Once the Spring-Sniffing Painting was finished, they reached Jiankang.
It was the twenty-eighth day of the first month, and spring shone in all its beauty. The spectacle of two years earlier, when Jiankang's people had emptied the streets to flock to see Chen Caozhi, unfolded again. From Qingxi Gate to the banks of the Qinhuai River, men and women poured out from across the city and lined the road to watch. Seeing the unbroken procession of ox carts and attendants belonging to the Chen Clan, a truly imposing display, and the exceptional bearing and striking good looks of Chen Caozhi and his nephew Chen Zongzhi, everyone said that the Qiantang Chen Clan was indeed worthy of being a great clan descended from Yingchuan. They truly had deep roots. No wonder the Wu Commandery Lu Clan and the Chen Commandery Xie Clan were competing to marry their daughters to Chen Caozhi-
Chen Shang, Liu Shangzhi, Gu Kaizhi, and Zhang Xuan Zhi had come several li out to meet them early and entered the city with Chen Caozhi. The women of the Lu Residence, worried about being surrounded by onlookers, had already taken a detour through Guangmo Gate and returned ahead to the Lu Residence in Hengtang-
The brothers Xie Yan, Xie Xuan, and Xie Shao rode beside Xie Daoyun's ox cart. With spectators packed like a wall, they could not squeeze through to meet Chen Caozhi. Xie Daoyun told her maid Liu Xu to pass a message to the three: "There's no need to go up and greet him. Just follow along for a while."
At the Chen Residence beside the Qinhuai River, the crowds dispersed a little. The ox carts carrying Chen Xian, Ding Youwei, Chen Shang's wife, and the others had already entered through a side gate. Ran Sheng,