 Qian made Pi a member of his staff, along with Shen Song and Lin Ding.Pi was eventually given the title of assistant to Qian in Qian's role as military governor ("Jiedushi") of Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered in modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang).In 916 — by which time Tang had fallen and Qian's domain was known as the state of Wuyue as a vassal of Tang's main successor state Later Liang — Qian wanted to offer tribute to then-Later Liang emperor Zhu Zhen, but the path to the Later Liang capital Daliang was blocked by the territory of the rival state Wu, and initially could not think of an appropriate emissary.