She was caught up in the conflict between her paternal half-brother, General-in-Chief He Jin, and the eunuch faction, who were both vying for power in the Han imperial court.
After He Jin's assassination and the elimination of the eunuch faction, the warlord Dong Zhuo took advantage of the power vacuum to lead his forces into the imperial capital and seize control of the Han central government.
She had two half-brothers, He Jin (same father) and He Miao (何苗; same mother),[3][4] and a younger sister who married the (adopted) son of the eunuch Zhang Rang.
[15] When Emperor Ling became critically ill in 189, he secretly entrusted his eight-year-old son Liu Xie to close aide and eunuch, Jian Shuo.
Upon Emperor Ling's death, Jian Shuo attempted to lure He Jin into a trap in the palace, assassinate him, and then install Liu Xie on the throne.
Empress Dowager He immediately rejected the idea because it required her to interact with men on a regular basis, which she found offensive and immodest.
)[19] He Jin then heeded an alternative suggestion from Yuan Shao: he secretly instructed a few provincial military officials or warlords (Dong Zhuo, Wang Kuang, Qiao Mao and Ding Yuan) to lead their troops to the vicinity of Luoyang, the imperial capital, and openly demand that the eunuchs be executed – in the hope of pressuring Empress Dowager He to take action against the eunuchs.
Zhang Rang pleaded with her to help him, so she informed her mother (the Lady of Wuyang), who in turn spoke to Empress Dowager He.
During the attack, the eunuchs took Empress Dowager He, Emperor Shao and the Prince of Chenliu (Liu Xie) hostage and tried to flee from the palace.
[24] Emperor Shao and the Prince of Chenliu, who were taken out of the palace by the eunuchs during the chaos, were eventually found near the riverbank and saved by Lu Zhi and Min Gong (閔貢), who brought them back safely.
[25] The warlord Dong Zhuo ultimately led his forces into Luoyang, the imperial capital, and took advantage of the power vacuum to seize control of the Han central government.
Dong Zhuo then forced Emperor Xian to attend the empress dowager's funeral on 29 October 189[27] at Fengchang Village (奉常亭), a district of Luoyang.
The officials who attended the funeral were dressed in plain colours but not proper mourning attire; the entire ceremony did not befit her status as an empress dowager, as Dong claimed that she had already been deposed.