In 559, when Emperor Wenxuan ordered a general execution of members of the Northern Wei imperial Yuan clan, Yuan Man and his household were one of the few households spared, on account of Gao Yan's intercession.
[3] In fall 561, while on a hunt near the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), Emperor Xiaozhao fell off his horse and suffered severe injuries.
Empress Yu accompanied Emperor Xiaozhao's funeral train to the capital, Yecheng (鄴城, in modern Handan, Hebei).
In 564, with astrological signs showing ill fortune to the emperor, Emperor Wucheng wanted to deflect the ill fortune onto Gao Bainian, and he had Gao Bainian battered and then beheaded.
After Gao Bainian's death, Emperor Wucheng kept Empress Yuan under close guard, and she was not even able to communicate with her father.