Historical records record that when Cao Cao was an official in Luoyang, the two became close friends, and Cai Wenji was considered the daughter of an old friend.

Cai Yan, also known as Wenji, is the daughter of Cai Yong, a great writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty. She is good at literature, music and calligraphy. "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" records a volume of "Cai Wenji Collection", but it has been lost.

In addition to "Eighteen Beats of Hujia", Cai Wenji's works also include "Poem of Sorrow and Indignation", which is known as the first autobiographical five-character narrative poem created by a literati in the history of Chinese poetry.

In 208 AD, after Cao Cao became prime minister, he learned that his teacher's only daughter, Cai Wenji, was trapped in the Huns. As a senior, he naturally couldn't bear it, so he spent a lot of money to rescue the little junior sister. This is the story of "Wen Ji returning to the Han Dynasty" that has been widely spread throughout the ages.

Extended information:

When she was a girl, Cai Wenji was talented and beautiful. In addition, she was well-read in poetry and books, and there was an endless stream of people seeking marriage. However, this talented woman had no fate with Cao Cao. When she was about to get married, Cao Cao had been fighting abroad, and his life and death hung on a thread. When Cai Wenji was 16 years old, she married Wei Zhongdao, a college student.

After getting married, the couple respected each other, talked about poetry and current affairs, and were very affectionate. Within a year, Wei Zhongdao died of hemoptysis, and the Wei family suspected that she had killed her husband. The arrogant Cai Wenji could not bear the humiliation and returned to her parents' home regardless of her father's objections.

Qiang and Hu Fan soldiers plundered the Central Plains. Cai Wenji and many other women were taken captive to the southern Xiongnu. Cai Wenji married the powerful Xiongnu King Zuoxian and suffered from the pain of living in a foreign land and a foreign custom. Proficient in some foreign languages.

Cao Cao wanted to redeem Cai Wenji, and finally, under Cao Cao's arrangement, she married Tian Xiaowei Dong Si. She is thirty-five years old this year. In the second year after her marriage, her husband committed a capital crime. She ran barefoot to Cao Cao's prime minister's house to plead for mercy, without even bothering to comb her hair or put on shoes.

Cai Wenji tried her best to excuse her husband, which aroused Cao Cao's compassion and saved Dong Si's life. From then on, Dong Si also felt grateful for his wife's kindness, began to re-evaluate Cai Wenji, and gradually fell in love with her talent.

Both the couple saw through the world, so they went up the Luoshui River, and finally found a beautiful and wooded foothills to settle down.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Cai Wenji