Duke Jing of Qi invited Confucius to serve him and considered how to treat him.
“I can’t treat him the way the head of the Jisun family is treated in Lu. I’ll treat him as if his position is somewhere between the head of the Jisun family and the head of the Mengsun family.” Later, he added, “I’m too old. I can’t employ him.”
Hearing this, Confucius left.