Through the efforts of Dong Wencong and Fang Shouye, the boats that had been forced to relocate returned to Baling's main wharf, and the wharf regained its usual bustle.
Fang Yun nodded gently in midair, then descended onto the wharf atop Walking the Blue Clouds.
Many residents of Baling City bowed to Fang Yun with their hands clasped. Some had their children kneel before him, while a few adults knelt as well. Most of the kneeling adults bore a deep, bitter hatred for the Qing Kingdom.
The first thing Fang Yun did after stepping onto the wharf was not to meet the officials of Baling, but to stroll around and talk with the boatmen, fishermen, and residents of Baling City, learning about local conditions.
Fang Shouye and Dong Wencong stood stunned for a moment. Dong Wencong immediately had someone bring out the four treasures of the scholar's studio, then took up a brush and painted the scene of Fang Yun talking with the people of Baling. He placed a few officials farther away in the painting, then added several lines of commentary.
"The Void Sage arrived and restored order to the wharf; the governor-general made his first appearance, keeping officials at a distance and the people close. Officials are fish, and the people are water. No bond between fish and water could be deeper than this."
Once he finished writing, Dong Wencong handed the scroll to an aide beside him and whispered, "Send this to the Sacred Academy's Literary Gazette Editorial Review Institute at once."
Dong Wencong's aide immediately hurried away.
The Xiang Prefecture officials present looked at Fang Yun, surrounded by the people of Baling, with expressions of disbelief.
"Does this Governor-General Fang truly understand the ways of officialdom, or did he stumble into this by chance?"
"When it