Qi Yufei, seventh leader of the Caobang. The map of the nine provinces’ waterways etched across her chest is both power and a shackle. When the new governor-general seeks to abolish the guild and impose reforms, she cuts the tattoo from her body before the assembled court, challenging the imperial government with her own flesh and blood: every inch of change on this map is soaked in the blood of the canal workers. Along the 3,400-mile canal, hidden currents surge. On waterways paved with bones, she fights for a chance at survival for her five thousand brothers, and seeks justice for herself.
