Chapter Summaries

Chen Caozhi sought Du Zigong’s help for his gravely ill mother, Lady Li, but Du warned that her life was near its end. As Lady Li prepared her family for her death, Chen Caozhi played her favorite tunes beneath the warm winter sun, and she closed her eyes peacefully.

• Chen Caozhi stayed beside Lady Li while Gu Kaizhi went to fetch Du Zigong, who performed a ritual and told Chen Caozhi that his mother would not survive the gui day.
• Chen Caozhi’s friends remained at Chen Family Cove to support him as he kept vigil over Lady Li.
• Lady Li made Xiao Chan promise to help manage the household and told Chen Caozhi’s relatives to arrange a modest burial.
• Chen Caozhi carried Lady Li to the terrace, where she enjoyed the sunshine and asked him to play for her.
• Chen Caozhi played “Remembering an Old Friend” and “Green Lotus Melody” as Lady Li listened with a smile and slowly closed her eyes.

Ding Youwei defied Ding Yi and fled with Ding Chunqiu for Chen Family Cove, determined to stay and care for her gravely ill mother-in-law. As Ding Yi’s retainers caught up near the cove, she heard sounds of grief, cried out for her mother, and fainted before reaching the gates.

• Feng Mengxiong arrived at Maple Forest Ferry with Sun Shi and Feng Lingbo, where they encountered Ding Yi pursuing Ding Youwei toward Chen Family Cove.
• Ding Chunqiu told Ding Youwei that Chen Mother, Lady Li, was gravely ill, and helped her arrange to leave Ding Clan Villa despite Ding Yi’s refusal.
• Ding Youwei left with several trunks and traveled with Ding Chunqiu toward Chen Family Cove, intending not to return to the villa.
• Ding Yi caught up with the carts and sent four retainers to intercept Ding Youwei before she reached Chen Family Cove.
• Ding Youwei sent A Xiu ahead to summon Chen Caozhi, then collapsed and fainted after hearing cries of grief from the cove.

After Chen Mother, Lady Li, died, Ding Youwei defied Ding Yi and insisted on remaining at Chen Family Cove to mourn her. Chen Caozhi confronted Ding Yi and persuaded him to accept her choice, while declaring that the Qiantang Chen Clan would regain its gentry standing.

• Ding Youwei refused to return to the Ding Clan Villa and said she would stay to care for Agu, but she collapsed when mourners emerged from Chen Family Cove.
• Ding Youwei reunited with Zongzhi and Run'er, and Chen Caozhi led them out to face Ding Yi as Ran Sheng joined the confrontation.
• Ding Yi offered to let Ding Youwei attend the mourning rites but insisted she return to the Ding Clan afterward.
• Ding Youwei declared she would never leave Chen Family Cove, and Chen Caozhi warned Ding Yi that he would appeal to officials if the Ding Clan tried to take her away.
• Chen Caozhi declared that the Qiantang Chen Clan would regain its gentry standing, prompting Ding Yi to relent and arrange funeral offerings for Chen Mother, Lady Li.

After Lady Li’s death, Chen Caozhi and his family observed mourning while Qiantang’s clans watched the Chen Clan’s political fortunes. At Lady Li’s funeral, Duan Chu arrived in mourning on behalf of the Wu Commandery Lu Clan.

• Feng Lingbo decided to wear unhemmed sackcloth and mourn Lady Li alongside Chen Caozhi and Ding Youwei.
• Chen Caozhi persuaded Zongzhi and Run'er to eat porridge after explaining that Lady Li’s spirit would want them to stay healthy, and told them she had become a star watching over them.
• Ding Yi and several prominent Qiantang clans sent condolences to Chen Family Cove, while Chu Wenqian plotted to suppress the Chen Clan.
• Chen Caozhi and hundreds of mourners escorted Lady Li’s coffin toward her burial site at Jade Emperor Mountain on the first day of the twelfth month.
• Chen Mo told Chen Caozhi that the Wu Commandery Lu Clan had sent someone to assist with the burial, and Chen Caozhi recognized the approaching mourner as Duan Chu.

