Court Jester

Qiu Tian was identified and recruited for training at the age of six. Demonstrating exceptional aptitude, she was specially enlisted at nine years old, and subsequently assigned to live and study in a rotating series of strategically important countries under the direction of the Second Department of the General Staff - at that time known as "Department Two." There, she learned local languages and cultures, familiarized herself with the environment and society, and underwent systematic, comprehensive training, as well as extremely rigorous drills. Simultaneously, she executed special, highly sensitive overseas missions for Department Two, accumulating extensive real-world combat experience abroad. Due to her long-term solo operations overseas, Qiu Tian became a prime target for adversary intelligence agencies in multiple countries. The risks she faced grew with each passing day. To ensure her safety, Department Two decided to recall her to China for permanent residence, while continuing to deploy her on single-person, secret, and highly sensitive overseas operations. At the age of twenty-one, Qiu Tian returned to China as instructed by Department Two and was assigned a cover identity, residing in the city of Beidu. As time passed, Qiu Tian inevitably came into public view, and within Department Two, more and more people began to learn her identity and the details of her secret overseas missions. Qiu Tian's identity and missions were classified at the highest level. As "Department Two" was restructured into "Bureau Two," and the few remaining individuals who knew her past gradually retired, her life before the age of twenty-one became sealed away. Aside from Qiu Tian herself, no currently serving personnel in the General Staff Bureau Two are aware of her life, training, or completed missions during those twelve years, from age nine to twenty-one. Only the thirty-plus military merit citations secretly awarded to her can attest to those turbulent years. The Miss Qiu Series recounts Qiu Tian's primary experiences after her return to China. Her past remains largely unknown, and will only be revealed as related classified archives are gradually declassified. Court Jester is the fifth installment in the Miss Qiu series. Jester or loyalist? Risking one's life, or testing the boundaries of the law? Will faith fade, and medals gather dust? These questions can only be answered in the crucible of extreme peril, with life itself as the price.