Sima Zhao [SEP] mother
(司馬昭之心, 路人皆知), meaning that a person's supposed hidden intention (in this case, usurping the throne) is so well known that it is not really hidden. It came from a quote by Cao Mao, fourth emperor of Wei, who launched an unsuccessful uprising against Sima Zhao in an attempt to take back imperial power.
Early life.
Sima Zhao was born in 211, as the second-born son of Sima Yi and his wife Zhang Chunhua, younger only to Sima Shi. As his
司空). At the time, Zhong Hui was practising filial mourning because his mother recently died. However, he immediately stopped mourning and went to warn Sima Zhao when he foresaw that Zhuge Dan would disobey the order. Sima Zhao felt that it was troublesome to change the order since it had already been sent out so he did not take any action. Zhuge Dan started a rebellion in Shouchun later. Zhong Hui accompanied Sima Zhao as he led imperial forces to attack the rebels.
When Zhuge Dan rebelled in Shouchun,