At dawn one day, Jin Zhongdu entered a state of complete lockdown. Gu Tao watched the beacon fires being lit on the city walls, large troops of soldiers began executing orders, he dipped a bit of sauce and took a bite of the roasted pancake.
Bi Qing was still sleeping, completely unaware of what was happening outside. However, the sound of rain and the noise made her uneasy and she was having nightmares.
The collapse of Jin Zhongdu had begun.
It was about seven hours earlier than Gu Tao had anticipated. He expected the collapse to happen later, but to his surprise, it happened earlier. The overnight assassination plot did not succeed; an old nobleman fled, and thus internal chaos in Jin Country began with this rainy dawn.
Like all collapsing empires, the downfall seldom results from external pressure; internal disorder is often the true cause of demise. The once-glorious Jin Dynasty finally faced its moment of impending storm with the collapse of a great building.
