Tian Yue
When, shortly after, Emperor Dezong issued an edict ordering that Lulong, Yidingcang, and Wang's Hengji Circuit (恆冀) attack Tian Yue from the north, Wang arrested the imperial messengers and delivered them to Zhu. Zhu thereafter declared to his subordinates that they were going to head south to attack, not to help, the imperial forces. His officers initially resisted the declaration, forcing him to postpone the action and to kill a number of them. Emperor Dezong, hearing this, tried to placate Zhu by creating him the Prince of Tongyi and exiling several officials whom Zhu had grudges against, but this did not stop Zhu's resolve. Zhu subsequently also sent secret messages to Zhu Ci, who was then defending the important border city Fengxiang (鳳翔, in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), asking him to rise as well. When this was discovered, Emperor Dezong did not punish Zhu Ci but recalled him to Chang'an. Zhu Tao and Wang subsequently joined their forces and headed south, to try to save Tian Yue, then under siege by imperial forces at Weibo's capital Wei Prefecture. When they arrived at Wei Prefecture, they dealt a severe defeat to the imperial generals Ma Sui and Li Huaiguang, forcing the imperial forces to lift the siege on Wei Prefecture. Wang suggested pursuit, but Zhu, believing in Ma's subsequent message that he was willing to submit and request that Emperor Dezong grant Zhu the powers to deal with all lands north of the Yellow River, stopped the pursuit. When Ma subsequently regrouped and refused to submit, Zhu apologized to Wang, but it was said that Wang thus bore a grudge against Zhu from this point on.