After Lady Li’s funeral, Chen Caozhi began his two-year mourning vigil at her grave on Jade Emperor Mountain. Duan Chu revealed that Lu Weiwei had grieved for him and sent paintings to comfort her, while Chen’s friends and family departed, leaving Liu Shangzhi to keep him company.

• Chen Caozhi buried Lady Li beside his father and elder brother, then settled into the thatched huts to keep watch over her grave for two years.
• Duan Chu told Chen Caozhi that Lu Weiwei had mourned his mother’s death but could not attend because she was mourning her own elder brother.
• Chen Caozhi sent Lu Weiwei a portrait and the landscape scroll “Autumn at Mingsheng Lake” with Duan Chu.
• Xu Miao and Gu Kaizhi visited Chen Caozhi at the cemetery the next morning, listened as he played the flute for his mother, and said farewell before departing.
• Ding Youwei brought Zongzhi and Run’er to visit Chen Caozhi, and Liu Shangzhi stayed behind to accompany him and seek his advice.
• Chen Caozhi resolved to follow the full mourning rites and devote his time at the grave to study while grieving for his mother.

During his mourning, Chen Caozhi continued his studies and received news that his writings and Xie Xuan’s praise had given the Qiantang Chen Clan a chance at admission to the Gentry Register. The chapter ended with Chen Xian confronting him about rumors of a clandestine affair with Lu Na’s daughter.

• Chen Caozhi settled into mourning at his mother’s grave, keeping up his studies and planting trees around his family’s graves.
• Chen Caozhi borrowed books from Master Ge’s collection and taught Ran Sheng military treatises, while Liu Shangzhi, Ding Chunqiu, and Ding Youwei’s children visited him.
• Ding Youwei learned that Chen Caozhi had devised the household’s bookkeeping system and agreed with Xiao Chan to delay arranging matters with Qingzhi until his mourning ended.
• Chen Shang returned from Jiankang and told Chen Caozhi that Xie Xuan and Xie Anshi had praised him, making the Qiantang Chen Clan’s admission to the Gentry Register more hopeful, though no decision had been reached.
• Chen Shang gave Chen Caozhi a letter from Xie Daoyun, and Chen Xian then asked him about rumors that he was having a clandestine affair with Lu Na’s daughter.

Chen Caozhi told Chen Xian that he intended to marry Lu Weiwei and explained why he believed the Chen Clan could rise in status despite the obstacles. After Chen Xian agreed not to pressure him, Chen Caozhi read Xie Daoyun’s grief-filled letter and worried about both her future marriage and the rumors’ effect on Lu Weiwei.

• Chen Xian questioned Chen Caozhi about rumors of his relationship with a Lu Clan lady, and Chen Caozhi openly confirmed that he and Lu Weiwei loved each other and intended to marry.
• Chen Xian warned that the Lu Clan’s status made the marriage difficult, but Chen Caozhi argued that the Chen Clan could enter the gentry register and gain support from Grand Marshal Huan.
• Chen Caozhi told Chen Xian to let the rumors spread while directing suspicion toward the Chu Clan, and Chen Xian returned to Chen Family Cove reassured.
• Chen Caozhi opened Xie Daoyun’s letter, sealed with pine resin, and wept as he read her words of sympathy for his mother’s death.
• Chen Caozhi reflected on Xie Daoyun’s likely marriage to Wang Ningzhi and worried that the rumors would expose Lu Weiwei to pressure from her clan, though he believed she would remain steadfast.

As Lu Weiwei faced Zhang Wenwan’s questions about rumors linking her to Chen Caozhi, Chen Caozhi kept vigil at his mother’s grave through the winter and prepared to spend New Year’s Eve there. The chapter left him hurrying to meet Run’er and Zongzhi as they arrived in the falling snow.

