Dispelling worries

Ge Hong wore a hempen Daoist robe, his face youthful and his hair crane-white. At seventy-five, his back was unbowed, his hearing unimpaired, his eyes clear and bright, and his stride vigorous. Later generations claimed he was skilled in the arts of the bedchamber, which were also discussed in the Inner Chapters of Baopuzi, but Chen Caozhi had seen no young women at the Chuyang Terrace Daoist temple. It seemed to be a rumor.

When the Chen clansmen of Chen Family Cove saw that Chen Caozhi had invited the old immortal from Precious Stone Mountain, whose beard and brows were white, they were all astonished. They bowed in unison, addressing him as "Venerable immortal-"

Ge Hong took Mother Chen Lady Li's pulse, then asked about her eating and sleeping habits. He nodded and went with Chen Caozhi to sit in the study. Xiao Chan served tea. Ge Hong raised his cup and took a sip, closing his eyes to savor it. A delicate fragrance filled his mouth, its lingering flavor inexhaustible. Opening his eyes, he asked, "What tea is this? Its preparation is quite different."

"This is ordinary fine tea from Shangyu," Chen Caozhi said. "Rather than boiling it, we steep it directly. Its flavor is light but enduring."

Knowing Chen Caozhi was concerned about his mother's illness, Ge Hong spoke no further of tea. "Your mother has a weak constitution, with worries knotted in her heart and coldness and deficiency in her spleen and stomach. Whatever she eats fails to digest. To treat this illness, medicine alone will not suffice. There must also be a way to ease her heart. Do not let her have further cause for worry."

He immediately wrote out a prescription: ten jin of fresh rehmannia root, pounded to extract the juice and mixed with three jin of fine flour; dry it in the sun, then mix in more juice. Take several spoonfuls before meals, three times a day, for half a month.

Just then, sounds of argument and clamor came from the Fortified Manor's main gate. There seemed to be angry shouts from Lai Fu and his son.

"Please wait a moment, venerable immortal," Chen Caozhi said. "I will go and take a look, then return."

Chen Caozhi hurried to the main gate of the Fortified Manor, where he saw two government runners throwing their weight around. One said, "Call your household head out. I should like to see just when the Qiantang Chen Clan became a high-ranking gentry clan, with protected households beyond the government's reach!"

"The Household Registration Inspection is in the seventh month!" Lai Fu said angrily. "Why have you come now?"

"To prevent crafty households from fleeing and hiding, we are conducting the Household Registration Inspection early," the runner said. "Hurry up and call your household head out. Harboring refugees and passing them off as protected households warrants severe punishment."

Chen Caozhi stepped forward. "I am the head of the West Tower Chen household. The Household Registration Inspection requires an official written notice. Please produce it."

A sallow-faced runner looked Chen Caozhi over twice. "This is an early Household Registration Inspection. There is no written notice."

"Without a written notice, you may not arbitrarily conduct a Household Registration Inspection and harass the people," Chen Caozhi said. "Go back and obtain one before returning."

"We have heard that Chen Family Cove is harboring refugees to evade taxes and labor service!" the other runner said angrily. "We came expressly to arrest them. Surely that needs no written notice!"

"That, too, falls under the Household Registration Inspection," Chen Caozhi said. "You still need a written notice."

The sallow-faced runner caught sight of the one-armed Jing Nu and shouted, "That one-armed old man is one of them! Seize him, and let us see how Chen Caozhi denies it!"

Both runners charged at Jing Nu. Ran Sheng sprang out, seized a runner in each hand, and shoved them backward. They staggered several paces and fell flat on their backs, all four limbs in the air.

At some point, Ge Hong had appeared beside Chen Caozhi. Stroking his beard, he smiled. "My young friend Caozhi, I understand now. This is what weighs on your mother's heart, the cause of her illness. Since you invited this old Daoist to treat her, I shall remove its cause as well." With that, he waved his deer-tail whisk and stepped forward. "I am an old acquaintance of Prefect Wang," he told the two runners. "Go back for now, and stop causing trouble here. I shall write to Prefect Wang-"

The two runners were blazing with anger. That fall had hurt badly. Was this not assaulting government runners and showing contempt for the law? They were about to roar in outrage when this old Daoist with snow-white hair and beard appeared from who knew where. Why was he putting on the airs of an immortal? He even claimed to be an old acquaintance of County Magistrate Wang and casually told them to go back. How utterly outrageous! Had he not seen these unruly commoners resisting the law?

One runner rubbed the back of his head and eyed Ge Hong sidelong with a sneer. "Old Daoist, we are carrying out official duties impartially. How is that harassment? You make it sound so easy. You think saying you know Prefect Wang is enough to send us away? Have you grown muddleheaded? Gone senile?"

Ge Hong swept his deer-tail whisk forward as though casting a spell and barked, "Slap their mouths!"

The burly man behind him, who seemed to be deaf, sprang forward at the command. He swung his palm, broad as a palm-leaf fan. Two slaps left the runners' mouths crooked and their teeth knocked out, and one side of each man's face rapidly swelled.

"Convey my regards to Magistrate Wang when you return," Ge Hong said. "Tell him Ge Zhichuan of Danyang invites him to visit the Chuyang Terrace Daoist temple on Precious Stone Mountain when he has time."

