Summary

Yunxian, an eight year old girl in 1400s China, studies with her mother, Respectful Lady. It is extremely hot and humid, and Yunxian is in much pain, as she is in the midst of her feet-binding. Respectful Lady is teaching Yunxian how to be a good wife, according to Confucian principles of filial piety. Their study session is interrupted by the arrival of Yifeng, the son of Respectful Lady's husband, and Yunxian's father, with his concubine, Miss Zhao. Though Yifeng is not Respectful Lady's biological child, he is nominally her son because he is the heir to the family's land and titles. There is a clear tension that Respectful Lady feels towards Miss Zhao, because of her concubine status and the fact that she bore a son when Respectful Lady lost two, but Miss Zhao is calm...