• After a heavy snowfall, Lu Weiwei visited Lu Na, who offered to take her to see the plum blossoms, but Zhang Wenwan cautioned against the icy mountain path.
• Zhang Wenwan questioned Duan Chu about Lu Weiwei’s visits to Qiantang and warned her that servants could be punished if the Lu Clan’s reputation was damaged.
• Zhang Wenwan confronted Lu Weiwei about rumors of a secret affair with Chen Caozhi; Lu Weiwei denied romantic feelings and suggested the rumors were meant to harm the family.
• Six hundred li away, Chen Caozhi swept snow from his mother’s grave while Ran Sheng hunted a water deer.
• On New Year’s Eve, Chen Caozhi remained at the graveyard as Ran Sheng lamented their lonely holiday and the missing New Year cakes.
• Run’er and Zongzhi arrived through the snow, and Chen Caozhi told Ran Sheng to meet them carefully on the icy mountain path.

Chen Caozhi spent New Year's Eve in mourning with Ding Youwei and the children on Jade Emperor Mountain, then continued keeping vigil at his mother's grave. In spring, Xu Zao visited to propose a marriage between Xu Miao and Feng Mengxiong's daughter Lingbo, while Chen Shang returned from Jiankang with news of an unexplained event.

• Chen Caozhi helped Ding Youwei and the others climb the snowy mountain, where they spent New Year's Eve together and welcomed the fourth year of Shengping.
• Chen Caozhi attended the ancestral rites with Ding Youwei's family, then stayed on Jade Emperor Mountain to keep vigil at his mother's grave while Chen Shang went to Jiankang with Sun Tai.
• Liu Shangzhi visited Chen Caozhi on the twenty-fourth day of the second month, and Xu Zao arrived with Chen Xian and Feng Mengxiong to pay respects at Chen Caozhi's mother's grave.
• Xu Zao asked Feng Mengxiong for his daughter Lingbo's hand in marriage on Xu Miao's behalf, and Chen Caozhi congratulated them on the match.
• Liu Shangzhi asked Xu Zao about the leadership of Wu Commandery, and Xu Zao said Lu Weiwei had been summoned to serve as Minister of the Left while Chu Jian's position as acting governor remained uncertain.
• Chen Shang returned from Jiankang on the seventh day of the third month, less than two months after departing.

As Chu Jian and Chu Wenqian prepared to use the land registration review to suppress the Qiantang Chen Clan and other commoner families, Chen Caozhi advised the Liu Clan Chief on defending his hidden households. Chen Shang returned from Jiankang with news that the Chen Clan had entered the gentry register, leaving the clan celebrating and Chu Jian’s plans in danger.

• Chu Jian and Chu Wenbin secretly planned to use the Qiantang land registration review to crush the Chen Clan and block its entry into the gentry register.
• Chen Shang returned to Qiantang as Chen Caozhi, Chen Xian, Ding Yi, and the Liu Clan Chief discussed the review and the threat to their households.
• The Liu Clan Chief explained that his family had tried to register thirteen hidden households as tenants, and Chen Caozhi urged him to document that officials had refused the change.
• Ding Yi warned that Chu Jian and Chu Wenqian intended to target the Ding and Chen clans, while Chen Caozhi suspected they had another plot.
• Chen Shang prayed at Lady Li’s grave and announced that the Qiantang Chen Clan had entered the gentry register.
• Chen Caozhi and Chen Xian wept with relief, and Ding Yi concluded that Chen Caozhi was now like a tiger given wings.

After the Qiantang Chen Clan entered the gentry register, Chen Caozhi planned to use Chu Wenqian’s misuse of county funds to bring down the Chu Clan. The chapter ended with Chen Caozhi learning that Xie An had gone to the Western Command of Gushu, possibly to take office under Huan Wen.

