She was the wife of Zhao Ang, an official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and was aligned with the faction that would later become the state of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period.
She is known as the heroic woman for her morally upright character and for fighting alongside her family and the Wei Kingdom in various conflicts with the warlord Ma Chao in the 210s.
When they were about 30 li away from their destination, Wang Yi suddenly stopped and told Zhao Ying: "I'd have never left that place if your father didn't send someone to fetch us.
In the following two or three years after the battle, Ma Chao constantly raided the lands in Liang Province (covering roughly present-day Gansu and Ningxia) and attacked the cities in the area.
[5] However, as Ma Chao pressed on the attack, the city gradually ran short of supplies and its defenders and civilian population began to suffer from hunger.
Zhao Ang's superior, Wei Kang, the governor of Liang Province, took pity on the plight of the people and planned to start peace talks with Ma Chao.
Wang Yi replied: "A ruler has advisers to provide him counsel; officials also have the right to disregard the command hierarchy and take matters into their own hands when the situation calls for it.
However, by the time Zhao Ang went back to see Wei Kang, the latter had already concluded his negotiations with Ma Chao, with both sides agreeing to end the conflict.
Wang Yi planned to make use of that opportunity to help her husband gain Ma Chao's trust and wait for a chance to take revenge.
She told Lady Yang: "In the past, Guan Zhong became the chancellor of Qi and made great achievements; You Yu entered Qin and played an important role in Duke Mu's rise to power.
Ma Chao fled to Hanzhong Commandery, borrowed troops from the warlord Zhang Lu, and returned to attack Liang Province.
Zhao Ang and Wang Yi had moved to Mount Qi (祁山; the mountainous regions around present-day Li County, Gansu) by then.
Throughout the whole period of time from the siege at Ji County to the battle at Mount Qi, Zhao Ang had launched nine attacks on Ma Chao and Wang Yi participated in all of them.
Lady Wang's response to her husband is similar to the one documented in the Lie Nü Zhuan, but the last sentence about Xiang Tuo and Yan Hui has been changed to: "If you do not carry out your plan because of our son, I will die first."