the dous, having made these powerplay, would eventually gain their goals of becoming even more powerful than they were. also in 83, emperor zhang, having seen that his ma cousins were not following the law, stopped favoring his ma uncles, and eventually sent them back to their marches. empress dou's brothers dou xian (竇憲) and dou du (竇篤) effectively took over in the power structure – the first time in han history that the empress' clan, rather than the empress dowager's clan, was the most powerful consort clan. this trend held sway for the rest of eastern han dynasty and a would prove to be a source of corruption.