On a rainy plum rainy night, deep in the ancient streets of Jiangnan, old tailor Lin Suyi was found dead in the tailor shop he had run his whole life. She was wearing a gorgeous but unfinished dark green cheongsam embroidered with gold. The cause of death was a sharp strangulation mark on her neck. There was no sign of struggle at the scene, just like a silent sacrifice.
Freelance writer Gu Xiang, as the only close friend of the old man, was involved in this bizarre murder case. She soon discovered that death was not the end, but the beginning of a story that had been sealed for twenty years. Hidden on the cheongsam as a "shroud" were unfamiliar and hasty stitches, the name of a long-lost apprentice, and a bloody poem embroidered on the lining like a curse.
Teaming up with the keen but tired criminal police captain Zhao Wei, Gu Xiang relies on his deep understanding of traditional acupuncture techniques to try to decipher the code left in the silk thread by the teacher. The investigation pointed to Shen Ayun, his apprentice who left without saying goodbye twenty-two years ago, and a precious lotus embroidery piece that was said to be "ominous" and originated from an ancient tomb. The dried blood on the spool, the strange symbols in the thimble, and the unclear diary are all clues entwined with a grudge between master and apprentice full of resentment, greed, and betrayal.
