Wartime Lilies: The Secret Front in Shanghai

The misty rains of Jiangnan cannot hold back the iron hooves of the warlords. In a single night, Gu Caiwei, the cherished daughter of the Gu family, loses her home and everyone she loves. Disguised as a man, she flees alone to Shanghai, a city where glittering luxury and danger go hand in hand. Her exceptional writing earns her a job as a young reporter in the city, writing under the name Gu Wei. She has no idea that her colleague Lin Yu is an underground Party member devoted to the nation. Nor does she know that a botched assassination attempt will bring her to the attention of Shen Mohan, a powerful gang boss who comes to regard her with uncommon favor. Her pen becomes a battlefield for passing along intelligence; her paintings and calligraphy become blueprints of enemy camps. Guided by Lin Yu, she grows from an orphan seeking revenge for her family into a fighter for her country. Under Shen Mohan’s protection, she glimpses complicated loyalties in the underworld. When the shadow of a Japanese plot falls over Shanghai, arrest and torture follow one after another. The fates of the three become intertwined, and amid gunfire and smoke, they act out a stirring tale of a turbulent age, driven by hatred for their country’s enemies and vengeance for their families.