• Chen Shang explained how the court admitted the Qiantang Chen Clan and five other surnames to the gentry register, though Chen Caozhi would still have to defend his reputation before the court after mourning.
• Liu Clan Chief warned that the Chu Clan might target the Liu Clan, and Chen Caozhi promised that they could bring down Chu Wenqian before news of the Chen Clan’s admission reached him.
• Chen Caozhi proposed investigating Chu Wenqian’s expansion of the County Yamen to uncover other unlawful acts and implicate the Chu Clan.
• Chen Xian kept the news of the Chen Clan’s new status from his clansmen while he celebrated with Ding Yi and Liu Clan Chief.
• Chen Shang told Chen Caozhi that Xie Xuan had said his elder cousin Zhu had gone with Lord Anshi to the Western Command of Gushu, leaving Chen Caozhi to wonder whether Xie An had accepted Huan Wen’s invitation.

Chen Caozhi learned that Xie Daoyun had rejected Wang Ningzhi through debate and wondered whether she was honoring her promise to remain his friend for life. The Qiantang Chen Clan’s registration as a gentry clan was approved, but Chu Wenqian moved to frame and punish the clan during the land review.

• Chen Shang told Chen Caozhi that Xie An had joined Huan Wen’s headquarters and that Xie Daoyun’s refusal to marry Wang Ningzhi had become the talk of Jiankang.
• Chen Caozhi copied Xie Daoyun’s letter and wondered whether she was turning down suitors to keep her promise to remain his friend.
• Chen Caozhi told Ding Youwei that the Qiantang Chen Clan had secured gentry registration, and she shared his joy while urging him to marry Lu Wei Rui after their mourning ended.
• Chen Xian proposed building an ancestral temple at the Chen Clan Cemetery, where the clan members paid their respects to their ancestors.
• Chu Wenqian grew angry as the Chen Clan accepted independent farmers’ allegiance and arranged for tenant households to accuse it of tax evasion, harboring hidden households, and seizing land.
• Chu Wenqian ordered the Wu County Commandant to take thirty Foot Archers to Chen Family Cove and arrest Chen Xian, Lai Fu, Ran Sheng, Jing Nu, and others, hoping to implicate Chen Caozhi.

Ding Yi rallied the Qiantang Seven Surnames against Chu Wenqian as the Chen Clan’s admission to the Gentry Register overturned the Chu Clan’s plans to suppress them. Chu Wenqian backed down and tried to make peace, but Wang Shao arrived in Qiantang with a large delegation, bringing a greater crisis for the Chu Clan and intending to meet Chen Caozhi.

• Ding Yi persuaded the Zhu and Fan clans to join the Seven Surnames’ petition accusing Chu Wenqian of misconduct and protecting the Lu Clan’s fraudulent Gentry Register entry.
• The Wu County Commandant went to Chen Family Cove to summon Chen Xian, but Chen Shang and other clan chiefs departed for the county town with hundreds of tenant farmers.
• After learning that the Qiantang Chen Clan had entered the Gentry Register, Chu Wenqian halted his plans and appeased the tenant farmers by punishing three false accusers and agreeing to register their hidden households.
• Chu Wenqian apologized to Chen Xian and visited Chen Caozhi, who refused to let him make offerings at his mother’s grave.
• Wang Shao arrived in Qiantang with more than a hundred officials and runners, while Chu Jian failed to persuade him to hear his explanations; Wang Shao planned to meet Chen Caozhi.

Wang Shao and Jia Bizhi visited Chen Caozhi’s grave hut, where they admired his calligraphy and learned about his studies. Jia Bizhi secretly read a letter suggesting that Zhu Yingtai was likely Xie Daoyun and had deep feelings for Chen Caozhi; the chapter ended as Chen Caozhi returned from Lingyin Temple.

• Wang Shao traveled to Qiantang with Jia Bizhi and other officials to oversee the Chen Clan’s entry into the Gentry Register and the distribution of official fields.
• Ding Chunqiu guided Wang Shao and Jia Bizhi to Chen Caozhi’s home, but Chen Caozhi was away visiting Lingyin Temple for Buddha’s Birthday.
• While waiting at the grave hut, Wang Shao and Jia Bizhi sampled Chen Caozhi’s unusual tea and admired his handwritten copy of Wang Chong’s Balanced Discourses.
• Jia Bizhi found a letter signed by Yingtai tucked into the manuscript and inferred that Zhu Yingtai was probably Xie Daoyun, who had deep affection for Chen Caozhi.
• Chen Caozhi returned up the mountain with a hulking young companion as Wang Shao and Jia Bizhi waited to meet him.

