An adult historical fantasy set in ancient China.

Far away from the Court of Wei where she was born, Xinni trains in the art of revenge at the Blooming Lotus Sect, a cult of female assassins shrouded in the clouds of Mount Hua that offers revenge to anyone who seeks it. Her mysterious teacher, Sanren, is ruthless and hard to please, but by blinding her targets with poisoned flowers, Xinni manages to win the favor of the vengeful, eclectic customers who seek the Sect's services.

But Xinni harbors a deep secret-she came to the Blooming Lotus Sect seeking something strictly forbidden by the Sect's rules-personal revenge for her mother, a consort of the Wei Emperor murdered in a political scheme.

When an assignment brings her face to face with a necromancer prince from a southern state who seeks to unite the fractured kingdoms that lie around her-and destroy the very dynasty that led to her mother's death-Xinni finds her loyalty pulled in different directions. The rise and fall of the northern and southern dynasties is bloody, and the Blooming Lotus Sect punishes those that betray it with a fate worse than death. To survive, Xinni may need to kill a part of herself, the part that yearns the most to bloom.