imperial harem, and also because she was ill. Cao Pi then consecutively sent another two edicts but Lady Zhen rejected both. It was around summer at the time. Cao Pi intended to fetch Lady Zhen from Ye to Luoyang in autumn, when the weather was cooler. However, Lady Zhen died of illness in Ye a few months later. Cao Pi mourned her death and posthumously elevated her to the status of an empress. Pei Songzhi, who added the Wei Shu account to Lady Zhen's biography in the Sanguozhi, found the account dubious. He 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. He suspected that Lady Zhen had probably committed an offence, which was not recorded in the official histories of the Cao Wei state. Alternative theories on Lady Zhen's death 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. Some more fantastical accounts alleged that she had an affair with Cao Cao as well; one example of this can be found in the A New Account of the Tales of the World, in which Cao Cao started the Battle of Ye in 204 to obtain Lady Zhen. Posthumous honours Cao Pi died on 29 June 226 and was succeeded by Cao Rui, who became the second ruler of Cao Wei. On 25 July 226, Cao Rui granted his mother the posthumous title "Empress Wenzhao", which literally means "cultured and diligent empress". Lady Zhen's family and relatives also received noble titles. The historical text Han Jin Chunqiu mentioned that Cao Rui had all along been aware of his mother's fate, and he was angry and sad about it. After he became emperor, his stepmother Guo Nüwang became the empress dowager. When he asked her about how his mother died, Guo replied, "The Late Emperor was the one who ordered her death, so why are you asking me? You're your father's son so you can blame your dead father. Are you going to kill your stepmother for your real mother?" Cao Rui turned furious and forced Empress Dowager Guo to commit suicide. He had her buried with the funeral rites