On the eighth day of the seventh month, the day after the Qiqiao Festival, a light rain fell on Shanyin, the seat of Kuaiji Commandery. Though slight, it fell without cease. This was the first rain the people of Kuaiji had seen that year, and nobles and commoners throughout the city rejoiced; some even wept for joy. Slender-waisted drums sounded and Wu songs rose as they worshipped the River Earl and the Well God. It was amid this endless drizzle, the drumbeats, and the drifting songs of worship that Zhu Yingtai, Military Adviser of the Western Headquarters, left Shanyin. Dai Shu, Kuaiji Neishi, led the commandery and county officials, together with the elders of the local great clans, to see Clerk Zhu off. This Clerk Zhu, who had worked herself ill fighting the drought in Kuaiji, had accepted not a coin of the customary "welcome and farewell money," putting it all toward relief for the disaster victims. Before leaving, she even reminded Neishi Dai to guard against floods. Severe drought was often followed by flooding; calamity never came alone-
The iron-bound wooden wheels of the ox carriage rolled over earth softened slightly by the rain, jolting less than on the hard ground of previous days. Once the curtains were lowered, shutting out the world beyond the carriage for a time, Clerk Zhu became the Lady of the Xie Family again. She knelt upright inside, her back straight and her posture elegant. Her maid Yinfeng urged her to lean against the cushions for a while so that she would not tire herself, but she said, "I'm used to sitting this way. Leaning crookedly like that is actually uncomfortable, and more tiring."
Yinfeng said softly, "You're always so determined, my lady, always holding yourself taut, always keeping yourself up-you were seriously ill