In the third year of Xuanhe, Shen Mo, a court painter at the Bianjing Painting Academy, touched Along the River During the Qingming Festival and glimpsed a secret hidden within the painting: a royal bloodshed and seven mechanical towers, all concealed in the ink of the tavern by the Rainbow Bridge. A worldly painter, a Western Regions perfume merchant, and a cold-faced undercover agent join forces to uncover the painting, only to stumble upon the slaughterer's blade wielded by Cai Jing's faction and the undercurrents of the martial world. The ancient painting conceals a deadly game, and human hearts are even more treacherous. As the lights along both banks of the Bian River are stained with the glow of blood, can they survive the maze within the painting and protect the fate of the Song people captured in its scroll?
