In Mingdu, the most prosperous areas were the streets surrounding the imperial city, where most of the Sun Moon Empire's influential nobles, aside from the imperial family, gathered.
Unless they had been granted territories in cities across the empire and sent away, nearly everyone fought tooth and nail for a place at the center of power.
The Liu Family was no exception. It was said that the Liu Family's ancestor had once been a commoner. Because of his exceptional talent with Soul Tools, he caught the eye of a prince at the time and became one of his advisers.
In the end, that prince successfully ascended the throne. Having rendered unparalleled service, the ancestor entered into a marriage alliance with the prince's younger sister.
Later, the Liu Family grew larger and larger in Mingdu. Though it could only rank at the bottom among the great aristocratic families, it was still a towering presence beyond the reach of ordinary people.
At the same time, because of that precedent, the Liu Family later developed a custom of marriage alliances with the imperial family.
To the east of this center of power stood a sprawling complex of buildings stretching for several thousand meters. In terms of scale alone, it did not lose to Xu Tianchen's estate in Sky Wind City.
Liu Yaxuan leaned against the window of her room. Beneath the cover of dark clouds, the night sky revealed not even a trace of starlight.
The torrential rain battered the roof and streamed down the tiles, forming a curtain of water before the window. It could block her sight, but it could not cloud the clarity of her mind.
A week had already passed since her agreement with Ye Chen.
Over the past week, while confined, she had been completely cut off from