Empress Cao (died July 13, 884?) was the wife of Huang Chao

Huang Chao

Huang Chao was the leader of the Huang Chao Rebellion , known in mainland China as the Huang Chao Revolution in China that seriously weakened the once mighty Tang Dynasty of China...

, a major agrarian rebel against the rule of the Chinese

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

 dynasty Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 during the reign of Emperor Xizong

Emperor Xizong of Tang

Emperor Xizong of Tang , né Li Yan , later name changed to Li Xuan , was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 873 to 888. He was the fifth son of his predecessor Emperor Yizong and was the elder brother of his successor Emperor Zhaozong...

.

Nothing is known about the future Empress Cao's background, including when she married Huang or whether she bore any children for Huang. The only firm historical reference to her was around the new year 881, when Huang declared himself the emperor of a new state of Qi and created her empress. His Qi state was eventually defeated by Tang forces, and in 884, he was killed by his own nephew Lin Yan (林言) at Langhu Valley (狼虎谷, in modern Laiwu

Laiwu

Laiwu is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong Province, People's Republic of China. The smallest prefecture-level city in the province, it borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east and Tai'an to the southwest....

, Shandong

Shandong

' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

). Lin also killed Huang's brothers, wife — presumably Empress Cao — and children, and planned to deliver their heads to the Tang general Shi Pu

Shi Pu

Shi Pu , formally the Prince of Julu , was a warlord of the late Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who controlled Ganhua Circuit as its military governor...

 the military governor of Ganhua Circuit (感化, headquartered in modern Xuzhou

Xuzhou

Xuzhou , otherwise known as Pengcheng in ancient times, is a major city in and the fourth largest prefecture-level city of Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China...

, Jiangsu

Jiangsu

' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

). However, on the way to Shi's camp, Lin was intercepted by Tang soldiers who were ethnic Shatuo

Shatuo

The Shatuo were a Turkic tribe that heavily influenced northern Chinese politics from the late ninth century through the tenth century. They are noted for founding 3 of the 5 dynasties and 1 of the kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period....

and those belonging to the Boye Army (博野軍), and those soldiers killed Lin, taking those heads that he planned to present to Shi, along with his head, and presented all of them to Shi.