Chemicals are a ubiquitous motif in the novel. They appear at frequent intervals and are dispensed by several characters. Their use speaks to the theme Quest for Redemption. The most obvious wielder of chemical weapons is Rosalind. As an assassin, she’s adept at administering poisons. She knows how to kill with them and how to withhold death by administering the correct antidote. She’s armed with an arsenal of poisons at all times and spends her sleepless nights brewing new batches of her favorite weapon. Her lethal activities are motivated by a desire to achieve redemption for herself. She believes that killing for a good cause can assuage her guilt for having wrought so much destruction while under Dimitri’s toxic influence.

Like Foul Lady Fortune, the preceding duology featured destructive chemicals and strange new science to tip the balance of power in the city. The chemical poisonings that occur at frequent intervals in this novel can be attributed to the same motive. Lady Hong is attempting to create a super-soldier formula so that the Japanese can create a Pan-Asian empire to rival the West. This is her solution to the chaos in China and a form of personal redemption.