Seven days earlier, Lu Weiwei and her stepmother Zhang Wenwan had visited Tiger Hill together. Seeing the peonies blooming brilliantly beside Sword Pool, where King Helu of Wu's tomb and buried swords lay, they had agreed to paint a Tiger Hill Peony Painting each. Since they had spent that day admiring the peonies and had not had time to see the other sights, they were going back today.
Today was the officials' day off, and Lu Na would not be attending to business at his office. Lady Lu, Zhang Wenwan, came with Lu Weiwei to invite him to Tiger Hill. Seeing Chen Caozhi there too, she said delightedly, "Master Chen, have you seen those two paintings? I would love to hear your appraisal."
Lady Lu, Zhang Wenwan, was also a devout follower of the Way of the Celestial Masters. When Chen Caozhi had copied the Five Thousand Words of Dao De Jing at Zhenqing Daoist Abbey to pray for his mother, she and Lu Weiwei had gone to see him. His dignified bearing as he wrote had inspired spontaneous respect. Fine virtues always drew admiration, and Lady Lu felt quite close to this talented, devotedly filial youth, almost as though he were a son or nephew of the Lu Clan.
Lu Na told Zhang Wenwan, "He Xi, the governor of Linhai, is coming to Wu Commandery today. I must go outside the city to welcome him and have no time for Tiger Hill. Go with Wei Rui. Have Lu Qin accompany you, and Caozhi can go too."
With that, Lu Na left with several attendants.
Lady Lu personally unrolled the two Tiger Hill Peony Paintings and said to Chen Caozhi, "Master Chen, please judge which is better."
Looking at Chen Caozhi, Lu Weiwei said with a soft laugh, "Aunt Zhang,