Gao Wei
In winter 576, Northern Zhou's Emperor Wu again launched another major attack on Northern Qi, putting Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi) under siege and then capturing it. At the time the news of Northern Zhou's attack on Pingyang arrived, Gao Wei was hunting at Qilian Lake (祁連池, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi) with Consort Feng, and Gao Anagong, not believing the matter to be serious, did not report the news to Gao Wei. Only after Pingyang fell did Gao Anagong give Gao Wei the news. Gao Wei gathered his troops and headed for Pingyang, and Emperor Wu, believing Gao Wei's troops to be still strong, withdrew but put the general Liang Shiyan (梁士彥) in charge of defending Pingyang against the Northern Qi counterattack. The Northern Qi forces sieged Pingyang with all effort—and after several days, were able to breach the wall—but at this point, Gao Wei stopped his attack and summoned Consort Feng so she could witness the fall of the city. When she arrived, however, Northern Zhou forces had already filled in the breach, and therefore held the city. With Pingyang under siege, Emperor Wu launched another attack to try to lift the siege on Pingyang. Gao Anagong advised against direct faceoff with Emperor Wu's troops, but Gao Wei, egged on by eunuchs, chose to directly engage Emperor Wu, and the armies engaged in a battle around year 577. A minor fallback by some of Gao Wei's troops caused Consort Feng and Mu Tipo to panic, and they suggested an immediate retreat—and Gao Wei abandoned his troops and fled to Jinyang, causing his army to collapse.