Moreover, these individuals, masked and armored, using crossbow arrows that can pierce armor, are equipped just like the guards, yet they are simply the house servants and private soldiers of various families. Clearly, this is taking advantage of the chaos in the capital, with defenses thin, as the Immortal Army Guards and the Six Gates have been called to the front lines, to disguise themselves as bandits and wreak havoc under orders from their masters.
As they say, when you're in Jianghu, how can you avoid getting cut? Those feathered beasts in the temple halls serving as officials surely don't have averages of hundreds of enemies each? This is the time to settle old scores, to pay back grudges, solving causes and effects. Why ruin everyone's fun, right?
