Lu Na, Minister of the Left for the People, had been weighed down with worry ever since his wife Zhang Wenwan entered the capital. The rumors in the capital were naturally one cause, but the dispute between his elder brother Lu Shi and his cousin Zhang Andao troubled him even more. He also worried that Zhang Wenwan might fail to adjust to the local climate and suffer a relapse of her old illness. Fortunately, she had shown no obvious discomfort these past two days, so when he heard early that morning that she wanted to visit Jiangling Lake to enjoy the spring scenery and ease her mind, he naturally approved. He instructed Lu Weiwei to accompany her stepmother on the outing, while he hurried off to court to discuss affairs of state. Grand Marshal Huan Wen's memorial proposing the relocation of the capital and its people had shaken court and country, filling people's hearts with fear. As Minister of the Left for the People, Lu Na oversaw the household registers of the populace as well as the affairs of the government workshops. If the proposal to relocate the capital passed and the displaced people in Jiangzuo had to move north, the officials of his ministry would be so busy their heads would scorch and their brows would burn-
The Lu Residence in Hengtang stood close to Jiankang's northern gate. At around seven in the morning, Lady Lu and Young Lady Lu's seven or eight ox carts, accompanied by several dozen servants, left the residence and wound their way toward Jiangling Lake.
Banli, the elder brother of Lu Weiwei's personal maid Duan Chu, had been ordered to go ahead. Twenty years old, loyal and quick-witted, he asked the farmers and village women he encountered along the road whether a handsome young