Spring 1837
The news did not arrive in a royal dispatch. It came in pieces, the kind that moved quietly from one place to another without drawing attention until it had already settled into conversation. A remark spoken too softly in a merchant house near the river, a copied letter passed between clerks who did not understand the names they were writing, and reports from Qing traders who had seen more ships than usual gathered in foreign-held ports. None of it was clear on its own, but taken together, it began to form something harder to ignore.
Then came the part that made people pause. There were whispers that Japan, long known for its strict control over foreign contact, had allowed Westerners to remain on its soil under guarded conditions. No one could confirm it, but the idea alone was enough to make it spread.
