She was referred to as the wife of Huangfu Gui (皇甫规), a military general, in the Book of the Later Han, which records her biography but states that her name and provenance are unknown; however, the Tang dynasty text Shuduan (書斷) identifies her as Lady Ma of Fufeng.
Lady Ma was widowed at a time when the Han Dynasty was crumbling due to corruption, numerous rebellions, and the rising power of warlords.
[4][1] At the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the summer of 184, Dong Zhuo, a warlord who later became the de facto ruler of China, was sent to take over from Lu Zhi in the attack on Zhang Jue in Julu.
Although his efforts during the rebellion were initially unsuccessful, with the arrival of Lady Ma's nephew, Huangfu Song, victory was gained in the winter against the peasants.
Once, because the Huangfu family had a lot of influence in the Han court, Dong Zhuo heard about Lady Ma's talents and beauty, so he wanted to marry her.
Then, Dong Zhuo brought a large number of dowries and slaves to ask Lady Ma to marry him, but he did not expect that she would meet him in civilian clothes.
She knelt down to make a statement, begged to be released; her words were rude and directly rejected Dong Zhuo.
Knowing her fate, Lady Ma cursed him and angrily reprimanded him, "You are a descendant of the barbarian Qiang.
Her integrity lay not so much in her loyalty to her family and the Han Dynasty, but in her courage in the face of brute force.