The courtyard gate of the Elegant Speech Teahouse faced west. The sunlight at the beginning of Shen Hour shone straight into Chen Caozhi's face, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. Standing in the gateway was a noble young lady with a towering coiffure and flowing sleeves, wearing a golden bird hairpin and dangling ornaments of green jade. Her jacket and skirt were made of exquisite Double-Crane Diamond-Pattern Brocade. The slanting sunlight shone from behind her, tracing her figure with a hazy golden rim and turning her coiffure pale gold like her hairpin. Dazzled slightly by the sunlight, Chen Caozhi could not make out her features for the moment, only that her complexion was exquisite, like fine jade or delicate porcelain-
"Greetings, Your Highness, Princess of Xin'an Commandery."
Hao Ji, Clerk of Documents in the Minister of Works' Office, bowed with clasped hands and glanced to either side, reminding Chen Caozhi and the others not to neglect their manners.
Chen Caozhi, Gu Kaizhi, Chen Shang, and Liu Shangzhi all bowed together. "We pay our respects to Your Highness, the Commandery Duke."
Only then did several maidservants hurry up, calling breathlessly, "Your Highness-Your Highness-" Presumably, the Princess of Xin'an had been so eager to see Chen Caozhi, the Jiangzuo Wei Jie, that she had hurried over before her maids could keep up.
All four young men before her were unfamiliar faces, yet the princess's eyes immediately fixed on Chen Caozhi. Facing the sunlight, he looked all the more radiant. She had never seen such a handsome man in her life. Breaking into a smile, she said, "You must be Chen Caozhi of Qiantang, whom people call Wei Jie reborn. Mm, truly beautiful. May I ask your age?"
This Princess of Xin'an, whose name was so well known to Chen Caozhi, had asked