Chen Caozhi’s flute playing impressed Wang Shao and Jia Bizhi, while their private discussion revealed Wang Shao hoped to use Chen’s rumored romance with Lu Na’s daughter to avenge an old humiliation by the Lu Clan. The Qiantang Chen Clan entered the Gentry Register and gained land and protected households, while Chu Jian, desperate to save his clan, decided to ask Chen Caozhi to intercede for him.

• Chen Caozhi played two pieces on his flute at his mother’s grave, earning Wang Shao’s and Jia Bizhi’s praise for his talent and bearing.
• Wang Shao privately told Jia Bizhi that Chen Caozhi’s humble birth made him unlike Xiahou Xuan and Liu Kun, and Jia realized Wang was building Chen’s reputation to encourage his rumored match with Lu Na’s daughter.
• Jia Bizhi recalled the Lu Clan’s rejection of a marriage proposal from Wang Dao and understood that Wang Shao hoped Chen’s marriage to Lu Na’s daughter would humiliate the Lu Clan; Jia worried that the feud could inflame tensions between northern and southern gentry families.
• On the ninth day of the fourth month, Chen Xian, Chen Man, and Chen Shang watched officials enter the Qiantang Chen Clan in the Gentry Register, granting it twenty qing of land and twenty protected households.
• As the Chen Clan celebrated its rise, Chu Jian, facing investigation and fearing his clan’s decline, decided to ask Chen Caozhi to persuade Wang Shao to spare the Qiantang Chu Clan.

Chu Jian tried to secure Chen Caozhi’s help in stopping the investigation into the Lu Clan’s fraudulent gentry registration by apologizing and offering the Chen Clan twenty qing of farmland. Chen Caozhi refused to intercede, and after the gift was left behind, he sent the land deeds and registers to Neishi Wang so the Chen Clan could watch for the Chu Clan’s next move.

• With the investigation threatening the Chu Clan, Chu Jian brought Chu Wenqian and Chu Wenbin to Chen Family Cove to beg forgiveness and ask Chen Caozhi to persuade Neishi Wang to drop the Lu Clan case.
• Chu Jian offered the Chen Clan deeds and registers for twenty qing of fertile farmland, but Chen Xian declined to accept them and insisted that Chen Caozhi decide what to do.
• Chu Jian made Chu Wenbin walk through the rain and took the party to Jade Emperor Mountain, where he asked Chen Caozhi to intercede with Neishi Wang.
• Chen Caozhi cited the saying about repaying resentment with uprightness and refused to help Chu Jian, who left the farmland documents behind despite the refusal.
• After Chen Man argued for accepting the gift, Chen Caozhi ordered the deeds and registers sent to Neishi Wang and asked him to keep the matter quiet while the Chen Clan watched the Chu Clan’s next move.

Chen Caozhi arranged how the Chen Clan would divide its new land and protected households, reserving most for shared clan needs and selecting skilled workers. He also assigned West Tower’s household places and reassured Lai Gui and Lai Zhen that the clan would cover their taxes and corvée, before reuniting with Run’er and Zongzhi on the day of Ding Youwei and Run’er’s birthdays.

• Chu Jian told Chu Wenbin and Chu Wenqian that the twenty qing of land he gave the Chen Clan might help the Chu Clan escape its crisis, while Chen Shang carried the land registers to Wang Shao.
• At the Ancestral Hall, Chen Caozhi proposed keeping twelve qing of land and twelve protected households for the whole clan, with the remaining shares divided equally among the four towers.
• Chen Caozhi specified that the clan’s twelve households should be selected for useful skills, and Chen Xian assigned Lai Fu to recruit them with Chen Caozhi making the decisions.
• Chen Caozhi reserved West Tower’s protected-household places for Lai Fu and Lai De, promised to cover Lai Gui and Lai Zhen’s taxes and corvée, and approved Old Huang as the orchardist household.
• Ran Sheng told Run’er that Chen Caozhi had returned for her and Ding Youwei’s birthdays, and Run’er happily insisted he would remember her birthday.

