in the summer, emperor he made a sudden move, issuing an edict ordering the imperial guards to go on alert and to close the gates of the capital luoyang. the dous' relatives who were accused of plotting to murder the emperor were executed. an imperial messenger was sent to seize dou xian's seal as the commander of the armed forces. all of the empress dowager's brothers were sent back to their march but under close guard—the emperor wanted to execute them but did not want to do so publicly, so once they returned to their marches, he ordered all of them, except for the more humble dou gui, to commit suicide.