Ren Daiyan was just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold.