It is not known when Fu Youyi was born, but it is known that he was from Ji County (汲縣, in modern Xinxiang, Henan).
As of 690, when Wu Zetian was serving as empress dowager and regent over her son Emperor Ruizong, he was serving as an assistant imperial censor (侍御史), when he led a group of some 900 people from the Guanzhong region to publicly petition, outside the palace, the abolition of the Tang dynasty and the establishment of a new Zhou dynasty with her as "emperor."
Empress Dowager Wu eventually accepted and took the throne as emperor, establishing Zhou and interrupting Tang.
She also gave him the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor de facto.
He told this dream to a close associate, an action that was considered inappropriate as it showed ambition to be emperor.