The area around Mount Lanzhu had originally belonged to the Jian Lake basin. A hundred years earlier, the lake waters had receded, leaving fertile fields and fine estates; otherwise, Wang Xizhi would not have written in his "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection," "Here stand lofty mountains and towering ridges, luxuriant woods and slender bamboo." The Kuaiji Wei Clan occupied the mountains and waterways here with a great estate of three hundred qing. Returning this vast stretch of farmland to Jian Lake was plainly unrealistic. However completely Wei Sien, the head of the Wei Clan, regarded the four elements as empty, he could not possibly surrender the fields to restore the lake. The clan's interests were at stake, regardless of his personal wishes. Chen Caozhi had no intention of restoring Jian Lake to its former extent of four hundred li around, either. What he sought was an end to further reclamation of the lake-
When Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun arrived at the Wei estate, Wei Sien was at the Bamboo Grove Retreat beside Lan Creek, listening to an elderly monk expound the "Radiant Light Prajna Sutra." A steward came to report that Tuduan Commissioner Chen Caozhi and Zhu Yingtai requested an audience.
Wei Sien was over sixty, his white eyebrows hanging over his eyes, his teeth fallen out and his cheeks sunken. "Have Wei Bo receive them," he said indifferently.
Wei Bo was Wei Sien's son and had once served as Commandery Assistant of Xin'an. Frail and often ill, he had returned home to recuperate. His health had improved somewhat over the past two years, and he managed the clan's properties and all its affairs, so Wei Sien's having him receive Chen Caozhi was not discourteous-
The steward was just about to withdraw when the lean old monk spoke.