Before noon on the sixth day of the third month, Lu Na sent someone to inform Master Xu and Chen Caozhi that Chu Jian had said there had been no fighting or disturbances at his residence. The matter was left unsettled.
Xu Zao comforted Chen Caozhi and told him to concentrate on his studies. With Governor Lu protecting him, Chu Jian would not dare act against all reason.
Chen Caozhi thought, When Commissioner Lu had me meet Chu Jian at Cherished Garden last time, he hoped Chu Jian would get along peacefully with me afterward. But when has Chu Jian ever shown the slightest restraint? Otherwise, he would never have taken Chen Liu under his wing. This time, Chu Jian denied that Ran Sheng had beaten Chen Liu outside the Chu residence, naturally because Commissioner Lu had intervened and he could not conveniently use it to stir up trouble. Instead, he simply continued to bide his time. Without a doubt, he means to wait until Yu Xi, the Yangzhou Neishi and Grand Zhongzheng, comes to Wu Commandery before making his move-what can I do to counter him now? I cannot simply sit and wait for Chu Jian and Chen Liu to frame me. Who knows what despicable, shameless methods Chen Liu might use? Meeting ten thousand changes by remaining unchanged will not work. That would leave me far too passive. I must take action.
That night, Chen Caozhi paced the paths through Peach Grove. On March the Sixth, the waxing half-moon had yet to rise, and stars appeared one after another. After spending long enough in the darkness, he could make out the paths without a lantern.
His two friends, Xu Miao and Liu Shangzhi, accompanied him in silence. They both felt keenly the injustice of being of humble birth.