China, December 655. There is a celebration at court: lovely Wuzhao is to be betrothed to the young emperor of the Tang dynasty, Gaozong. She has made her way in the world since the death of the old sovereign; one of his thousand concubines, she had been locked away in a Buddhist monastery. Before being isolated from the world she had managed to get herself noticed by the crown prince and drive him mad with desire. For Wuzhao’s beauty can not be forgotten, and it is only equal to her determination to embody an ancient prophecy: one day, the Middle Country will be governed by an empress. And while the Manicheans from Persia, the Christians from Syria, and the attacking Turko-Mongolian Muslims gather at the foot of the Great Wall, monks, spies, courtesans and bandits plot to take possession of the key to power, what is most precious: silk.