When Lu Shi heard his son Lu Qin say that someone dared marry Wei Rui, his brows rose, and he said unhappily, "Do not find some son of a second-rate gentry clan. If that were acceptable, why would I have rejected Chen Caozhi?"
Lu Qin looked solemn. "Father, how could I be so foolish? The person I speak of is exalted beyond compare." He paused, then continued, "He is none other than the reigning emperor!"
"Emperor Sima Yi!" Lu Shi was greatly startled. Frowning, he fixed his eyes on his son Lu Qin and said slowly, "His Majesty has an interest in our Lu Clan Lady?"
Lu Qin said, "Empress Yu has only just passed away, so naturally His Majesty has not yet turned his attention to other matters. But think, Father: Consort Tian and Consort Meng, who are now at his side, were neither born to Great Clans. Neither is qualified to be made empress. Our Lu Clan is a powerful house of Jiangzuo. If Wei Rui enters the palace, the position of empress will naturally belong to her alone."
Lu Shi mused, "When your grandfather Duke Shiyao was alive, he seldom associated with the gentry clans of the Southern Crossing. Chancellor Wang Dao once sought your seventh aunt's hand for his nephew, but your grandfather declined graciously. He treated the Sima Imperial Clan in the same way, neither drawing close nor keeping away, remaining aloof. If we send Wei Rui into the palace now, would that not go against our forebear's wishes?"
Lu Qin said, "Those were different times. Now Huan Wen suppresses our Jiangzuo gentry clans at every turn. Even a man from a humble household like Chen Caozhi dares borrow his influence to bully us. He Zhu has been reduced to a commoner, and his uncle