Nadia_Seliah

A single kick can change lives and destroy families. Zhao Lian knows this, but that doesn't stop her from delivering one. Four years later all the ramifications of that kick will come back to haunt her and her own fledgling family. She and her son Quan are soon drawn into a fight with a band of outlaws, led by another powerful magic user, and into the path of a young woman's long-simmering rage.

Zhao Lian is a sheriff without a county. A member of an old magical order called the Shuli Go, she was raised to uphold the law and protect her fellow citizens. But after her order was disassembled, she was left with no choice but to wander in search of work for someone with her very particular set of skills. Flush with wealth for the first time in her life, she grants herself one night of indulgent, sensual luxury in one of the finest brothels in the Central Empire. But as one night turns into two, then three, she finds herself at risk of falling: into love and poverty. But the woman she's falling for has risks of her own, and lives can be taken as easily as coin in a land where contracts are very sacred things. Set immediately following the first story (Beyond the Mists) and Lian's first dose of wealth, this is a largely standalone story that nonetheless connects with previous entries and themes. Includes the first recurring character (besides Lian herself), and also sets up future installments. Also plenty smutty! (If you're into that)

Zhao Lian is a sheriff without a county. A member of an old magical order called the Shuli Go, she was raised to uphold the law and protect her fellow citizens. But after her order was disassembled, she was left with no choice but to wander in search of work for someone with her very particular set of skills. Reunited with two good friends in the ancient city of Liangyong, Lian is skeptical about the rumor of an ancient magical book with the power to grant eternal youth and beauty. Convinced by her friends and a prominent local gangster, she agrees to go on the hunt for the book, but retrieving it will be no easy task. An imposing dungeon, hundreds of guards, and one of the most powerful men in the Central Empire stand in the way of Lian sorting rumor from reality. The third story about Zhao Lian and her exploits in the Central Empire, this story is set in the years after Lian's successful mediation described in Volume One. A richer, more successful woman, she is struggling to adapt to the life she leads versus those of her close friends.

Zhao Lian is a sheriff without a county. A member of an old magical order called the Shuli Go, she was raised to uphold the law and protect her fellow citizens. But after her order was disassembled, she was left with no choice but to wander in search of work for someone with her very particular set of skills. When she stumbles across a group of bandits plundering a merchant's wagon, she steps in to save the only innocent survivor. Quickly though, Lian learns innocent is not the right word to describe him. This new addition to her life pushes her out of her comfort zone and into a run from the law, but his impact on her life is only just beginning. The second story in the saga of the Central Empire's most famous Shuli Go, this continues to build the world and set of characters which will be central to future installments. Probably my favorite one I've written thus far!

Zhao Lian is a sheriff without a county. A member of an old magical order called the Shuli Go, she was raised to uphold the law and protect her fellow citizens. But after her order was disassembled, she was left with no choice but to wander in search of work for someone with her very particular set of skills. That wandering leads her to the town of Three Paths and an old associate who soon draws Lian into the biggest contract of her life. A foreign king, political rivalries, and the fate of a nation hang in the balance as she weighs the value of the law against that of her own life. The first in a series of short stories set in the Central Empire and its surrounding kingdoms: a magical early-modern world based on the history of China, Japan, and other East Asian countries.