Around the new year 877, Wang Xianzhi attacked Qi Prefecture (蘄州, in modern Huanggang, Hubei).
When Pei's petition arrived at the imperial government, most of the chancellors opposed, arguing that several years prior, Emperor Xizong's father Emperor Yizong had refused to pardon the rebel Pang Xun and was ultimately able to defeat Pang, and that pardoning Wang Xianzhi would encourage further rebellions.