In 1415 the Yongle Emperor's fleet returns with a qilin-a giraffe hailed as Heaven's endorsement of his rule. Court painter Ma Lan, of mixed blood and raised among menageries and artists, alone sees the creature is dying and the voyages' ruinous cost. Eunuch and Confucian factions wage war through manipulated omens and purged records. Pulled into conspiracy from Nanjing's shipyards to the Forbidden City's core, Ma Lan's sole ally is a woman who hides messages in the emperor's robes. They must decide what to preserve when the empire denies the world beyond its walls. A novel of power, art, and perilous clarity.
