Following the events in Mat Bond, Mat arrives in the kingdom of Darul Funfair and finds himself entangled in a sinister conspiracy of a corrupt minister attempting to poison the Sultan of Darul Funfair and preventing the crown prince from ascending the throne. The crown prince (a doppelganger of Mat) who is disinterested in being a royal, escapes and Mat is mistaken for the prince by the royal guards and the Sultan. In typical Mat fashion, he basks in the chaos and confusion of the mixed identities situation and brings the evildoers on a wild goose chase in search of a missing crown jewel.