Set in 16th-century Imperial China during the Ming dynasty, the story follows Shao Jun, a determined member of the Assassin Brotherhood. In 1526, she returns home to China after a long journey to Europe, where she sought out the retired Assassin Mentor Ezio Auditore da Firenze and learned the key to freeing her oppressed people. Her homeland lies under the secret grip of the Eight Tigers, a cabal of powerful Templars who rule China from the shadows with the Emperor as their puppet, and who orchestrated the near-total extermination of the Chinese Assassins. Armed with her training and a mysterious artifact entrusted to her by Ezio, Shao Jun sets out on a perilous mission of vengeance and liberation, determined to dismantle the Tigers one by one and restore the shattered Brotherhood.