It is the summer of 2209 and, within the Seven, the internecine fighting has intensified. When the young T'ang of Africa, Wang Sau-leyan, attacks Li Yuan's floating palace and slaughters his family, war between them seems inevitable. But fear of even greater chaos stays Li Yuan's hand. Even so, the experience scars him deeply and draws him ever closer to his fellow T'ang - Wu Shih and Tsu Ma. Between them they might yet rule Chung Kuo strongly... and wisely. For the first time, the unthinkable - the destruction of the age-old rule of Seven and its replacement by a powerful triumvirate, The Three - is now a possibility.
Stefan Lehmann, meanwhile, has carved out his own small empire in the bowels of City Europe. In a massive and quite audacious campaign, he takes on and defeats the combined forces of the five great Triad lords to become `The White T'ang' - sole ruler of the European underworld.
At that single instant Li Yuan might have moved to crush Lehmann, for the albino's power was weak. But, emotionally shattered by the death of his wives and the depth of division among the Seven, Li Yuan fails to act, enabling Lehmann to consolidate his dark and brutal empire in the lowest levels of Li Yuan's once great City.