to An and to observe him—upon which An bribed Fu into submitting a favorable report. Yang, however, persisted in his reports against Yang, including having the mayor of Jingzhao arrest An's friend Li Chao () and others and executing them secretly. An's son An Qingzong (), who was then at Chang'an, reported this to An Lushan, causing An Lushan to be even more apprehensive. Subsequent events—including An's refusal to attend the funeral of an imperial prince in summer 755 and his offer to send a large number of horses to Chang'an in fall 755, began to cause Emperor Xuanzong to start suspecting An. He also discovered that Fu had received An's bribes, and therefore had Fu killed, instead sending another eunuch, Feng Shenwei () to Fanyang to again summon An. An refused. In winter 755, An, finally feeling he had no choice but to rebel, did so. The imperial officials were all apprehensive, because An had the strongest troops of the realm at the time, except for Yang, who believed that An could be suppressed easily. However, An's forces roved through the region north of the Yellow River easily, reaching Luoyang around the new year 756, and capturing it easily despite the efforts of Feng Changqing to defend it. In response, Emperor Xuanzong considered passing the throne to Li Heng and personally lead the troops against An—a proposal that Yang feared, believing that Li Heng would then take actions against the Yangs. He had Consort Yang dissuade Emperor Xuanzong from both actions. Meanwhile, Geshu was summoned to Chang'an to command the forces against An—and Geshu was then able to manufacture evidence that An's stepfather's nephew An Sishun, whom Geshu also disliked, was complicit in An Lushan's rebellion, and An Sishun was executed. Yang, after this incident, began to be apprehensive of Geshu as well. When Geshu subsequently took defensive position at Tong Pass and refused to engage An's forces, reasoning that as long as he kept Chang'an secure, the other generals Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi would soon be able to capture An's power base at Fanyang and render An harmless. Yang, however, feared that Geshu was instead plotting against him. (Geshu's deputy Wang Sili () did suggest to Geshu that he kill Yang when he could, but Geshu refused.) Yang therefore sent his associate Du Qianhui () with a separate army command to the front as well to watch