Cloud and Water Bureau

In the late Qing Dynasty, Baiyun Temple, as the first ancestral court of the Quanzhen Longmen sect, was transformed by the twentieth abbot Gao Rendong from a quiet Taoist temple into the most secret political hub in the capital. Gao Rendong won the trust of Empress Dowager Cixi with his immortal arts and was appointed as the 'Chief of Taoism'. He also became sworn brothers with the chief eunuch Li Lianying, building a vast network through selling official positions and acting as a political broker. However, the waters of this temple ran much deeper than they appeared—the Russian envoy Pokotilov set up a 'Great Russian Residence' in the temple's backyard as an intelligence base, while Japanese translator Takao Toru infiltrated under the guise of cultural exchange. Gao Rendong maneuvered among the three powers, each step teetering on the cracks of the empire's collapse. — Description from novelcodex.org