Wu Sansi was killed in 707 in an unsuccessful coup by Emperor Zhongzong's crown prince Li Chongjun, and Cui Shi soon became closely associated with Emperor Zhongzong's powerful concubine Consort Shangguan Wan'er; traditional historians generally believed that they had an affair.
In 710, Emperor Zhongzong died suddenly-a death that traditional historians believed to be a poisoning carried out by Empress Wei and Li Guo'er.