Reportedly, Guo Huai's wife, the younger sister of Wang Ling, was taken into custody by imperial censors. Guo Huai apprehensively relented and let her be taken, not wanting to push things further, but when his five sons kowtowed before him until their foreheads started bleeding, he finally relented and ordered his subordinates to bring back his wife from the imperial censors. He thereafter wrote a letter to Sima Yi: "My five sons are willing to sacrifice their lives for their mother. If they lose their mother, I lose them too. Without my five sons, I will no longer exist. If I have violated the law by seizing back my wife from the imperial censors, I am willing to see the Emperor and take full responsibility for my actions." After reading Guo Huai's letter, Sima Yi made an exception for Guo Huai's wife and pardoned her.