Mu Tipo
By 572, both Zu and Mu were in dispute with Hulü—Zu over several instances where Hulü believed that Zu disrespected him and making disparaging remarks about Zu's being blind, and Mu over Hulü's refusal to allow him to marry one of Hulü's daughters by a concubine and Hulü's opposition to Gao Wei's granting of some public fields to Mu. That year, Zu falsely accused Hulü of treason, and Gao Wei executed Hulü and massacred almost all members of his clan. (Mu's involvement in Zu's accusation is unclear, although it appeared that Mu's mother Lady Lu was involved.) After Hulü's death, Lady Lu and Mu were described as being so powerful that they were involved in all key decisions whether in government or in the palace. Mu himself was described as exceedingly corrupt and wasteful in his lifestyle, although he was also praised for being kind and not malicious to others. By 573, he, Han Zhangluan, and Gao Anagong were known as the "Three Nobles," and were in control of government. Further, by this point, Consort Mu had become empress, and she considered Lady Lu her mother and Mu Tipo her brother, making him even more honored than before. Meanwhile, Zu, trying to streamline government, was running into opposition by Mu and Lady Lu, and therefore tried to have them removed by accusing Mu's associate Wang Zichong (王子沖) of corruption, hoping to drag Mu into the case. However, Lady Lu realized what was happening and therefore suppressed the case against Wang. She then worked with Han, who also despised Zu, to have Zu expelled from government. At one point, however, both Mu Tipo and Han were removed from office over their diversion of imperial construction personnel from their project of repairing the palace at the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) to repairing their own homes, although Mu appeared to soon return to power.