To Live in the Shadows

Moonshadow is an assassin who only assassinates government officials and high rank nobles who are exposed to corruption. An elite well trained but unknown persona who evades the imperial guards easily.

Then comes Xi Jinchen, a fourth-generation noble who is now a part of the investigative task force assigned to capture the Moonshadow. He is driven to succeed and plans to prove his naysayers that he only got his position because of his nepotic roots. While, Lian'er is an elite courtesan and Ruan performer who will capture the eyes of the emperor, except her heart is already taken by Xi Jinchen who saved her a long time ago.

As Moonshadow's killings shake the foundations of the empire, the paths of these three become dangerously intertwined. Each investigation brings Xi Jinchen closer not only to the truth behind the assassin, but to the rot buried deep within the court itself. Lian'er, caught between imperial favor and forbidden devotion, becomes both a prized jewel of the palace and an unwitting key to secrets whispered among ministers and shadows. Loyalties fracture, masks fall, and the line between justice and treason blurs as politics, vengeance, and desire collide. In a world where power is bought with blood and silence, fate forces hunter, assassin, and songstress toward a reckoning that could either cleanse the empire or plunge it into deeper darkness.

The Reaper Trilogy Part 1
Started: November 2017
Status: re-writing