[5] At the recommendation of the official Xu Shang, Liu Zhan was made a staff member at the directorate for the salt and iron monopolies.
[5] In 869, then-reigning Emperor Yizong gave Liu Zhan the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making him a chancellor de facto.
[7] He was subsequently given the additional posts of Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau; minister of justice (刑部尚書, Xingbu Shangshu); and imperial scholar at Jixian Institution (集賢殿).
Soon thereafter, Liu was sent out of the capital to serve as the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), and Wen committed suicide.
At instigation by Lu and Princess Tongchang's husband Wei Baoheng, Liu was further accused with conspiring with the imperial physicians to poison Princess Tongchang, and Liu was thereafter demoted to be the prefect of Kang Prefecture (康州, in modern Zhaoqing, Guangdong), and yet later the census officer at Huan Prefecture (驩州, in modern Nghệ An Province, Vietnam).
[2] The edict announcing that demotion was drafted by Li Yu (李庾), at Lu's behest, using extremely harsh language that suggested that Liu would next be put to death.
It was said that the people of the empire all lamented the false accusations, and the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), Zhang Gongsu, submitted a petition defending Liu.