Zhaode to batter Wang as punishment. Li Zhaode exploited the opportunity to batter Wang to death, and his group of petitioners scattered. Li Zhaode then persuaded Wu Zetian to keep Li Dan as crown prince—pointing out that a son was closer in relations than a nephew, and that if Wu Chengsi became emperor, Gaozong would never again be worshiped. Wu Zetian agreed, and for some time did not reconsider the matter. At Li Zhaode's warning that Wu Chengsi was becoming too powerful, Wu Zetian stripped Wu Chengsi of his chancellor authority and bestowed on him largely honorific titles without authority.

Meanwhile, the secret police officials' power continued to increase, until they appeared to be curbed, starting in about 692, when Lai Junchen was foiled in his attempt to have the chancellors Ren Zhigu, Di Renjie, Pei Xingben, and other officials Cui Xuanli (崔宣禮), Lu Xian (盧獻), Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen (李嗣眞) executed. Di, under arrest, had hidden a secret petition inside a change of clothes and had it submitted by his son Di Guangyuan (狄光遠). The seven were exiled. After this incident, particularly at the urging of Li Zhaode, Zhu Jingze, and Zhou Ju (周矩), the waves of politically motivated massacres decreased, although they did not end entirely. Wu Zetian utilized the imperial examination system to find talented poor people or people without backgrounds to stabilize her regime.

Also in 692, Wu Zetian commissioned the general Wang Xiaojie to attack the Tibetan Empire. Wang recaptured the four garrisons of the Western Regions that had fallen to the Tibetan Empire in 670 – Kucha, Yutian, Kashgar, and Suyab.

In 693, after Wu's trusted lady-in-waiting Wei Tuan'er (韋團兒), who hated Li Dan because he rejected her advances, falsely accused Li Dan's wife Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou of using witchcraft, Wu had Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou killed. Li Dan, fearful that he was next, did not dare speak of them. When Wei planned to falsely accuse Li Dan, someone informed on her, and she was executed. Wu had Li Dan's sons demoted in their princely titles. When the officials Pei Feigong (裴匪躬) and Fan Yunxian (范雲仙) were accused of secretly meeting Li Dan, she executed Pei and Fan and further barred officials from meeting Li Dan.

There were then accusations that Li Dan was plotting treason. Under Wu's direction, Lai launched an investigation. He arrested Li Dan's servants and tortured them. The torture was such that many of them were ready to falsely implicate themselves and Li Dan. One of Li Dan's servants, An Jincang, proclaimed Li Dan's innocence and cut his own belly open to swear to that fact. When Wu heard what An did, she had doctors attend to An and barely saved his life, and then ordered Lai to end the investigation, saving Li Dan.

In 694, Li Zhaode, who had become powerful after Wu Chengsi's removal, was thought to be too powerful, and Wu Zetian removed him. Also around this time, she became highly impressed with a group of mystic individuals—the hermit Wei Shifang (on whom she bestowed a chancellor title briefly), who claimed to be more than 350 years old; an old Buddhist nun who claimed to be a Buddha and capable of predicting the future; and a non- Han man who claimed to be 500 years old. During this time, Wu briefly claimed to be and adopted the cult imagery of Maitreya in order to build popular support for her reign.

In 695, after the imperial meeting hall (明堂) and the Heavenly Hall (天堂) were burned by Huaiyi, who was jealous at Wu's taking another lover, the imperial physician Shen Nanqiu (沈南璆), Wu became angry at these mystics for failing to predict the fire. The old nun and her students were arrested and made into slaves. Wei committed suicide. The old non-Han man fled. Wu put Huaiyi to death. After this incident, she appeared to pay less attention to mysticism and became even more dedicated than before to the affairs of state.