Chen Caozhi gave Ding Youwei and Run'er birthday portraits before the investigation into the Lu Clan’s fraudulent registration exposed the Chu Clan’s role and brought down its standing. Wang Shao stripped the Chu Clan of gentry status, awarded its twenty qing of farmland to the Chen Clan, and appointed Feng Mengxiong acting magistrate of Qiantang.

• Chen Caozhi presented Ding Youwei and Run'er with portraits for their birthday, and Ding Youwei was moved by the likeness in her painting.
• Jia Bizhi and the officials left Qiantang, while Wang Shao continued investigating the Lu Clan’s fraudulent registration and uncovered its seizure of land on the Chu Clan’s behalf.
• Chu Jian accused the Chen Clan of colluding with the Lu Clan and coercing the Chu Clan, but Wang Shao revealed that the Chen Clan had already delivered the land deeds and that Chen Liu had been expelled from the clan.
• Wang Shao concluded the cases, dismissed Chu Wenqian, sentenced Lu Jun to exile and lifelong hard labor, and recommended removing the Chu Clan from the Gentry Register and making Chu Jian a commoner.
• Wang Shao gave the Chu Clan’s twenty qing of fertile farmland to Chen Xian and asked Chen Caozhi to recommend a temporary county magistrate.
• Chen Caozhi recommended Feng Mengxiong, and Wang Shao appointed him acting magistrate of Qiantang County.

Chen Caozhi organized donations and a six-year plan to expand Chen Family Cove into a thriving manor, while the clan recruited households, tenants, and craftsmen. As the Chen Clan consolidated its new gentry status and the Chu Clan fell from the register, Chen Mo and Chen Tan left to study in Wu Commandery, and news arrived that Lu Na had gone to Jiankang.

• The four Chen towers raised nearly a hundred taels of gold, and Chen Caozhi presented a six-year plan to develop Chen Family Cove into a large manor with farming and crafts.
• Chen Caozhi stopped Chen Man from hiding displaced households and urged the Ding Clan and Liu Family Fort to register theirs, warning them about Huan Wen's coming household census.
• Chen Caozhi painted a portrait for Zongzhi's birthday and gave him a rubbing of the Cao'e Stele inscribed by Wang Xizhi.
• The Chu Clan lost its gentry status, official fields, and protected households after Chu Jian was reduced to a commoner.
• Chen Mo and Chen Tan went to study under Xu Zao in Wu Commandery after their mourning period ended.
• Lu Na went to Jiankang to take the post of Minister of the Left for the People, while Lu Weiwei's seventeenth birthday approached.

Jia Bizhi postponed asking Xi Chao about the identity of “Yingtai” while rumors about Chen Caozhi and Lu Weiwei continued to spread. Lu Shi pressured Lu Na to arrange Lu Weiwei’s marriage and keep Chen Caozhi away, but on her birthday Chen sent her a painting that revealed how carefully he remembered her.

• Jia Bizhi decided to wait until Xi Chao came to Jiankang before asking about the letter signed “Yingtai.”
• Lu Shi rebuked Lu Na over the rumors about Lu Weiwei and urged him to arrange her marriage, while Lu Na defended Chen Caozhi.
• Lu Weiwei spent her birthday boating on Pinghu and remembered the day Chen Caozhi had taken her there.
• Lai De arrived at the Lu estate with a painting from Chen Caozhi, and Zhang Wenwan inspected it before allowing Lu Weiwei to keep it.
• Zhang Wenwan pointed out the red mole on the painted girl’s right ankle, leaving Lu Weiwei blushing with recognition.