Xiahou Lian, the youngest assassin of the infamous Qiye Garden enclave, has infiltrated the prestigious Xie household on a vague but deadly mission. Posing as a servant under Xie Jinglan, the youngest son of the family, he bides his time, awaiting orders. But as the days pass, an unexpected bond forms between them--mark and assassin alike--throwing a wrench in Xiahou Lian's plans. The decision he makes will land him in dire straits with the Qiye Garden, while Xie Jinglan walks free.Two yea...

Reeling from the devastating loss of someone close to him, young assassin Xiahou Lian sets off on a perilous journey to find his long-lost brother, who's hidden away on a remote and forbidding mountain. But what Xiahou Lian encounters at the summit isn't the reunion he imagined. Instead, he's thrust into a web of secrets and betrayals more harrowing than anything he's faced in Qiye Garden.Within the palace walls, Shen Jue moves like a shadow. Though he wears a mask of obedience while servi...

After converging in the capital, Xiahou Lian and Shen Jue soon learn that the imperial court is no safer than the roads that brought them there. Power is shifting perilously, secrets are tightening around them, and Xiahou Lian's attempts to protect himself through deception place him in unexpected danger.Shaken by the fallout, the two dare to rebuild the bond they once lost. As Xiahou Lian gains a foothold in the Eastern Depot, he and Shen Jue are swept into a storm of treachery and enemie...

Three decades after 1989, historical materials are now available for understanding the Tiananmen protests in a new light. In a play-by-play account of the elite politics that led to the military crackdown, Yang Su addresses the repression of the protest in the context of political leadership succession. He challenges conventional views that see the military intervention as a necessary measure against a revolutionary mobilization. Beneath the political drama, Deadly Decision in Beijing expl...

The violence of Mao's China is well known, but its extreme form is not. In 1967 and 1968, during the Cultural Revolution, collective killings were widespread in rural China in the form of public execution. Victims included women, children, and the elderly. This book is the first to systematically document and analyze these atrocities, drawing data from local archives, government documents, and interviews with survivors in two southern provinces. This book extracts from the Chinese case les...