Zhao felt that it was troublesome to change the order since it had already been sent out so he did not take any action. Zhuge Dan started a rebellion in Shouchun later. Zhong Hui accompanied Sima Zhao as he led imperial forces to attack the rebels. When Zhuge Dan rebelled in Shouchun, Sun Chen, the regent of Wei's rival state Eastern Wu, ordered the general Quan Yì () and others to lead Wu forces to support Zhuge Dan. Quan Yì had disagreements with his relatives Quan Hui () and Quan Yí (), who were in the Wu capital, Jianye (建業; present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu). Quan Hui and Quan Yí brought along their families and followers and defected to Wei. When Zhong Hui received news about their defection, he suggested to Sima Zhao to ask Quan Hui and Quan Yí to write a secret letter to Quan Yì and lie to him that Sun Chen was displeased by Quan Yì's failure to conquer Shouchun and wanted to execute Quan Yì's family, hence they decided to defect to Wei. Quan Yì became fearful so he brought along his troops and surrendered to Sima Zhao. Without support from Wu, Zhuge Dan's rebels were defeated by Sima Zhao's forces and Shouchun was taken back by Wei. Zhong Hui was more highly regarded than before by Sima Zhao due to the success of his plan. His contemporaries also compared him to Zhang Liang, a strategist who served under the Han dynasty's founder, Emperor Gao. After Zhong Hui returned to Luoyang, the Wei imperial court offered him the position of Minister Coachman (), but he turned down the offer and chose to be a clerk in Sima Zhao's office. He was one of Sima Zhao's close aides. Later, the imperial court wanted to enfeoff him as the "Marquis of Chen" () to honour him for his contributions in suppressing Zhuge Dan's rebellion, but he declined to accept the marquis title. The court respected his decision and appointed him as the Colonel-Director of Retainers () instead. Zhong Hui was still heavily involved in politics in the imperial court even though he did not serve in the court. He also played a major role in instigating Sima Zhao to execute Ji Kang. Conquest of Shu Strategic planning and opening moves Between 247 and 262, Jiang Wei, a general from Wei's rival state Shu Han, led a series of military