When fast horses left the palace and rode towards the Hishoku's Manor; simultaneously, under cover of disguise, no one saw a detachment of Empress Yū-Miko's shadow men led by her Head of Spies spreading along the nexus of roads between Taiyuan, the Imperial Capital, and the neighbouring towns and villages.
On the roads, everyone intending to do some business in the capital was likely waiting for the gates to open at the end of curfew. And the shadow men posing as merchants had then scattered in every single pavilion which were designated rest areas set up by the dynasty along the roads leading to the city.
And the crowd in the pavilions trembled with horror as they listened to the tale of Emperor Akishino's murder. And the extraordinary culprit for killing the Son of Heaven was their national hero, Great General Hishoku!
