[11] Soon after, Cao Rui ennobled her father Jia and gave her brother Mao Zeng (毛曾) a court position, and would continue to show the family great favor.
Things came to a head in September 237 when Cao Rui hosted a party in the Rear Palace for the senior concubines with music and merriment.
With Cao Rui then missing for a month, Empress Mao and her ladies come to the Blue Flower Pavilion to entertain themselves when they hear music in the Fragrant Forest Park.
Cao Rui then orders her death and immediately makes Guo empress; the court officials are too frightened to protest.
The next chapter, after the destruction of Gongsun Yuan, Cao Rui is awoken during the middle of the night by a cold wind and in the darkness, he sees Empress Mao and some attendants.