Around noon, notices from the Suzhou Prefecture Office were posted throughout the city's streets and alleys.
Wherever people had to pass, the notices stood out plainly.
Black ink on white paper, stamped with a vermilion seal.
[The Imperial Envoy shall investigate the temples. All who have suffered injustice may submit petitions at the Imperial Envoy's Headquarters.
The monks of every temple shall obey all summons and must not obstruct the investigation.
Any who defy this imperial command shall be punished for violating the Statute.]
The notices had scarcely gone up before the people gathered like ants.
Three ranks deep inside and out, they crowded together, head pressed against head.
Those who could read recited aloud, their voices rising and falling as though performing an opera.
Those who could not cocked their ears and craned their necks, afraid to miss even a word or half a sentence.
"They're going to investigate the temples?"
"At last! We've finally lived to see this day!"
"Keep your voice down, keep it down... don't let the temples' spies hear you."
"What is there to fear? I saw them myself-the soldiers are right outside the city!
Eight hundred men, eight hundred blades!"
Half an hour past noon, outside the Postal Station.
Behind him stood fifty elite soldiers of the Hangzhou Guard, all clad in iron lamellar armor, standing solemnly in formation.
There were only fifty, but their armor gleamed and their ranks were immaculate; the presence of seasoned troops struck one full in the face.
Thousand-Household Commander Dong Zheng led them himself, standing beside Zhang Zai with a hand on his saber.
His hawklike eyes swept their surroundings, his hand never leaving the hilt.
"My lord, the city is crowded. We should not bring any more armored troops inside.
The remaining forces are stationed