Shence Army
Emperor Zhaozong returned to Chang'an in 898 after making peace with Li Maozhen. In 900, there was an incident where Emperor Zhaozong, after getting drunk, killed a few eunuchs — which led to immediate violent reaction by the powerful eunuch Liu Jishu, one of the two commanders of the eunuch-controlled Shence Armies, who took the Shence Army soldiers into the palace to force him to abdicate and pass the throne to Li Yu. Emperor Zhaozong initially tried to resist Liu's order for him to abdicate, but Empress He, sensing the severity of the situation, convinced him to submit to Liu's order. Liu proclaimed Li Yu emperor (and changed his name to Li Zhen) while having Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He given the titles of retired emperor ("Taishang Huang") and retired empress ("Taishang Huanghou") respectively, but actually had Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, and most of their household, put under house arrest at Shaoyang Pavilion (). Less than two months later, when a group of Shence Army officers loyal to Emperor Zhaozong, led by Sun Dezhao (), Dong Yanbi (), and Zhou Chenghui (), killed Liu and his fellow Shence Army commander Wang Zhongxian (), it was at Empress He's advice that Emperor Zhaozong first verified that Liu and Wang were dead before exiting Shaoyang Pavilion to resume the throne. He changed Li Zhen's name back to Li Yu but removed the title of Crown Prince from him, making him again the Prince of De.