Lady Sun
During the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the clan's prestige and power reached its height. Cao Xueqin's grandfather, Cao Yin (), was a childhood playmate to Kangxi while Cao Yin's mother, Lady Sun (), was Kangxi's wet nurse. Two years after his ascension, Kangxi appointed Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather, Cao Xi (), as the Commissioner of Imperial Textiles () in Jiangning (present-day Nanjing), and the family relocated there.