The ninth day of the first lunar month.
As the festive atmosphere gradually faded, frigid Jianzhou City once again returned to its usual desolation.
Yet the Han slaves hurrying through the wind and snow were vastly different from before the New Year—though they still inevitably trembled whenever they met by the roadside, and bore several more scars than before, their eyes and brows shone with spirit and expectation.
In contrast, those dressed in brocade and fine garments all looked as if they had lost their parents—at least on the surface.
The cause of this change was the string of events triggered by the arrival of the Great Zhou envoys in the city.
On the twenty-sixth day of the Twelfth Lunar Month in the thirteenth year of Guangde, the Zhou envoys slew thirteen Mongol cavalrymen beneath Jianzhou City's walls, their fame soaring overnight.
On the twenty-seventh day of the Twelfth Lunar Month, Jianzhou's Baturu Ye Yan came to challenge the Zhou envoys. He signed a life-or-death agreement, then promptly died beneath the envoys' fists.
On the twenty-ninth day of the Twelfth Lunar Month, Ye Yan's brother-in-law led a nighttime raid on the Official Residence. All seventeen men perished.
On the second day of the first lunar month of the following year, the eldest prince A Le Bu Hua brought twelve Buku wrestlers to join the festivities. Three died and nine were injured during the banquet, yet they failed to move the Zhou envoys a single step.
On the third day of the first lunar month, Ha Er Lu, the Niru Ezhen of the Bayala Camp, shot at the Zhou envoys with an arrow in the street. The envoys hurled back a passing ox cart. It missed, but Ha Er Lu panicked, and his horse stumbled, leaving him grievously injured and crippled.