On the day in the second month of last year when Sima Daofu, Princess of Xin'an, married Huan Ji, Duke of Linhe County, the unmarried daughters of Jiankang's princes, nobles, high officials, and dignitaries had all gathered in the inner courtyard of the Prince of Langya's Residence to help Sima Daofu prepare for her wedding. Lu Weiwei had also come to offer her congratulations, so she recognized Sima Daofu. But Sima Daofu had been so distracted and unsettled that day that she had seen nothing before her eyes and had completely forgotten meeting Lu Weiwei. Even when it was mentioned today, she had no recollection. "I was nothing but a puppet that day, utterly bereft of my senses. I don't even remember seeing you, Young Lady Lu. Oh, did the Lady of the Xie Family come that day? The one who composed the verse about willow catkins, Xie Daoyun-"
"She did," Lu Weiwei said. "She was that tall young lady with such an unworldly grace. I didn't recognize her at first either. I asked someone, and they told me she was the Lady of the Xie Family."
Sima Daofu neither remembered what Xie Daoyun looked like in women's clothes nor had ever met Zhu Yingtai, the Military Adviser of the Western Headquarters. She did not know whether this shocking, convention-defying rumor she had heard from Li Jingshu was true, but she was quite willing to mention it to Lu Weiwei and see how she reacted-
"Really? Is Xie Daoyun very tall?" Sima Daofu asked.
Lu Weiwei had met Xie Daoyun twice, the other occasion having been at Waguansi. She nodded. "Yes, three or four inches taller than me, a little over seven feet two inches."
Sima Daofu looked Lu Weiwei over. Young Lady Lu was slender and a little taller