At dusk, the sound of the ox cart rolling along carried far into the distance.
Su Ziji lifted the carriage curtain and saw that though dusk was approaching, the streets were still crowded, the shops and market stalls still bustling. He smiled first.
Former Wei's Shizu had changed the curfew into a night ban, moving it from the third quarter of the Hour of the Pig (8:30 p.m.) to the third quarter of the Hour of the Rat (10:30 p.m.). According to the Capital City Ward Gazette, the markets flourished: "One street converged with traffic, spilling into two markets; cries rang out day and night, and the lanterns never went dark!"
Great Zheng had largely inherited this policy and retained the night markets. Only those who wandered about after the "gate-closing drum" and before the "gate-opening drum" committed the crime of "violating the night," punishable by twenty strokes of the cane. But the third quarter of the Hour of the Rat was already deep into the night. No one would run around recklessly; they still had work tomorrow.
If not for this, the palace gates would already have been locked. How could he have come to request an audience at this hour?
Yet as they went on, Su Ziji's expression grew increasingly grim.
Soldiers stood at every street corner. It was still early, so they only questioned the occasional passerby, but the nearer they drew to the Imperial Palace, the more patrol troops there were. Su Ziji did not even need to look closely to know what was happening.
It seems the Emperor is not only searching Wanglu Ward. He has strengthened the guard throughout the Capital City as well. If my guess is correct, every city gate and major route leading outside has probably been secretly watched.
*Any noble