During the Republic of China era, Jiang Hanrui, blessed with natural beauty and bound feet, caught the eye of Deng Lixuan, the fifth young master of the Deng family, who had received a modern education. She was lucky enough to become his wife.
Deng Lixuan had four older brothers, and not one of them had produced a son. How could the vast Deng family estate go without an heir? The old master Deng was frantic with worry. Jiang Hanrui proved remarkably fertile: in the second year of their marriage, she gave birth to five sons at once. Her sisters-in-law were green with envy, and from then on, open attacks and hidden schemes were impossible to guard against. The eldest sister-in-law set fire to Deng Lixuan’s silk factory. In the chaos, he carried Jiang Hanrui and leaped out a back window. When she awoke, her husband was gone, vanished without a trace, dead or alive…
