On the twentieth day of the fifth month, outside Xi'an, beside Ba Bridge.
From the city gates to the wayside pavilion ten li away, a sentry stood every five paces along both sides of the official road, a banner every ten.
Those waiting were no ordinary travelers, but Xi'an's civil and military officials, the officers of the Regional Military Commission, and soldiers from the garrisons.
A dark, dense mass stretched from beneath the walls all the way to where dust rose in the distance.
The wind swept over Ba Bridge. The willows stood still; the banners snapped and crackled.
Today, the Commander's Axe would arrive.
At Si Hour, a long horn blast sounded from the official road to the west.
First came four mounted outriders, all in black armor, their hoofbeats like drums. The straight swords at their waists gleamed coldly in the sun.
Behind them came twelve members of the honor guard, arranged in two columns.
Those on the left raised blue banners embroidered with clouds and hung with streamers; those on the right held white tablets bearing the character "Command" in vermilion.
The Royal Command Banners and Tablets-to behold the tablets was to behold the royal command.
Behind them, eight armored soldiers, their armor plates like scales, jointly carried a Yellow Axe.
At the center of the procession stood an Apricot-Yellow Parasol.
Beneath the parasol rose the Imperial Insignia, nine feet high, its nine tiers of yak-tail plumes unfurling in the wind.
Beneath the insignia, Wei Nisheng sat upright on horseback.
He wore a brand-new Scarlet Robe embroidered with cloud-and-goose motifs in gold thread, a Jade Belt around his waist, and an Imperially Bestowed Sword hanging at his side. Gold wound around its scabbard, shimmering with splendor.
Behind him, more than thirty advisers and clerks maintained solemn