Palace Owl

The Great Yong Dynasty has stood for a century. Though the realm appears peaceful and prosperous, danger lurks behind the vermilion walls of the imperial city. The aging, frail emperor has long shut himself away in the inner palace, taking no part in state affairs. Three factions divide and control the court: the empress's powerful clan, which holds sway over the court and seeks to place the legitimate prince on the throne; the military, led by the Grand General Who Guards the Nation, who commands the troops and maintains a careful neutrality while secretly guarding against interference by the empress's clan; and the Xuan Ying Bureau, an organization of imperial agents that operates in secret under the emperor's direct command. Answerable neither to the Six Ministries nor to the court, its agents are masters of stealth and martial arts. They investigate palace secrets, court conspiracies, and disturbances in the martial world. The late emperor's final weapon for keeping the factions in check, they are the dynasty's most dreaded shadow.

The story opens with a string of bizarre murders in the Great Yong capital. Several low-ranking court officials are found dead in their homes overnight, their deaths uncanny and their rooms utterly undisturbed. The only clue is a black iron token carved with an owl. Rumors sweep through the streets, claiming that an evil martial faction has infiltrated the capital to stir up trouble at court. Seizing the opportunity, the empress accuses the Xuan Ying Bureau of dereliction and allowing martial-world forces to infiltrate the imperial city. She presses for the agents' organization to be disbanded and for the authority to patrol the city and monitor officials to be handed over to the inner palace and her clan. At court, civil and military officials harbor their own agendas, while the princes vie with one another in secret. What seemed an ordinary series of murders swiftly becomes a struggle for power sweeping across the entire court.