According to historical sources, Cao Cao killed Lü Boshe's family in 189 or 190 when he passed by Lü's house on his way home to Chenliu (陳留; around present-day Kaifeng, Henan) after escaping from the imperial capital, Luoyang.

The Wei Shu (魏書) recorded: Cao Cao foresaw that Dong Zhuo was doomed to failure so he refused to accept Dong's appointment and escaped back to his hometown.

He was accompanied by a few horsemen and they passed by Chenggao (成臯; around present-day Xingyang, Henan) on the journey.

[2] The Zaji (雜記) recorded: Cao Cao heard the sounds of cooking utensils (probably knives) and suspected that they (Lü Boshe's family) were plotting to harm him, so he killed them that night and fled.

Lü Boshe gives them a warm reception and instructs his family and servants to treat the guests well while he travels to town to purchase more items for a feast.

He and Chen Gong dash out and indiscriminately kill everyone in Lü Boshe's household.

Later, they discover that the servants were actually talking about slaughtering a pig for the feast and that they had killed innocent people.

Yi Zhongtian, a Xiamen University history professor, speculated that Cao Cao was probably trying to console himself after mistakenly killing Lü Boshe's family by speaking in a regretful tone ("heartrendingly remarked").