Xie Xuan knew nothing of Chen Caozhi's narrow escape in the bedroom of his former residence. Standing in the courtyard, he gazed up at the bright moon in the night sky and said to Chen Caozhi, "The Mid-Autumn Festival is only two days away. Autumn winds are rising in the Northern Lands, and the perch of Jiangdong are growing fat. When will we be able to order our carriages home?"
The people of the Chen Commandery Xie Clan always possessed something of a recluse's spirit. They were willing to display their talents and win rank and renown, but they were even more willing to retire once their work was done and withdraw into the mountains and forests. Displaying their talents and winning rank and renown served their duty to the clan and their inner pride; retiring after success and withdrawing into the mountains and forests answered their souls' longing for landscapes, fields, and gardens-
Chen Caozhi glanced back at the bedroom. Hearing no movement, he stepped down into the courtyard and said with a smile, "Youdu, you've taken a foreign land for your homeland instead. Yangxia, Chen Commandery, is the Xie Clan's ancestral home. Now that it has been recovered, have you no wish to return?"
"Taken a foreign land for my homeland instead." Xie Xuan murmured the words twice, then smiled as well. "I'm a Southerner now. I have no particular longing for Yangxia, Chen Commandery. Life is like a traveler's lodging; surely we cannot cling to one place generation after generation. Commandery prestige and hall names are merely the marks of a family. As things stand, I would rather live in Jiangdong."
Chen Caozhi said, "I'm afraid your wish may not come true. Yan has so many provinces and commanderies that talented men from distinguished families will be