Jinghe Year Fifteen, the twenty-fourth day of the first month, night.
The official boat traveled downstream, putting a hundred li between itself and the capital in a single day.
By daylight, villages were still visible along both banks, wisps of cooking smoke curling above them.
After nightfall, only the vast river remained, meeting the sky at the horizon, boundless and without a shore in sight.
The boat was small, with only two levels of cabins. Wei Nisheng and Zhang Zai each occupied a room.
Cui Fu and Chen Yi lay squeezed into a small cabin at the stern, their snores already rising and falling in thunderous answer to each other.
At the bow, Wei Nisheng stood alone in his Crane Cloak, gazing absently at the river.
The water was cold in the first month, and a thin mist floated over it.
Clouds obscured most of the moonlight. Only a few silver threads slipped through, falling upon the water and shimmering gently with the waves.
The boat moved slowly downstream.
The wind was mild as well, and the hull swayed gently, rocking like a cradle.
"Zi'an." Zhang Zai stepped out of his cabin with a robe draped over his shoulders.
"What is it? Can you not sleep?"
"You are still awake too, Zihou." Wei Nisheng turned his head.
Zhang Zai came to his side and followed his gaze toward the river.
The two stood shoulder to shoulder, listening to the water lap against the hull and the cries of waterbirds in the night.
"My reasons differ from yours, Zi'an."
"As for why I cannot sleep..."
Zhang Zai paused briefly, then finally spoke his mind:
"To tell you the truth, I am still uncertain.
Once we reach Suzhou, what should our first task be?"
Wei Nisheng did not answer.
Seeing him