Upon returning from the Lu Residence, Gu Minzhi went straight to the Small Courtyard to see Chen Caozhi. When he met the young Shen Chiqian and learned that he was Shen Jin's son and wished to study under Chen Caozhi, Gu Minzhi thought, To wash away his forebear's disgrace and restore the Wuxing Shen clan's standing among the gentry, Shen Jin has been willing to go to Luoyang and risk his life resisting the enemy, reviving his family's honor. Loyal and filial indeed-Shen Jin truly knows how to be a son! He smiled and said, "Caozhi is versed in both Confucian learning and metaphysical philosophy, and there is nothing in music, chess, calligraphy, or painting that he does not understand. He is a teacher of the very first rank."
"My virtue is scant and my reputation slight, my talent meager and my learning shallow," Chen Caozhi said. "How could I take pupils and teach them? Would I not become a laughingstock?"
Shen Chiqian remained kneeling upright and pleaded, "I once heard Master Fan Wuzi say that Master Chen is the realm's new patriarch of Confucian learning, the one man to follow Zheng Kangcheng. Even without my father's command, I would long since have wished to study under Master Chen, let alone now that I have his command."
Seeing Shen Chiqian's sincerity, his clear speech, and his steady, resolute gaze, so much more mature than that of ordinary youths, Chen Caozhi stopped modestly declining and agreed to accept him as a disciple.
Overjoyed, Shen Chiqian immediately performed the formal rites of apprenticeship and ordered his attendants to present the customary gifts. Twelve servants, a steward, and a Dianji had accompanied Shen Shiqian from Wuxing to Jiankang. Shen Shiqian had arranged for them all to stay at an inn in the city;