 Zhu Yanshou was born in 870 and from Shucheng (舒城, in modern Lu'an, Anhui).He appeared to be the third son among his siblings — with descriptions suggesting that he had younger brothers as well — and he had at least one older sister, who married the Huainan Circuit army officer Yang Xingmi at some point.It was said that Zhu Yanshou had much contributions serving under Yang Xingmi in Yang's campaigns to eventually rule Huainan, against other contenders Qin Yan, Bi Shiduo, Zhao Huang, and Sun Ru, although the first concrete reference to Zhu's acts was in 891 when Sun, then in control of Huainan's capital Yang Prefecture (), was set to attack Yang Xingmi, who was then at Xuan Prefecture (宣州, in modern Xuancheng, Anhui).