The One Who Fishes in Troubled Waters

Within the imperial city stood an enormous estate. At its center rose three ivory-white towers arranged in a triangular formation, each a different height. In the Blood Qin Empire, where blood-red was honored and iron-black esteemed, ivory-white towers such as these were unique to this single estate.

Moreover, the Blood Qin Empire's architectural style was ancient and conservative, with an extreme emphasis on strict symmetry. Three towers arranged in a triangular formation, with the tallest nearly half a kilometer high and the shortest only around a hundred meters tall—such a wildly mismatched design was an unprecedented innovation in the Blood Qin Empire.

Even more astonishing were the decorations upon the towers' surfaces. Countless white-jade statues of celestial maidens scattering flowers were set into the walls. This lavishly extravagant appearance stood in stark contrast to the Blood Qin Empire's preference for ancient simplicity and solemn dignity.

Yet no one criticized any of it, because the estate's owner was the favorite daughter of Ying Zheng, the current emperor of the Blood Qin Empire—eighteen-year-old Princess Qingli. She was Ying Zheng's youngest daughter, possessed peerless beauty, and was gifted with extraordinary intelligence. She could read and write at one, compose poetry at three, and by five, her skill with the guqin had already made her famous throughout the capital. She also possessed a photographic memory. With such a wondrous daughter, how could Ying Zheng not adore her?

Thus, Ying Zheng had bestowed Qingli Kingdom upon Princess Qingli. Though Qingli Kingdom was nominally ranked among the first-class provinces of the Blood Qin Empire, it was in fact an enormous island in the empire's eastern territorial waters. Its area was equal to that of five ordinary provinces—meaning Qingli Kingdom was even larger than the Gallic Empire.

Furthermore, the island produced pearls and precious jade of every