The youth separated from Gong Yu and his entourage at the city gate, lifted the child up, placed him in front, his arms encircling him. He took hold of the horse's reins and gently nudged the Green-Maned Horse with his right foot. The horse, as if enlightened, let out a soft whinny and set off along the road they had come.
Perhaps it knew its own speed was too much for the untrained child to withstand, so it moved quite slowly along the official road and soon disappeared from sight.
In the county town, news of the assassination began to spread gradually.
It was as if a huge millstone of ice had been thrown into boiling oil; in an instant, the entire street erupted. Vendors closed up shop, pedestrians headed home, and in the blink of an eye, the place became a mess, desolate and eerily quiet, the only sound being the Defending General's voice, loud as a gong, which even overpowered the barking of the domestic dogs.
Welcome guests to the second floor.