According to some sources, Cao Shuang, who wanted to maintain his power, followed the advice of Li Sheng, Deng Yang and Ding Mi (丁谧) and moved Empress Dowager Guo to Yongning Palace to be separated from Cao Fang, putting her effectively under house arrest, and upon their separation both the empress dowager and the young emperor wept. However some scholars such as Hu Sanxing and Wang Maohong doubted such events never occurred as Empress Dowager Guo had already been at Yongning Palace upon the accession of Cao Fang, and they might be added by the officials of the Jin dynasty to defame Cao Shuang.
