When Liu Bei visited Xu Province, he stayed in Xiaopei (小沛; present-day Pei County, Jiangsu), where he met Lady Gan and took her as his concubine.

Whenever Liu Bei would summon her within the silken curtains, she would look to anyone who gazed upon her from outside the window as if she was like drifted snow beneath the Moon.

On several occasions, she was captured by Liu Bei’s enemies but always managed to emerge from the experience unharmed, and she succeeded in keeping his household together through such crises.

This was probably because he wanted a formal wife who would bring him some political advantage; Liu Bei's three known wives were all from powerful clans in the region he was at: Lady Mi in Xu Province, Lady Sun in Eastern Wu and Empress Wu in Yi Province.

Lady Gan's remains were excavated from Nan Commandery for reburial in Shu territory (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing), but Liu Bei died before this was completed.

Lady Gan urged her brother-in-law to escape upon hearing news of Liu Bei's whereabouts.

Her death in Chapter 54 inspired Zhou Yu to entrap Liu Bei in Wu by arranging a marriage between him and Lady Sun.