In Shanghai, China, 1895, Two children, Jules (a Chinese boy), and Julie (an English girl) are born on the same night, under the light of a full moon, fulfilling the first part of a prophecy foretold by the soothsayer Lao Tzu. That prophecy describes two children, born to different parents, but in the same place (Shanghai) at the same hour (when the Moon is at its highest point in the night sky) whose mother perishes at birth, which begins the end of the tyrannical rule of the Dowager Empress of China. In addition, the prophecy also states that in order for this dethronement to occur, "the Twins of Destiny" must replace two stone tablets in the sacred Temple of Heavenly Harmony, in the Forbidden City. As foretold, this would lead to complete collapse of the tyrannical empire in its entirety.