Wei Xiaobao has spent ten years fishing in the sea on Tongchi Island, thinking he'd spend the rest of his life idling away with his seven wives. Then a secret decree from Kangxi drags him back to the capital. The moment he arrives, he stumbles into the mess of the nine princes fighting over the throne. Yongzheng's icy stare, Nian Gengyao's overbearing ways, and the young Qianlong's sly tricks all come at him in turn. Back in the day, he could talk his way out of trouble at court with a few tantrums and some shamelessness. Now, after three emperors have come and gone, Lord Wei can still use his old dice-playing tricks to navigate the turbulent reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. From a slick, favored courtier in the Golden Throne Hall, he becomes the one man in the entire Qing Empire no one dares touch, a survivor through three reigns…
