The protagonist of the novel, Zhu is born a nameless Nanren peasant girl in a farming village stricken with famine, bandits, and other social ills. A fortune-teller says that her fate is “Nothing” (20). After the deaths of her father and brother, she begins seeing ghosts, a trait that will continue to follow her for the rest of the novel. With nowhere to go, she takes on her brother’s identity—and therefore his fate—and becomes a novice at the Wuhuang Monastery. There, she makes both friends and enemies. The Mongol general Ouyang, with whom she feels an uncanny connection due to the similarity of their circumstances and ambiguity of gender, later destroys the monastery.

Zhu travels to Anfeng where she joins the Red Turbans. Her successful strategy at the Yao River earns her Ouyang’s enmity and promotion to commander of the Red Turbans, allying her (on the surface) with Left Minister Chen. She accepts her role as his pawn but doesn’t truly take his side, secretly remaining neutral. As she continues to negotiate Red Turban politics, she reunites with Xu Da and learns to use her knowledge of gender roles to her strategic advantage, leading to her negotiations with Lady Rui of Lu and her first assassination.