Cao Fang (232-274), known as Lanqing, was the adopted son of Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming, the third emperor of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, and reigned from 239 to 254.

Cao Fang was crowned King of Qi in 235 and succeeded him as Emperor after Cao Rong's death in 239. In 254, Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang as the king of Qi and replaced Cao Chao, a noble townshipman, as emperor. After Sima Yan became emperor on behalf of Wei, he changed the title of Cao Fang to the prince of Shaoling County. In 274, Cao Fang died of illness at the age of forty-three, and was nicknamed Li Gong.

Cao Fang, the word Lanqing, because all the biological sons of Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming died, Cao Fang and Cao Xun, the king of Qin, were adopted as adopted sons by Cao Rong. Cao Fang, who grew up in the palace as an adopted son, has no known birth history. According to the "Spring and Autumn Period of the Wei Family", Cao Fang may have been the son of Cao Kai, the king of Rencheng, the grandson of Cao Zhang, and the great-grandson of Cao Cao. In the third year of Qinglong (235), Cao Fang was named the king of Qi.

On the first day of the first month of the third year of the early Jing Dynasty (January 22, 239 AD), Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming was seriously ill, afraid of causing the foundation of the country to be unstable, so Cao Fang was appointed as the crown prince, on the same day, Emperor Wei Ming died of illness, Cao Fang ascended the throne, only eight years old, respected the Empress Guo (Empress Ming Yuan) of Emperor Wei Ming as the empress dowager, and was jointly assisted by the general Cao Shuang and the Taiwei Sima Yi. In July of the same year, Cao Fang began to visit the government in person and listen to the minister's performance. In the second year, the era name was changed to Zhengshi.

In February of the fifth year of Zhengshi (244 AD), Cao Fang, at the suggestion of Cao Shuang, issued an edict ordering Cao Shuang to lead his troops to attack Shu, but he returned in vain. In the eighth year of Zhengshi (247), the general Cao Shuang listened to the plans of He Yan, Deng Yang, and Ding Mi, and put the Empress Dowager Guo under house arrest in Yongning Palace, and the Empress Dowager Guo and Cao Fang cried when they said goodbye. Cao Shuang has been in power since then.

On the sixth day of the first month of the tenth year (249 AD), Cao Fang left Luoyang to pay homage to the tomb of Emperor Wei Ming, Gaoping Mausoleum, and the Cao Shuang brothers followed. Sima Yi took the opportunity to play the Empress Dowager Yongning, asked the Cao Shuang brothers to be abolished, and led the troops to Sima Gate to control the capital. Cao Shuang finally gave in and asked to be removed from his post, and was soon convicted by Sima Yi and wiped out the three clans, known as the Gao Pingling Incident. From then on, Cao Wei's military and political power fell into the hands of Sima Yi. In April of the same year, the year name was changed to Jiaping.

After Sima Yi's death, his son Sima Shi took control of the government. In February of the sixth year of Jiaping (254 AD), Zhongshu ordered Li Feng and Empress Zhang's father, Guanglu Dafu Zhang Ji, and others to plot to abolish Sima Shi and appoint Xiahou Xuan as a general. The matter was revealed, and he was exterminated by Sima Shi. In the autumn of the same year, Sima Zhao was ordered to attack Jiang Wei and arrived at the Beijing Division, where Cao Fang optimistically observed the troops. Xu Yun plotted with his cronies on the left and right, killed Sima Zhao when he resigned, and led this army to crusade against Sima Shi. The edict had been written, but Cao Fang did not carry it out out of fear. Sima Shi therefore planned to depose Emperor Cao Fang.

In September of the sixth year of Jiaping (254 AD), Sima Shi and the ministers of the Chinese Dynasty played the Empress Dowager Guo, saying that Cao Fang was old and not pro-government, addicted to women, abandoned lectures, abandoned Confucianism, and played the Qing Shang Ling Hu Jing, Qing Shang Cheng Pang Xi, and even seriously injured Hu Jing's body with burning iron, and the Empress Dowager was not polite when she lost her mother, please abolish Cao Fang according to Huo Guang's story. Requested to depose Cao Fang's throne and obtained permission. Cao Fang moved out of Luoyang and built the palace of Qi at Chongmen, Hanoi County, and all the ceremonial systems were like the feudal kingdoms of the princes and kings. Through deliberation, the imperial court decided to change the noble township prince Cao Chao as the emperor.

In the first year of Taishi (265 AD), after Sima Yan, the son of Sima Zhao, usurped Wei and established the Jin Dynasty, Cao Fang was named the Duke of Shaoling County. In the tenth year of Taishi (274 AD), Cao Fang died at the age of forty-three, and was called Li Gong.