marry Hulü's daughter by a concubine, but Hulü refused. Further, when Mu requested that Gao Wei grant him the public fields at Jinyang, Hulü publicly opposed the action as being detrimental to the grazing of the army's horses. Zu and Mu therefore both despited Hulü. They therefore fostered suspicion of Hulü in the emperor's mind, and that suspicion was exacerbated by the fact that Empress Hulü was not favored by Gao Wei. At the same time, the Northern Zhou general Wei Xiaokuan, wanting to try to exploit Gao Wei's suspicions, decided to try to create a sense that Hulü would rebel. He wrote two songs in couplets, one of which read: A hundred sheng [(升, a measurement unit -- and 100 sheng made up one hu (斛))] will fly up to the heavens, A bright moon [(明月, mingyue, Hulü's courtesy name)] will shine over Chang'an [Northern Zhou's capital]. The other read: The high [(高, gao)] mountain will collapse on its own, The daimyo oak [(槲, hu)] will stand straight on its own. He sent spies to spread the songs near Yecheng, and the songs soon became popular. Zu, exploiting the situation himself, added two more lines: The blind man will bear a great axe, The talkative woman will be unable to speak. Both Zu and Lady Lu then reported the song to Gao Wei to further foster his suspicion of Hulü. Gao Wei consulted another favorite, Han Zhangluan, who believed that he should not suspect Hulü, so Gao Wei initially took no action. Zu, however, would not relent, and he had Hulü's subordinate Feng Shirang (封士讓) make a secret submission indicating that when Hulü had brought the army close to Yecheng in 571, he was plotting a coup. Gao Wei believed it this time, and under Zu's suggestion, he awarded Hulü a horse, and then, as Hulü arrived at the palace to thank the emperor, he had Liu Taozhi seize Hulü and strangle him to death. Hulü's clan was nearly all slaughtered—including his brother and fellow general Hulü Xian (斛律羨) and his sons Hulü Wudu (斛律武都), Hulü Shixiong (斛律世雄), and Hulü Hengqie (斛律恆伽). Only his grandson Hulü Zhong (斛律鍾), who was only a few years old, was spared. Empress Hulü was deposed and confined to a subsidiary palace. Late reign After Empress Hulü was deposed, Lady Lu wanted Consort Mu to be empress, but Empress Dowager Hu wanted her niece