Zhen Luo (甄宓;甄洛) (183?-221), formally Empress Wenzhao (文昭皇后, literally, "the civil and diligent empress") was the first wife of Cao Wei's first emperor, Cao Pi -- although she was never empress while she was alive. She was posthumously honored as an empress because her son Cao Rui later became emperor.
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Early life and marriage to Yuan Xi
Zhen Luo was from Zhongshan Commandery (roughly modern Baoding, Hebei). It is not known when she was born. Her father Zhen Yi (甄逸) was a commandery governor, but died when she was only two years old. Despite her father's early death, her family remained rich, and during the wars during the end of Han Dynasty, her family became locally important in famine relief for the poor. Zhen Luo was personally involved in famine relief and gained the praise of many people. When Zhen Luo became older (although it is not known what year), Yuan Shao, the warlord in control of Ji Province (冀州, roughly modern Hebei) became aware of her reputation and beauty, and sought to marry her to his son Yuan Xi. The marriage eventually occurred. When Yuan Shao later sent Yuan Xi to be the governor of You Province (幽州, roughly modern Beijing, Tianjin, and western Liaoning), however, she did not accompany him but remained at the Yuan clan's headquarters at Yecheng to serve her mother-in-law. Yuan Xi and she did not appear to have any children.
Marriage to Cao Pi
Yuan Shao, the most powerful warlord at the time, was defeated by Cao Cao at the Battle of Guandu in 200, and died in 202. After his death, his sons Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang became involved in internecine struggles against each other in trying to control their father's vast domain, and this allowed Cao Cao to play them off against each other, eventually conquering all of the Yuans' territory. While he was still campaigning against the Yuans, he was able to capture Yecheng in 204, and his son Cao Pi, who accompanied him, saw Lady Zhen and became obsessed with her beauty. Even though her husband Yuan Xi was still alive at this point (and would remain so until 207), Cao Pi forced her to marry him as his wife. Eight months later, she gave birth to Cao Rui -- leading to incessant gossip that Cao Rui was actually biologically Yuan Xi's son, not Cao Pi's, although that appeared to be rather unlikely given that Yuan Xi had been away from Yecheng for quite some time before Cao Pi married Lady Zhen. Nevertheless, the rumors became a source of tension between Cao Pi and Lady Zhen. Cao Pi's other favorite, Guo Nüwang, took full advantage of the rumors to increase the tension. Eventually, Lady Zhen lost the favor of Cao Pi. When he forced Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate to him and thus established Cao Wei in 220, he set his capital at Luoyang but did not summon Lady Zhen from Yecheng to join him. Lady Zhen became upset, and Lady Guo reported her anger to Cao Pi, further angering him. In 221, he sent messengers to force her to commit suicide. Her rival Guo Nüwang would become empress the next year.
Later developments
After Lady Zhen's son Cao Rui became emperor in 226, he honored her posthumously as an empress, although he also honored Empress Guo as empress dowager. In 235, Empress Guo died under controversial circumstances -- with many historians believing that Cao Rui had found out her role in Lady Zhen's death and forced her to commit suicide.
Popular stories
Many popular stories speculated that the reason for Lady Zhen's death was that she carried on an affair with Cao Pi's brother Cao Zhi -- a speculation not supported by evidence. Some more fantastical accounts alleged that she had an affair with his father Cao Cao as well. These accounts generally allege that a poem generally attributed to Cao Zhi, dedicated to the goddess of Luo River, was actually dedicated to Zhen Luo.
Modern references
Makers of video games have taken substantial liberties with Zhen Luo changing or inventing out of whole cloth many aspects of her history and character. Given that many first approach the character of Zhen Luo through the medium of video games, understanding how she has been reinvented therein has become important to understanding how this figure is popularly viewed. Zhen Luo has been a playable character in the Koei video game series Dynasty Warriors since the third title. In these games, she is referred to alternatively as "Zhen Ji," ("Ji" literally means "lady") and is described as a "serene beauty with a noble heart." However, she is also depicted as slightly arrogant and snobbish, with each successive title exaggerating these characteristics further. She acts in a calm, even cold manner to match to her husband Cao Pi. Physically, she is a beautiful woman who is tall, slender, and wears revealing dresses accented by fur or silk. The most significant departure made by the Dynasty Warriors series was portraying Zhen as a warrior, although this is an obvious necessity for involving a character in a "tactical action" game. Zhen utilises an unorthodox weapon, the "Dark Moon Flute," which is used to perform melee strikes along with slaps and kicks. Zhen's "Musou Attack" (special attack), involves her playing her flute to create a sonic shockwave, killing and injuring all surrounding opponents within close proximity. Zhen Ji is featured on the cover of Koei's PlayStation Portable Dynasty Warriors release. More recently, the Dynasty Warriors series has retold certain events in Zhen's life. In Dynasty Warriors 5, the first game in which Cao Pi is also a playable character, she is given far more agency in determining the course of her personal and political life than her historical counterpart would ever have received. In the Dynasty Warriors version of events, Zhen is an officer of the Yuan Family and wife of Yuan Xi. She encounters Cao Pi of the opposing army during the Battle of Guan Du. Cao Pi immediately falls in love with Zhen and attempts to court her. Initially, she rejects his advances and forces him to defeat her in combat before she will submit to him. During Cao or Zhen's respective "Musou Mode" (story mode), she defects to the Cao Family, either through submission to Cao Pi or by choice, following the Battle of Guan Du and the pair are married. Unlike actual historical events, Cao Pi's love for Zhen endures beyond his initial infatuation with her and they live out their lives in happiness together. In Dynasty Warriors 6, Zhen Ji wields a chain whip instead of her flute from her previous incarnations. In Warriors Orochi she was forced into Orochi's army, until she learned that Cao Pi and Ishida Mitsunari had rebelled. She decided to follow suit and help the revived Wei army attack Liangzhou. There was something amiss, Fuuma Kotaro gave some sorcerors black magic and even summoned a clone of Cao Pi to attack Zhen. Cao Pi killed his evil twin and the sorcerors with relative ease and Zhen Ji rejoins Cao Wei.
