Accompanied by Longgang Temple's elder Zhu Faya, the Yan Kingdom's Empress Dowager of the Kezuhun Clan came to Heavenfall Spring on E'e Mountain. Besides palace eunuchs and maids, her entourage included her younger brother Kezuhun Yi, who held the title Duke of Yuzhang and the office of Pushe of the Department of State Affairs. His daughter, Junior Kezuhun Clan, had already married Emperor Murong Wei and would be formally invested as empress at the end of the year.
Legend had it that Heavenfall Spring had suddenly gushed forth halfway up E'e Mountain one night a hundred years ago. Its waters trickled into a mountain stream, becoming one of E'e Mountain's scenic sights. Fotudeng had built a temple here and often washed his feet beside Heavenfall Spring, which was said to dispel calamity and deliver people from adversity. Every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the soul-guiding lanterns of Longgang Temple's Ullambana Festival floated down from Heavenfall Spring to the foot of the mountain, thereby freeing the departed souls from all their sins-
The Empress Dowager of the Kezuhun Clan had moved from Dragon City to Ye City early last year. After hearing of Longgang Temple's miracles and the legends of Fotudeng, she had attended the Ullambana Festival that same year, releasing lanterns to deliver the late emperor's soul. Naturally, she would attend this year's festival as well, but she had never expected to encounter the Jin envoy Chen Caozhi here and could not help being surprised.
Chen Caozhi calmly bowed. "This foreign envoy, Chen Caozhi, pays his respects to the Empress Dowager of Yan. I came here at the invitation of His Highness the Prince of Zhongshan. I never intended to intrude upon Your Majesty's presence. Please forgive me."
Elder Zhu Faya also spoke in Chen Caozhi's