"..."
While everyone's attention was fixed on Wei Shiming, the Wild Daoist slipped straight out.
He made his way along the gunwale and saw that, despite the rain and snow, boats thronged the canal like shoals of carp, flowing past without end. Among them, a few pleasure barges drifted leisurely along.
Most of the pleasure barges had two or three decks, each large enough to hold a dozen or so dining tables-a testament to the Capital City's extravagant splendor. Standing aboard, he could see the canal's calm, gentle waters stretching into the distance, veiled in mist and rain.
"My lord truly is unfathomable." The Wild Daoist gazed out at the mist and rain. These methods were clearly beyond the ken of ghosts and gods, as elusive and inscrutable as the haze before him, and his awe only deepened.
After a while, the snow no longer merely melted into water upon touching the ground; it simply turned into a fine, pattering rain.
The wind drove the drizzle slantwise against him. The Wild Daoist could not help shivering as he took a small boat ashore and climbed into an ox cart. Once inside, he promptly changed into a dry outer robe.
It was still light when he returned to the Duke of Dai's Residence. Su Ziji had gone to the Grand Secretariat that morning as usual, returned at noon, and was now painting in his study.
After learning his lord's whereabouts from a servant, the Wild Daoist entered the main courtyard and headed straight for the study.
He knocked and was admitted. Looking admiringly at his lord, who had just set down his brush and was studying a painting with his head lowered, the Wild Daoist reported, "My lord, everything has been taken care of."
He held up three fingers and asked,