Mu Tipo
In 572, Zu falsely accused Hulü Guang of treason—an accusation that Lady Lu concurred in—and Gao Wei killed Hulü Guang and most members of his clan. Empress Hulü was deposed. Lady Lu wanted to have Consort Mu, her adoptive daughter, created empress, but at that time, Gao Wei favored Empress Dowager Hu's niece Consort Hu. Empress Dowager Hu wanted her niece created empress, but felt she had insufficient persuasive power, and she gave gifts to Lady Lu, referring to her as sister, and requested her help. Lady Lu reluctantly agreed, and she jointly with Zu suggested that Consort Hu be created empress. Consort Hu became empress in fall 572. However, Lady Lu did not relent in her hopes of making Consort Mu empress, stating to Gao Wei, "How can a son be crown prince and a mother be a servant girl, a concubine?" But as Gao Wei favored Empress Hu, she could not carry out her wishes. She therefore engaged witches to use witchcraft on Empress Hu. It was said that within a month, Empress Hu began to show symptoms of psychosis, often mumbling to herself or laughing without cause. Gao Wei began to fear and dislike her. In winter 572, Lady Lu put Consort Mu in empress clothing and put her in a tent, surrounded with magnificent jewelry, and then told Gao Wei, "Let me show you a holy woman." When Gao Wei saw that it was Consort Mu, Lady Lu stated, "For a woman this beautiful not to be empress, who would be qualified to be empress?" Gao Wei agreed with her, and he created Consort Mu "Right Empress" and gave Empress Hu the title "Left Empress. Around the new year 573, Lady Lu further falsely told Empress Dowager Hu that Empress Hu had denigrated Empress Dowager Hu's moral character—and Empress Dowager Hu, in anger, without verifying the information, ordered Empress Hu expelled from the palace, and then had Gao Wei depose her. Thereafter, it was said that Lady Lu and Mu Tipo were so powerful and so corrupt that they were openly taking bribes and selling the imperial offices, and all that they wished were carried out. In spring 573, Right Empress Mu became sole empress. As Empress Mu treated Lady Lu as mother and Mu Tipo as brother, Lady Lu was honored with the title "Grand Lady" (太姬, "taiji"), typically reserved for an empress's mother, and Empress Mu ignored her own mother Mu Qingxiao (穆輕霄). When Mu Qingxiao tried to see Empress Mu, Lady Lu prevented the meeting.