At the Hour of the Dragon on the first day of the Winter Month, Chen Caozhi arrived by ox cart at Young Minister Lu's Residence in Hengtang. At the gate, he encountered Lu Qin, whose face was full of shame. Lu Qin gave Chen Caozhi a brief cupped-hand salute and addressed him, "Brother Zizhong-" then covered his face with his broad sleeve and hurried away.
Lu Qin had been stripped of his post as Attendant Censor of the Subordinate Sixth Rank and reduced to a commoner. He had narrowly escaped a bamboo flogging, and would never again be appointed to office. Had it not been for Chen Caozhi, he would have been executed for treason. Thus, encountering Chen Caozhi now, Lu Qin wished the ground would swallow him and could not bear to face him.
Banli came forward and said quietly, "Master Chen, I should let you know that the second master and the Sixth Young Master are preparing to leave for Huating in the next few days."
Chen Caozhi asked, "Wasn't Commissioner Lu going to take Little Daofu back to Huating to pay respects to the ancestors? Was Little Lady Wei Rui going with them too?"
Banli said, "The master has just become head of the Ministry of Personnel and has much to attend to. I'm afraid he won't be able to return to Wu Commandery before the new year. Originally, he wanted the mistress and Little Lady Wei Rui to travel with the second master and the Sixth Young Master, but the mistress refused. She doesn't want to return to Wu Commandery so soon—this way, please, Master Chen. The master went to Taicheng early this morning. The mistress and Little Lady Wei Rui are both at the Hundred Flowers Thatched Cottage."
Lu Na's nephew Lu Daoyu came over