Pei Yan, the son of a carpenter, comes first in the imperial examinations, but has no interest in the prestigious, comfortable life of the Hanlin Academy.
When the newly crowned top scholar volunteers for a posting outside the capital, Minister of Works Li merely sneers at him as the son of a lowly craftsman.
Pei Yan deftly explains the factions at court: “The imperial court is like a mortise-and-tenon joint. Old and new are like beams and pillars, each with its own place.”
With a craftsman’s instinct for “precise measurements,” he reads people’s hearts, and uses the memories in the “Heavenly Craft Manual” to expose corrupt officials and their vast schemes.
When the nation’s Grand Canal teeters on the brink of disaster and even the senior officials of the Ministry of Works are helpless,
Pei Yan alone quietly opens his family’s woodworking plans and uses his carving knife to trace a curve of salvation across the map.
