Emperor Sima Pi and Empress Jing had died on the same day, and the auspicious jiazi day, the fifth of the sixth month, had been chosen for their funeral procession. The Wei-Jin age had no shortage of wild abandon expressed in such declarations as "Were the rites and moral teachings made for the likes of us?" Yet before the emperor and empress were buried, no one, whether gentry or commoner, soldier or civilian, could marry, hold banquets, or enjoy song and dance. This was the bare minimum. Gushu City, however, seemed a state within a state, where everything continued as before. The taverns and brothels along the southern bank of Gushu Creek had not shut their doors; people still sought pleasure there, with only the officials and officers of the Military Command absent. Ordinary townsfolk did not even know Emperor Sima Pi had died. When the subject arose, they thought it was Emperor Mu, Sima Dan, who had passed away. Sima Dan had died in the fifth month of the previous year. Emperors changed so frequently that the people of Gushu could not keep track. All they knew was that Grand Marshal Huan had been stationed in Gushu for four years, and they welcomed his lenient, uncomplicated governance.
Huan Wen's consistent strategy was not to enter the capital lightly, not to leave his army without good reason, and not to give others grounds for criticism. He acted with seasoned prudence, advancing step by step. Thus, despite the deaths of the emperor and empress, he still declined to enter Jiankang, citing the crisis in Luoyang. He sent only his eldest son, Huan Xi, to the capital to mourn before the palaces of Taicheng. Meanwhile, messengers passed frequently between him and Xi Chao, keeping him fully informed of affairs at court. Huan