When a famous Chinese pirate is killed by the British in the year 1800, the pirate’s wife – once a young slave, who the pirate liberated from a cruel bordello in Canton - takes over control of the 50,000-strong pirate fleet herself. Under her tough, brilliant, and principled command (she outlaws rape, forces pirates to marry any woman they take, and insists everyone share equally in the profits of their campaign) she not only avenges her husband’s death, but, after several setbacks, and even capture and torture, she triumphs in battle against the corrupt alliance of the British and Dutch and Portuguese, all of whom are involved in illegal trade with China: the British in opium; the Dutch and Portuguese in stolen cultural treasures. In gratitude, the Qing Emperor Jiaqing offers to give her whatever she wants. Her wishes are that her outcast followers be granted pardons, be allowed to own land, and return to their homes. As for herself, she wishes only to be allowed to return to the small idyllic farm where she was born. She gets her wish. But will it satisfy her now?