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Two chapters today, 3,000 characters each.
The morning mist over Heaven Dou City had yet to fully disperse, and its blue-stone walls gleamed like cold iron in the faint dawn light.
Dew polished the golden iron gates of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to a shine, giving them a cold glimmer in the morning mist.
Sixteen marble columns supported the arched portico, each one covered in climbing wisteria blossoms.
The scrape of the guards' heavy armor startled the gray turtledoves perched beneath the eaves into flight.
Up the thirty-six basalt steps, the shadow cast by the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's gates fell precisely over the final stair.
Swan statues rested on either side of the portico, pigeon-blood rubies set into their pupils. Whenever the morning light slanted across their heads, those two crimson points would suddenly blaze, invariably startling new students hurrying past with books in their arms into a half-step stumble.
The wind swept past the glazed swan geese rising from the triple-tiered hip-and-gable roof. Through the ripples of sound from the bronze bells beneath the eaves drifted the mingled scents of pine-soot ink and ambergris.
A draft carried the sounds spilling from a lavishly appointed meeting room.
The Heaven Dou prince Xue Shiming presided over the meeting with extraordinary bearing. Refined yet understated ornaments hung artfully over the Heaven Dou Academy's distinctive uniform.
A peculiar fragrance emanated from him, lingering without dispersing, its curling wisps exceptionally fresh and pleasant.
The fragrance came from the Openwork Carved Swan Goose Incense Pendant he wore. A genuine luxury of the highest order, it could release its fragrance continuously for decades, proclaiming the distinction of his status.
He said softly, "Everyone, please take a look. This is the intelligence we've collected so far this year."
His princely status,