She was the third wife of Sima Shi, a regent of the Cao Wei state in the Three Kingdoms period.
Her father, Yang Chai (羊茝),[3] was the commandery administrator of Shangdang, while her mother was a daughter of the Han dynasty historian and musician Cai Yong.
[4] Her younger full brother was Yang Hu, a military general who served under the Jin dynasty.
He eventually married Yang Huiyu, because she was a politicized, talented, intelligent and generous woman.
It was said that it was at her insistence that Emperor Wu also posthumously honoured Sima Shi's first wife, Xiahou Hui, as Empress Jinghuai.