in 49, a rare blot on emperor guangwu's rule occurred. he had once again commissioned ma yuan to go on an expedition—against the indigenous people of the wulin commandery (modern northwestern hunan and eastern guizhou), who had rebelled. while ma was on the expedition, however, a number of ma's political enemies made false accusations against ma. emperor guangwu, believing these accusations, began investigating ma, who happened to die of illness while on the campaign. with ma dead and unable to defend himself, emperor guangwu stripped ma of his marquess title and denounced him posthumously. (ma's reputation was not restored until his daughter later became empress to emperor guangwu's son emperor ming.)