But, regardless of how ominous the situation at the border was, the capital grew busier and busier by the day. In the past decade, there hadn't been a single rebellion that had broken into the capital, and even if there had been disasters in the surrounding areas, the refugees had been settled locally, and they hadn't poured into the capital again as they had in the previous regime. The common people of the capital had calmly and rapidly evolved in these ten years, and the degree to which the capital flourished now had already exceeded every prior year of the past century. The sun had just crawled above the eaves, and the streets were already crowded with hawkers carrying their goods. Children crowded before the stalls selling sugared preserves, and two women selling flowers fought over the refreshing shade beneath the eaves. The assistant at the silk shop was standing on a ladder, hanging up the newly arrived silks, whose surfaces were embroidered with gold thread which dazzle...