Book jacket: In the time of the Han Dynasty in ancient China a young orphan struggles to fulfill her destiny. Ping has survived her days as a slave at Huangling Palace but new challenges await her in the desolate mountains of Tai Shan. The wise dragon Danzi is no longer around to guide her and now it is up to Ping to take care of the baby dragon Kai. Food is scarce and she must constantly be on the lookout for enemies. Things seem to get better when fate leads them back to the Imperial Palace to the Garden of the Purple Dragon. Yet even within these hallowed walls Ping and Kai are not as they believe.