Megan Davis arrives in Shanghai during the Nationalist uprisings of the late nineteen-twenties, hoping to marry her childhood friend and medical missionary, Bob. Delayed by the unrest, she is swept up in the turbulent atmosphere of the city, staying with missionaries the Jacksons while violence looms in the native quarters. Driven by an urgent, almost fanatical desire to help and witness the reality of China, Megan impulsively joins Dr. Strike, an older scholar, in a dangerous rescue mission to evacuate an orphanage in Chapei.
During the chaos of the mission, they fail to save everyone, and Megan is ultimately separated from the group. She is rescued by General Yen Tso-Chong, a brilliant, cynical warlord whom she had briefly encountered earlier. Taken to the General's secluded lake estate, Megan finds herself living as his guest amid an atmosphere of exquisite beauty, philosophical debate, and quiet menace.
While recuperating, she attempts to influence the General, hoping to soften his pragmatic cynicism with Christian ideals of love and mercy, particularly regarding his concubine Mah-li. As political betrayals multiply and the Communist forces close in on their sanctuary, the General's regime crumbles. Amidst the final, inevitable collapse and an attempted escape to safety, the fragile illusion of their philosophical standoff shatters, culminating in sudden violence.
