"What is now known as the Goujian Sword is wielded by the king of Yue, and the king alone. Whoever possesses it rules the kingdom, and when it is lost in battle, King Goujian pursues those who captured it across the kingdom and beyond in a desperate attempt to retrieve it and maintain power. He fails.
And thousands of years later, archaeology professors James Acton and Laura Palmer are witness to an exchange of historical importance—the handing over of the long-lost sword, held for generations by the royal family of Bhutan. In an attempt to forge better relations with their Chinese neighbors, the king of the tiny country has decided to return the sword, a source of great national pride to China. There’s only one problem. It’s a fake."