The author's great-grandfather was Yang Ru-shan, born in 1894 as the only son. It was his duty to produce heirs, effectively continuing the family name. Yang Ru-shan married at fourteen to a woman six years older. His wife had been given no name at all and was merely called "Two Girl". Just a year after they were married, they had a daughter, Yu-Fang, the author's grandmother and the first of the three women in this story.
Yu-fang was forced to become concubine to a warlord general when she was only fifteen. They spent several days together before he left, returning six years later. Her life was miserable. She was under the complete control of her husband, even from afar, and had no freedom and no security. One their second visit together, Yu-fang became pregnant with a.....
