Chen Caozhi, who was spending the New Year in Qiantang, knew nothing of these events at court. Apart from necessary social engagements, he climbed Nine Luminaries Mountain with Zongzhi, Run'er, and the others each day, practiced the Five-Animal Exercises, read and practiced calligraphy, and guided his nephew and niece in painting. His days were warm and leisurely.
On the sixth day of the first month, Xu Miao came to Chen Family Cove and joined Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi on their journey to Shanyin for Kong Wang's wedding. When they reached the Kong Clan estate in Shanyin on the evening of the Seventh Day, Xie Xuan had only just arrived. They were delighted to see one another, but Xie Daoyun was nowhere to be seen. Chen Caozhi asked Xie Xuan about her, and he replied, "My elder sister dislikes lively social occasions, and she was also worried about meeting old acquaintances such as Master Zhi Mindu or Master Dai Andao, so she only sent a wedding gift in Zhu Yingtai's name. But she will leave Dongshan early tomorrow morning and come to Shanyin to meet us."
The Xie siblings had also received a document from the Western Headquarters requiring them to arrive in Gushu in early February for discussions. Both had therefore packed their luggage and brought more than twenty servants and Household Troops, intending to set out for the Western Headquarters after Kong Wang's wedding.
From Dai Shu, the Kuaiji Neishi, Chen Caozhi learned news of He Sui, who had been escorted to the capital to face charges before the Minister of Justice. Although retired, He Sui had still received an official stipend calculated at the Fifth Rank: forty-four hu of rice, thirty bolts of silk, and twenty jin of silk floss each month. This had now been stripped