The news of Shen's mother's death reached Peking in April 1865. The throne immediately realized that Shen, ‘being by nature pure and sincere’, was likely to request a full three-year mourning. The throne, however, was reluctant to grant such a leave; an effective and popular governor should not be allowed so long an absence in an era of postrebellion reconstruction. So it instructed him ‘to turn his filial piety into an expression of loyalty’, observe an abbreviated mourning of a hundred days, and then return to Kiangsi as an acting governor. This last injunction was in fact a hint that a higher or more prestigious post was in the offing, inserted perhaps as an incentive for Shen to follow orders.

Shen, however, was persistent. Despite a decree summoning him back to Kiangsi to deal with a mutiny of demobilized troops in May, he insisted on a full mourning. The throne finally acceded to his pleas.

Thus, at age forty-five Shen was prepared to settle down to a period of quiet life, tending his ailing, seventy-seven-year-old father. Further, after a hectic tour of office in Kiangsi, he was more than happy to spend time with his family, now comprising a wife, a concubine, six sons, perhaps an equal number of daughters, and some grandchildren. It was at this time that he established the Chih-yüan t'ang (Hall for the Realization of Lofty Aspirations) for educating his children and young relatives.