With the guards seeing who was inside, they immediately opened it.
The vehicle carrying the Emperor and his staff entered the wide boulevard.
Coach drivers slowed instinctively. Some pulled their reins tighter as their horses flicked their ears and shifted uneasily. One driver stood halfway from his seat just to see better. A delivery cart nearly drifted too far toward the tram tracks before its driver corrected himself.
On the pavements, pedestrians stopped.
Men in coats turned their heads. Women paused mid-conversation. A newspaper boy froze with a stack under his arm, mouth slightly open. Two workers who had been repairing a section of stone curb straightened up and wiped their hands on their trousers just to stare.
The automobile moved past them with controlled speed.
