The journey from Ning Prefecture to Flame Capital was not far. Night Prefecture lay west of Ning Prefecture, Ming Prefecture to its east, and Flame Capital was in Ming Prefecture.
After the dynasty's Southern Crossing, the land at the bend of the Great River had been carved out of Ming Prefecture and placed under the direct administration of Heaven-Bearing Prefecture. Heaven-Bearing Prefecture comprised three counties: Upper Yuan, White Lower, and Return to Peace. Upper Yuan lay to the left of Flame Capital, White Lower to its right.
Ding Songyan stood at the edge of the Painted Airship, gazing down at the magnificent, sprawling city below.
Beneath the afternoon sun, the Great River bent northward here before surging east. The imperial city stood in the north, with the inner court to its west and the Three Provinces, Six Ministries, and Nine Offices to its east. The residences of the high and mighty clustered around it.
Farther south within the city lay a lake named Golden Pool. It was not large, but visitors thronged its shores and boats gathered in fleets. Three rivers flowed into it, some from the west, others from the south, then merged into a single stream that wound out through the Jade Ridge Water Gate to the east-northeast and rejoined the Great River.
Ding Songyan had heard that at night, along the stretch from Golden Pool Lake to the Jade Ridge Water Gate, pleasure boats lit their lamps and both banks answered in kind. Decadent music never ceased, and the fragrance of rouge and gilded powder drifted through the air. It was one of Flame Capital's great sights, the most worldly corner of the mortal dust.
Merchants filled the western city, their terraces, towers, and pavilions exceeding the prescribed limits. Workshops covered the east, where strange mechanism constructs