Liu Bang met Lu Zhi while still a minor official, whilst Lu Zhi came from an extravagantly wealthy family. Lu Zhi’s father, did not approve of the marriage and thought his daughter should marry someone of a similar class, but Lu Zhi did not see it that way. She saw potential in him, and eventually convinced her father to allow them to marry. After Liu Bang’s rebellion (see the Rebellion of the Qin for more details) Lu Zhi gave birth to the first of their two children a son named Liu Ying, who was to succeed Liu Bang as ruler of the Han dynasty. During his marriage, Liu Bang took up a beautiful concubine who went by the name of Lady Qi. Lady Qi would eventually bare him a son, who they would call Ru Yi. Liu Bang favored Ru Yi because of his strong personality which differed from his elder son. Lu Zhi suspected that Liu Bang would choose Ru Yi over Liu Ying and wanting to make sure that they dynasty stayed in her bloodline she constantly blocked his attempts at naming Ru Yi heir. |
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