the Spring and Autumn period kingdom Wu), Wu Jizha (吳季札, a well-regarded Wu prince and son of King Shoumeng of Wu), and Wu Zixu. Later in 688, in the aftermath of a failed rebellion by Emperor Gaozong's brother Li Zhen the Prince of Yue, then the prefect of Yu Prefecture (豫州, roughly modern Zhumadian, Henan), against Empress Dowager Wu, she made Di, who was at that time Wenchang Zuo Cheng (文昌左丞), a secretary general at the executive bureau (which by that point had been renamed Wenchang Tai (文昌臺)), the prefect of Yu Prefecture to succeed Li Zhen. At that time, some 600 to 700 households were accused of being complicit in Li Zhen's rebellion and were forced to serve as servants. At Di's request, they were relieved from those obligations, but were exiled to Feng Prefecture (豐州, roughly modern Bayan Nur, Inner Mongolia). Meanwhile, the general that Empress Dowager Wu sent to suppress Li Zhen's rebellion, the chancellor Zhang Guangfu, was still in Yu Prefecture, and his officers and soldiers were demanding various supplies from the Yu prefectural government, requests that Di mostly turned down. This led to an argument with Zhang, and Zhang accused him of showing contempt; in turn, Di angrily stated that Zhang was killing alleged coconspirators of Li Zhen excessively and that if he had the authority to do so, he would have beheaded Zhang even if it meant his own death. Zhang was greatly offended and, upon return to Luoyang, accused Di of contempt, and Empress Dowager Wu demoted Di to be the prefect of Fu Prefecture (復州, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi). (This was considered a demotion as, while Di remained a prefect, Fu Prefecture was smaller and less important than Yu Prefecture.) During Wu Zetian's reign In 690, Empress Dowager Wu took the throne from Emperor Ruizong, establishing the Zhou Dynasty as its "emperor" and interrupting the Tang Dynasty. As of 691, Di was serving as the military advisor to the prefect of the capital prefecture Luo Prefecture (洛州, i.e., Luoyang), when Wu Zetian promoted him to be the deputy minister of finance (地官侍郎, Diguan Shilang) and gave him the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a 'de facto chancellor. She commented to him, "You did a good job in Ru'nan [(汝南, i.e., Yu Prefecture)]. Do you want to know who spoke against you?" (Presumably, she was referring to Zhang Guangfu who,