Clutching their mouths, the runners fled in disgrace. Though they still did not know who Ge Zhichuan was, they could not afford to suffer any more immediate losses. They would deal with it once they returned to the county seat. They certainly would not let Chen Caozhi or this old Daoist off.

Watching the two runners spit blood all along their way, Lai De and Ran Sheng felt thoroughly gratified and burst into laughter.

That afternoon, the two beaten runners returned to the county offices and lodged their complaint with Lu Clerk. Of course, Lu Clerk knew who Ge Zhichuan was, and he was secretly alarmed. How did Chen Caozhi come to be on friendly terms with Ge Hong as well? He even got Ge Hong, who has always held himself aloof and ignored worldly affairs, to intervene for him. Ge Hong has an immense reputation and a vast circle of acquaintances. Never mind me-even the Chu Clan of Qiantang would hardly dare oppose him!

Lu Clerk turned the matter over and over in his mind. For now, he had no means of dealing with Chen Caozhi and could only take his time devising another plan. So long as Chen Caozhi remained in Qiantang County, there would always be a way to squeeze and strip him of his entire fortune. Ge Hong could not shelter him forever. As for the Chen Clan's Protected Household, Lai Fu, he would wait until the notice for the seventh-month Household Registration Inspection was posted, then arrest him and bring him to the county seat. What would Chen Caozhi have to say then?

What Lu Clerk had not expected, however, was that Wang De Yi was positively delighted to hear that Ge Zhichuan had invited him to the temple. Lu Shi, elder brother of the Governor of Wu Commandery, Lu Na, and Minister of the Five Armies, had made a special visit to Ge Hong three years earlier, only for Ge Hong to shut his doors and refuse to see him. Lu Shi had left in low spirits. Yet now Ge Hong had actually sent word inviting him to a meeting. If this spread to the commandery and provincial authorities, would not Wang De Yi's reputation soar?

County Magistrate Wang wished he could visit Ge Hong immediately, but Heaven refused to oblige. More than ten days of relentless rain followed, and the skies did not clear until the twenty-third day of the fifth month.

Early on the twenty-fourth, when the sky was barely light, County Magistrate Wang set out with several servants. Precious Stone Mountain beside Mingsheng Lake lay more than fifty li from Qiantang's county seat. Traveling first by ox cart and then by shoulder-borne chair, he reached the Chuyang Terrace Daoist temple shortly after the start of the wei hour.

The moment he saw Ge Hong, Ge Zhichuan, with his long frost-white eyebrows and snow-white hair and beard, County Magistrate Wang bent low in a deep bow.

Ge Hong was sitting opposite a handsome, gracefully poised youth in conversation. Fragrance curled from two cups of clear tea on the low table. Ge Hong gestured for County Magistrate Wang to sit to one side and wait. The magistrate did not know who this handsome youth was, but heard Ge Hong tell him, "I have never shown anyone these forty volumes of Baopuzi. Since you wish to read them, I shall lend them to you, one volume every five days, so that you can copy them out. Also, when you return each volume, I shall test what you have learned from it. If your answers do not satisfy me, I shall not lend you the next. Ha ha! Very well, off you go."

Taking the youth by the hand, Ge Hong escorted him beyond the courtyard gate. Only after watching the youth and his two servants descend the ridge did he return to the temple.

County Magistrate Wang shuffled closer on his knees and asked cautiously, "Master Zhichuan, who was that youth just now? How fortunate he is to enjoy your favor!"

"Who do you think he is, Prefect Wang?" Ge Hong asked with a smile.

"The boy has refined features, a clear spirit, and an exceptionally fine bearing," County Magistrate Wang said. "He must descend from a distinguished family. Could he be a son of the Wang or Xie clans? Among their sons, Wang Xianzhi and Xie Xuan are about his age. If this humble official's guess is correct, that youth must be either Wang Xianzhi or Xie Xuan."

Ge Hong roared with laughter. "You are mistaken, Prefect Wang. Why would a son of the Wang or Xie clans be seeking instruction from this old Daoist beside Mingsheng Lake? His surname is Chen, his given name Caozhi. His father and elder brother have some small reputation as well. Surely you have heard of them? It was for this boy that I invited you here."

"So he is Chen Caozhi!" County Magistrate Wang said, eyes wide. "This humble official knows of him, knows of him. His calligraphy and music have earned the appreciation of Military Aide Huan and Regular Attendant Quan. Military Aide Huan even gave him the Keting Flute-"

"Oh, so that happened too!" Ge Hong was quite surprised. He had known the youth for half a month now, and the boy came every other day to seek his instruction. The profundity of the difficult questions he raised showed his love of learning and depth of thought, and he often offered ingenious insights of his own that inspired Ge Hong as well. Ge Hong privately marveled at his inborn wisdom, seeing in him a genius like Wang Bi. He also liked the boy's wholehearted filial devotion, while his dedication to arduous study resembled Ge Hong's own childhood experience. Thus he regarded the youth as a son or nephew and was very fond of him. Yet the boy had never mentioned earning the appreciation of Huan Yi and Quan Li. Even Wang Xianzhi and Xie Xuan might not match such composed grace, free of arrogance, impatience, or self-importance.

Good, Caozhi could devote himself to studying again. Let the journey continue, graceful and unhurried.