Maintaining his loyalty to the imperial court in Luoyang, Hua Yi refused to take any orders from Sima Rui, prompting the prince to send an army to defeat and kill him in 311.
[2] When the Prince of Donghai, Sima Yue became Governor of Yan province in 308, Hua Tan was invited to serve as a Chief Clerk of the Detached Staff.
Although he was expected to answer to whoever controlled Shouchun, Hua Yi retained a keen sense of loyalty to Luoyang, as he had previously been appointed through their envoy, and refused to take orders from Sima Rui.
"[5] Likewise, Sima Rui was suspicious of Hua Yi and sent his general, Zhou Fang to camp at Pengze with 1,200 soldiers in anticipation of his attack.
[6] After Luoyang fell in the Disaster of Yongjia on 14 July 311, the Jin provisional government under Xun Fan issued a call to arms and appointed Sima Rui to lead their alliance.
The prince thus ordered his general, Wang Dun to lead Gan Zhuo, Zhou Fang, Song Dian (宋典), Zhao You and others to attack him.
[9] Before his death, a native of Guangling, Gao Kui (高悝) was staying in Jiang province, where Hua Yi invited him to serve as an Assistant Officer in the West Bureau and showed him preferential treatment.