Yang Zhi
Not much is known about Yang Zhi's life before she married Emperor Wu. Before Empress Yang Yan died in 274, she was fearful that whoever became empress next would undermine her developmentally-disabled son Crown Prince Zhong's position as crown prince, and therefore she asked Emperor Wu to marry her cousin Yang Zhi after her death. Emperor Wu agreed and, in 276, married Yang Zhi and created her empress. Her father Yang Jun became a key official in the administration and became extremely arrogant.