Career

Her name was not recorded in history. "Huang Yueying" is simply a fictional name. The only mention of Lady Huang in historical sources was in the Xiangyang Ji (襄陽記.

Records of Xiangyang).

In the fifth century, the account was added as an annotation by Pei Songzhi to Zhuge Liang"s biography in the historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms, which was written by Chen Shou two centuries earlier. The account stated that Huang Chengyan approached Zhuge Liang and said, "I have an ugly daughter and I heard you are looking for a wife.

He ended up with Huang Chengyan"s ugly daughter." A story tells that Huang Yueying challenged her suitors to visit her personally by claiming that she was ugly. In the event that a suitor would visit her, she would hide herself under veils as a quiet dare to test their resolve.

When Zhuge Liang came to her, her figure was silhouetted by moonlight and her head was covered with two red veils.

Unlike other men, Zhuge Liang entered her room alone and did not hesitate in removing her disguises. As he removed the first veil from her face, he calmly stated that her ugliness was a misunderstanding by her father. Zhuge Liang was then rewarded by Huang Yueying"s joyful visage and gratification.

A memorial for her exists in her supposed hometown of Huangjiawan (黄家湾) in Yao"an Village (姚庵村) outside Xiangyang.