from the people in Xu Province. In recognition of his achievements, Wang Xiang was nominated as a maocai (; an outstanding civil service candidate) and appointed as the Prefect () of Wen County (; east of present-day Mengzhou, Henan). Later on, he was promoted to the position of Minister of Finance () in the central government. In 254, Wang Xiang supported the regent Sima Shi in deposing the third Wei emperor, Cao Fang, and replacing with him Cao Mao. As a reward for Wang Xiang's support, Sima Shi awarded him the title of a Secondary Marquis () and appointed him as Minister of the Household (), but later reassigned him to be Colonel-Director of Retainers (). In 255, when the generals Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin started a rebellion in Shouchun (; present-day Shou County, Anhui), Wang Xiang accompanied Sima Shi as he led imperial forces to suppress the revolt. After the rebellion was crushed, Sima Shi appointed Wang Xiang as Minister of Ceremonies () and promoted him from a Secondary Marquis to a village marquis under the title "Marquis of Wansui Village" (). As Minister of Ceremonies, Wang Xiang served as a tutor to the young emperor Cao Mao and taught him the ways of a ruler. In 260, Cao Mao, no longer willing to be a puppet emperor, staged a coup d'état to seize back power from the regent Sima Zhao (Sima Shi's brother). However, he ended up being assassinated by Cheng Ji (), an officer under Sima Zhao's close aide Jia Chong. During Cao Mao's funeral, a 75-year-old Wang Xiang wept bitterly and said, "I, an old minister, am so unworthy!" His words made some of the officials who attended Cao Mao's funeral feel ashamed of themselves. In 261, during the reign of the fifth Wei emperor Cao Huan, Wang Xiang was promoted to Minister of Works. In 264, he was reassigned to be Grand Commandant () and given an additional role as a Palace Attendant (). In the same year, Sima Zhao restored the five-rank nobility system, which was previously abolished, and enfeoffed Wang Xiang as the Duke of Suiling () with a dukedom comprising 1,600 taxable households. Service under the Jin dynasty In 265, following Sima Zhao's death, his son Sima Yan (Emperor Wu) usurped the throne from Cao Huan, ended the Cao Wei state and established the Jin dynasty with himself as the emperor.