It is said that after Wang Xizhi finished writing, he was very satisfied with his work. He has rewritten several articles, but not to this extent. He once sighed, "God helps me, how can I achieve it?" Therefore, he cherished it very much and passed it on to his seventh generation Sun Zhiyong as a family heirloom. Zhiyong became a monk and loved calligraphy very much. Before he died, he gave the Preface to Lanting Collection to his disciple, monk Cai Bian. Monks in Cai Bian are also good at calligraphy. He knew the value of Preface to Lanting Collection, regarded it as a treasure, and hid it in a hole specially carved on the beam of his bedroom.
Li Shimin likes calligraphy, especially Wang Xizhi's. He heard that Wang Xizhi's calligraphy treasure "Preface to the Lanting Pavilion" was in Cai Bian, and he sent people to ask for it many times. Monk Cai Bian always said that he didn't know the whereabouts of the original. Li Shimin see stubbornly don't believe, then change to outwit. He sent Xiao Yi, an imperial adviser, as a scholar, to get close to the discerning talents and try to get the Preface to Lanting Collection. Xiao Yi was also very good at calligraphy and had a very speculative conversation with this talented monk. After their close relationship, Xiao Yi specially took out several calligraphy works of Wang Xizhi for the monks to enjoy. After reading it, he said disapprovingly, "It's true, but it's not good. I have an original that is not bad. " Xiao Yi asked what this post was, and someone mysteriously told him that it was the original work of Preface to Lanting Collection. Xiao Yi pretended not to believe that this post had disappeared. Cai Bian took the original from the roof beam and showed it to Xiao Yi. When Xiao Yi saw it, it was an original, so he put it in his sleeve and showed him the relevant "imperial edict" of Emperor Taizong. Only then did I know that I had been cheated.