After He Shikai's death, Empress Dowager Hu engaged in an affair with the Buddhist monk Tanxian (曇獻), who served as the director of Buddhist affairs in the imperial government—and the affair became so well known among monks that some monks joking referred to Tanxian as "Taishang Huang". The rumors reached Gao Wei, but he initially did not believe them. Once, when he was visiting Empress Dowager Hu, however, he saw two "nuns" attending her and was aroused by them, so he ordered them to have sexual relations with him—and only upon ordering so did he discover that they were, in fact, men. He thereafter investigated and discovered Empress Dowager Hu's affair with Tanxian, and he put Tanxian and three female close associates of Empress Dowager Hu to death. Also in winter 571, he put her under house arrest and refused to allow her to meet with the nobles. (The official Zu Ting subsequently suggested deposing Empress Dowager Hu and making Lu empress dowager instead, but Gao Wei never actually followed that suggestion.)