1. Lady Zhen was from Wuji County, Zhongshan Commandery, which is in present-day Wuji County, Hebei.
32 Facts About Lady Zhen
1. 2.
Lady Zhen was a descendant of Zhen Han, who served as a Grand Protector in the late Western Han dynasty and later the General-in-Chief during the short-lived Xin dynasty.
3.
Lady Zhen died when Lady Zhen was about three years old.
4.
Lady Zhen's parents had three sons and five daughters: eldest son Zhen Yu, who died early; second son Zhen Yan, who became a xiaolian and later served as an assistant to the General-in-Chief and as the Chief of Quliang County; third son Zhen Yao, who was a xiaolian; eldest daughter Zhen Jiang ; second daughter Zhen Tuo ; third daughter Zhen Dao ; fourth daughter Zhen Rong.
5.
Once, when she was eight years old, her sisters went to the balcony to watch a group of horse-riding performers outside their house but Lady Zhen did not join in.
6.
Lady Zhen's family had large stockpiles of grain, and they planned to take advantage of the situation to sell their grain in exchange for valuable items.
7.
When Lady Zhen was 14, her second brother Zhen Yan died, and she was deeply grieved.
8.
Lady Zhen continued to show respect towards Zhen Yan's widow, and even helped to raise Zhen Yan's son.
9.
Lady Zhen's mother was particularly strict towards her daughters-in-law and treated them harshly.
10.
Sometime in the middle of the Jian'an era of the reign of Emperor Xian, Lady Zhen married Yuan Xi, the second son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who controlled much of northern China.
11.
Lady Zhen did not follow her husband and remained in Ye, the administrative centre of Yuan Shao's domain, to take care of her mother-in-law.
12.
Lady Zhen was so terrified that she buried her face in her mother-in-law's lap.
13.
Lady Zhen remained humble even though Cao Pi deeply fancied her.
14.
Lady Zhen provided encouragement to Cao Pi's other wives who were adored by him, and comforted those whom he less favoured.
15.
Lady Zhen often urged Cao Pi to take more concubines so that he would have more descendants, citing the example of the mythical Yellow Emperor.
16.
Cao Cao's wife Lady Zhen Bian followed her husband and stayed at Meng Ford, while Cao Pi remained in Ye.
17.
Lady Zhen became worried when she heard about it and she cried day and night.
18.
Lady Zhen constantly sent messengers to inquire her mother-in-law's condition, but refused to believe them when they reported that Lady Bian was getting better, and she became filled with greater anxiety.
19.
About a year later, when Lady Bian returned to Ye, Lady Zhen rushed to see her mother-in-law and displayed mixed expressions of sadness and joy.
20.
Lady Bian, Cao Pi, Cao Rui and Princess Dongxiang all followed Cao Cao on the campaign, but Lady Zhen remained in Ye because she was sick.
21.
When Cao Pi and Lady Zhen's children returned to Ye in late 217 after the campaign, Lady Bian's attendants were surprised to see that Lady Zhen was very cheerful.
22.
When Lady Zhen realised that Cao Pi favoured her less, she started complaining.
23.
Lady Zhen's downfall was due to Guo Nuwang, whom Cao Pi fancied.
24.
The Wei Shu mentioned that Cao Pi issued an edict to Lady Zhen, asking her to move to the newly constructed Changqiu Palace in Luoyang.
25.
Lady Zhen declined humbly, stating that she felt that she was not capable enough to manage the imperial harem, and because she was ill.
26.
However, Lady Zhen died of illness in Ye a few months later.
27.
Lady Zhen believed that there were specific reasons as to why Cao Pi did not instate Lady Zhen as the empress after he became the emperor, and why he forced her to commit suicide.
28.
Lady Zhen suspected that Lady Zhen had probably committed an offence, which was not recorded in the official histories of the Cao Wei state.
29.
Many popular stories speculated that the reason for Lady Zhen's death was that she had a secret affair with Cao Pi's younger brother, Cao Zhi, even though this speculation is not supported by evidence and is improbable.
30.
Lady Zhen garnered a reputation as a great beauty, and some more fantastical accounts alleged that she was the cause for Cao Cao starting the Battle of Ye in 204.
31.
Lady Zhen had her buried with the funeral rites befitting that of an empress, but ordered her dead body to be treated in the same manner as she did to his mother: hair covering face, mouth stuffed with rice husks.
32.
The authoritative historical source on Lady Zhen's life is Records of the Three Kingdoms, which was written by Chen Shou in the third century.