[4] However, on a later occasion, Xiao Fang was accused of having improperly returned an edict to Emperor Xuānzong and was set to be punished.
Subsequently, there was a time when the powerful chancellor Linghu Tao recommended Li Zhuo (李涿) as the commandant of Annan (安南, i.e., modern northern Vietnam).
Xiao, not afraid of offending Linghu, submitted a petition opposing Li Zhuo's commission, and thus was much admired for his honesty.
[1][3] Early in the Xiantong era (860-874) of Emperor Xuānzong's son Emperor Yizong, Xiao Fang was recalled to the capital Chang'an to serve as Zuo Sanqi Changshi (左散騎常侍), a high-level advisory official at the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng).
[3] In 874, by which time Emperor Yizong had died and been succeeded by his young son Emperor Xizong, Xiao Fang, who was then referred to as Zuo Pushe (左僕射), one of the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng), was made Menxia Shilang (門下侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau, and given the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making him a chancellor de facto.
[2] He was subsequently given the honorific title of Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) and created the Marquess of Lanling.