in fall 556, while Yuwen Tai was on a tour of the norther provinces, he became ill at Qiantun Mountain (牽屯山, in modern Guyuan, Ningxia). He summoned his nephew Yuwen Hu the Duke of Zhongshan to Qiantun and entrusted the affairs of the state as well as his sons to Yuwen Hu. He soon died, and Yuwen Jue took over his titles (among them, Duke of Anding), while Yuwen Hu took the reins of the state. Yuwen Jue set up his headquarters at Tong Province (同州, roughly modern Weinan, Shaanxi), where Yuwen Tai's headquarters had been.