Panhua County Seat was shrouded in panic before the break of dawn, the torches on the city walls flickering like dying candles in the wind.
Only two guards remained at the city gates. The leader, Master Liu Er, had called in sick, and the other guards had all taken leave under various pretexts.
Inside the Magistrate's residence, the Chief Registrar stumbled into the study clutching a stack of documents, his collar stained with spilled ink. "Your Honor! The merchants of the North Street have all fled! Only seven or eight bailiffs and constables remain—the rest have taken leave, and even the forage in the stables has been looted!"
Chapter 77