The head of the Cao family during its period of decline. By his time, the family was on the brink of collapse. His father saw Madam Wu's exceptional insight and courage and arranged for her to marry his son despite her merchant background. When Old Master Cao was thirty, he secured a post as magistrate of Lintong County. A year into his term, rebel forces arrived, and he panicked, mishandled the situation, and died in the chaos.
