Zhi Mindu and Xie Xuan spent the night at Chen Family Cove. Early on the twenty-first day of the fifth month, Chen Caozhi accompanied them to Lingyin Temple. Zhi Mindu had said that Chen Caozhi need not accompany him, but Chen Caozhi's mother, Mother Chen Lady Li, insisted that he attend Master Du with all due respect. How could Chen Caozhi disobey his mother?
Elder Zhenru, the abbot of Lingyin Temple, had long admired Master Du's great reputation and treated him with the utmost courtesy. He accompanied Zhi Mindu up Feilai Peak, paid respects at Master Li's pagoda, and entertained him with a vegetarian meal.
That afternoon, Zhi Mindu and Xie Xuan left Lingyin Temple to return to Kuaiji, and Chen Caozhi saw them off with warm solicitude. Xie Xuan did not know how serious Mother Chen Lady Li's illness was. Seeing nothing amiss in her speech or behavior, he assumed it was merely a minor ailment. With Master Du treating her as well, how could she fail to recover?
Xie Xuan said, "Brother Zizhong, your nephew and niece are so endearing. Once they learned I was the younger brother of the young Master Zhu who visited at the beginning of the month, they became very affectionate toward me. They even asked why that young Master Zhu hadn't come! Haha, Brother Zizhong, you must keep helping me conceal this from those two. We're still the Zhu brothers."
Chen Caozhi smiled. "Living in a secluded Fortified Manor, we seldom have visitors, so the children are especially hospitable."
Xie Xuan said, "Your niece Chen Run'er is extraordinarily clever. Yesterday, she debated with me over 'Only women and petty men are difficult to keep: draw close to them and they grow insolent; keep them at a distance and they resent you.' She was