Zhou Ji
By summer 884, Huang had been defeated, and he was killed by his nephew Lin Yan (). However, Qin did not resubmit to Tang authority, and instead sent troops to pillage the surrounding circuits. In particular, he attacked Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), but with Zhu Xuan the military governor of Tianping Circuit (天平, in modern Tai'an, Shandong) coming to Zhu Quanzhong's aid, Qin was defeated, and he withdrew. Meanwhile, in winter 884, when another renegade Tang general, Lu Yanhong, was set to attack Xiang Prefecture (襄州, in modern Xiangfan, Hubei), Qin sent his officers Qin Gao () and Zhao Deyin to aid Lu, and they captured Xiang Prefecture. Lu subsequently attacked Xu Prefecture and captured it, forcing Zhou Ji to flee, while Qin's forces took over Xiang Prefecture.