His uncle, Chen Qiu (陳球; 118 - 30 Nov 179[2]), held high-ranking positions in the Han government during the reign of Emperor Ling.
[3] Chen Gui started his career as the Prefect (令) of Ju County (劇縣; south of present-day Shouguang, Shandong) in Beihai State after he was nominated as a xiaolian (civil service candidate) by his home commandery.
He resigned after some time, but was later nominated as a maocai (茂才; outstanding civil servant) and appointed as the Chancellor (相) of Jibei Kingdom (around present-day Tai'an, Shandong).
[6] Yuan Shu then wrote to Chen Gui: "In the past, when the Qin dynasty was overthrown, all the heroes throughout the Empire started fighting for power.
[8] Chen Gui wrote a reply to Yuan Shu: "In the past, the Qin dynasty collapsed because it ruled in an oppressive, harsh and tyrannical manner, which forced the people to rise up and overthrow it.
In the imperial court, General Cao uses his courage and wisdom to support the Emperor and restore order and stability to a central government rendered dysfunctional by corrupt officials.
Chen Gui was worried that the two warlords would pose a greater threat to the Han central government if they became allies, so he advised Lü Bu to avoid having any ties to Yuan Shu.
"[16] Chen Gui replied, "The alliance between Han Xian, Yang Feng and Yuan Shu is formed by a loose assembly of their forces.
"[17] Lü Bu heeded Chen Gui's advice and wrote a letter to Han Xian and Yang Feng, urging them to defect to his side as well as promising to share the spoils of war with them.
[18] Han Xian and Yang Feng were so pleased that they sided with Lü Bu, defeated Zhang Xun at Xiapi (下邳; present-day Pizhou, Jiangsu) and captured Qiao Rui (橋蕤), one of Yuan Shu's officers.