In Song Dynasty China, a young servant of a magistrate searches for the killers of a mentally-disabled boy shunned by the community. A mentally-disabled boy is found dead in a small town. All signs point to his mother, a poor and ailing widow, as the one who caused his death. But as Liu Yong, the lowly attendant of the magistrate, delves deeper, he finds that things may not be what they seem. The young man's investigations take him to the unfamiliar territory of the Capital, where he must contend with naked prejudice, bent officials and powerful foes. For help, Yong turns to the enigmatic Beggars' Sect, a network comprising street people of variable character: good and bad, righteous and criminal. There is little room for error. One wrong step could bring failure, or worse. In a strict, hierarchical society, Yong needs to dig deep to find the truth against the odds and, in the process, discover his own worth.