The ninth year of Shenwu, December 16.
Rain and snow fell together that day.
Unless they had something urgent to do, the residents of Heliang City would rather stay huddled at home all day than venture outside.
Worse still, Gao Yunheng's death was almost certainly the work of the rebels from the Heavy Martial Pavilion, leaving the entire city gripped by fear.
There were fewer and fewer people on the streets.
Now the city's streets and alleys stood empty, desolate and deathly quiet.
Every so often, gusts of bitter wind could be heard howling past.
Yet the Prefectural Office at the very heart of the city presented an entirely different scene.
Just after the midday meal, groups of household guards and attendants poured through its imposing vermilion gates, interspersed with bands of minor clerks.
Blades in hand, they rushed off in every direction amid a metallic clatter.
The once-smooth blanket of snow outside the Prefectural Office was trampled into filthy slush in the blink of an eye.
Gao Yunheng, the assistant administrator of Danfeng Prefecture, had died outside the city. Such an incident was far too shocking.
Even those who wanted to suppress the matter could find no suitable excuse.
Thus, under Xie Xuan'an's relentless pressure, the Prince's Estate and aristocratic clans entrenched in Heliang City, which had remained motionless until now, were mobilized along with the remaining officials of the Prefectural Office to hunt down the killer throughout the city.
In the blink of an eye, members of the great aristocratic clans could be seen everywhere in the vast city of Heliang.
Meanwhile, an ordinary inn in the city had filled with traveling merchants seeking shelter from the rain and snow.
A man dressed as a wealthy merchant stood at a second-floor window, watching the figures searching back and