A bolt of heavenly lightning strikes down a eunuch from the Princess's residence, as if delivering karmic retribution. An accident reveals that the death of an ordinary man is tied to the rise and fall of the Tang dynasty. Then a dream carries off the life of the dynasty's most beloved princess... Why did a painting personally drawn by the late emperor when he died ten years ago cruelly foretell all of this? As one murder after another rocks the palace and the world beyond its walls, the female eunuch Huang Zixia, who had planned to travel to Shu to investigate the injustice done to her family, is forced to answer the call in a crisis and once again becomes entangled in the palace's secrets. This time, everything seems within reach, only to slip away in an instant, leaving her with no clues at all.
