During the Gaoping Ling Incident, the Sima clan killed more than thousands of Cao family members. Cao Fang was not indifferent, but helpless, because Cao Fang had no real power and could not change all this. At that time, Sima Yi and Cao Shuang were the ministers of Tuogu. One of them controlled the political power and the other controlled the military power. Cao Fang actually had no substantive power as the emperor and only had the title of emperor.

At that time, Sima Yi had been suppressed by Cao Shuang for many years, and he knew that Cao Shuang could not tolerate him. Later, Cao Shuang took Cao Fang out to worship his ancestors. At this time, Sima Yi quickly launched a coup. This coup not only took control of the palace, but also caused the Cao family to lose military power due to Cao Shuang's mistakes. In the end, he could only be slaughtered by Sima Yi. As the emperor, In fact, Cao Fang had no ability to change all this, so he could only listen to Cao Shuang, and Cao Shuang didn't have any good ideas.

The Gao Pingling incident was actually a gamble by Sima Yi, and the bet was on Cao Shuang's character. Cao Shuang is indeed capable as a military general, and it must be because of his strong military ability that he was able to serve as Minister Tuogu. When Sima Yi forced him to hand over his military power, his reaction was exactly what Sima Yi had expected. He obediently handed over his military power, otherwise Sima Yi would not have been able to take away the Cao family's empire so easily.

Cao Fang was actually still young at that time. Sima Yi made the final decision on government matters, while Cao Shuang made the final decision on military matters. At that time, Cao Fang was almost just a nominal emperor. He lived in fine clothes and food every day, and occasionally learned how to deal with government affairs from the ministers. He had no chance to deal with the ministers at all. On the one hand, Sima Yi and Cao Shuang's control was too tight. On the other hand, Cao Fang had no chance to create his own political environment. Therefore, under such circumstances, Cao Fang could not actually make any changes, so some people thought that he was indifferent. In fact, rather than saying that Cao Fang is indifferent, it is better to say that his attitude is helpless.