Chang'an City, Eastern Market.
The sun stood high in the sky, its light bright and clear, illuminating the official proclamation on the noticeboard at the street corner until the paper shone snow-white.
The onlookers crowded around in layers, heads jostling as everyone talked at once.
Those who could read stood at the front, reading the proclamation word by word for the people behind them. When they reached "Dragon-Slaying City," a buzzing murmur erupted through the crowd.
"Dragon-Slaying City? What sort of place is that?"
"Doesn't sound like a friendly bunch."
"They actually dared to assassinate a member of the imperial family? That's rebellion!"
"From the sound of it, they're probably a secluded sect. Aren't there plenty of sects in the Central Plains that keep out of worldly affairs? Didn't Shen Qingshu, the deputy minister of the Court of Judicial Review, come from the secluded Embroidered Shadow Pavilion? And there's the Cloud Nest Sect, whose disciples occasionally descend the mountains to right wrongs. This one's probably much the same!"
"Probably. The proclamation spells it out-colluding with foreign enemies and plotting treason, even sending assassins into Chang'an last night to attack the imperial family. Tsk, tsk. They've got some nerve."
"Speaking of last night, I live over in Yongxing Ward. I really did hear fighting to the west last night, booming away like thunder. I went over this morning, and half a street had been destroyed. Broken bluestone paving was scattered everywhere, and two stretches of the ward wall had collapsed."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie? Still, people from the Princess's Residence came at daybreak. They repaired what needed repairing, patched what needed patching, and paid compensation door to door. Two of my windows were shattered by the shock, and they paid me twenty strings of cash-more than new ones would cost...