Kara-Khanid Khanate
Part One is set in the Jingyou era (1034–1038) of the reign of Emperor Renzong in the Song dynasty. The Kingdom of Khotan is conquered by the Kara-Khanid Khanate. Meiduo, a Khotan princess, flees to Dunhuang to join her elder sister, Zhenniang. Along the way, she meets Li Yuanhao, the ambitious Western Xia ruler who desires to dominate the western regions of China. Li, who has been eyeing Dunhuang for a long time, plans to make use of the princess to seize control of the city. He sends his general Wangrong to escort Meiduo to Dunhuang and pass a message to Cao Shunde, the governor of Dunhuang. Li asks Cao for permission to allow his army to pass through Dunhuang, so that he can help Meiduo take revenge by attacking the Kara-Khanid Khanate. Li is actually plotting to take over Dunhuang once his army enters the city.