The Capital, Qinhuai Canal, Dragon River Wharf.
The morning mist had yet to disperse. White haze stretched across the river, distant ships looming like figures in a painting.
Mist drifted slowly along the water, veiling masts and banners in thin gauze, dreamlike and indistinct.
Blue stone paved the wharf, coated with a thin layer of ice from the night.
Several boatmen squatted at the bow, sorting ropes, their breath puffing white. Occasionally they looked up toward the approach, then bent back over their lines.
An official vessel already lay moored at the wharf, modest in size, with only two decks.
Clear varnish coated its hull, its cabin doors were shut, and an "Imperial" banner hung from its mast.
The wind was mild, yet the banner fluttered with an air of impatience.
Before Wei Zi's carriage arrived, two men were already standing at the wharf.
Wang Kan and Zhang Zai stood together, talking.
"When you get to Suzhou, let me teach you a method we often use at the Censorate."
Wang Kan's voice rang out clearly, audible more than a dozen paces away.
"Investigate from the bottom up.
Start by prying open a minor clerk's mouth. Once the little men's tongues loosen, the big men can no longer cover everything up."
Zhang Zai had been watching for Wei Nisheng. Seeing no sign of him, he turned back and said,
"You have a point, Brother Zhanzheng."
"But from my experience in Daming Prefecture, when the accounts don't tally, inspect the Granary Buildings first."
"Inspect the granaries?" Wang Kan frowned.
"Touch his grain stores, and Shen Duan will explode on the spot."
"Then let him explode," Zhang Zai said evenly. "I'm not afraid."
"True enough." Wang Kan laughed despite himself.
"You, Zhang Zihou, dared defy even a fourth-rank prefect in Daming Prefecture.