As the plum blossom winds herald spring in the Empire of Wa, Brother Shuyun, spiritual advisor to Lord Shonto, military governor of the province of Seh, receives a shocking message from the barbarian lands. The massive army of the Golden Khan is poised at their border. Forced to retreat south, Lord Shonto is caught between the pursuing barbarian hordes and his own hostile emperors Imperial Army. Even as this trap closes on Shonto and his allies, Lady Nishima is involved in court intrigue and a dangerous romantic liaison while Brother Shuyun faces a crisis of his own, for in the same scroll that warned of the invasion was a sacred udumbara blossom, a sign his order has awaited for a thousand years, a sign that the Great Teacher has finally been reborn. And now it may fall to one young monk with extraordinary powers to save his empire.