When the mysterious deaths of a series of loyal subjects threaten to delay the 690 A.D. inauguration of Empress Wu Zetian, she summons the former dissident/brilliant detective Dee (Andy Lau) back from an exile into which she cast him eight years earlier. However almost immediately, the investigation gets off to a rocky start with assassins lurking in the shadows, a detour into a mysterious underground market, and a sacred temple the Empress is determined to protect. Dee soon realizes that the strange deaths may end up threatening not just the empress’ coronation, but the entire empire as well.