Chapter 53 - Chapter 23 - The Five Spears of the Council

The Hall of Superimposed Heavens was the heart of the Imperial Palace and, simultaneously, a silent witness to centuries of intrigue. Its columns, tall and majestic, were adorned with inlays of ivory and gold that reflected the light from lanterns suspended in the air. Every inch of the ceiling was painted with constellations that the first emperors had sworn to protect; stars that once guided battles and imperial decisions, but which on that day seemed more distant than ever, as if they too looked upon the present with uncertainty.