Shanghai, 1926: Western and Chinese cultures collide as warlords clash and commercial undercurrents churn. Su Wanqing, an embroiderer from Jiangnan, travels alone to Shanghai in search of her missing embroidery master, bringing with her the family’s heirloom Tongxiu technique. She is unexpectedly swept into a struggle over an ancient embroidery manual, which holds not only the supreme secrets of the craft but also evidence of a warlord’s smuggling of cultural relics.
With her Tongxiu mastery, which allows her to “identify objects through embroidery and read hearts through thread,” she maneuvers among foreign trading-house compradors, warlord factions, and underground organizations. Along the way, she clashes with Lu Jingyuan, a young Beiyang marshal ordered to investigate the smuggling of cultural relics. The two go from testing each other to fighting side by side. Su Wanqing uses embroidery patterns to send coded messages and repairs embroidered pieces to conceal the truth about the relics, while Lu Jingyuan gives her a refuge amid the chaos, where she can preserve her craft.
When loyalty to their country and personal feelings demand a choice, and traditional arts face the impact of modern civilization, can they protect the ancient embroidery manual and preserve the roots of Jiangnan embroidery? Amid Shanghai’s neon lights and flames of war, a story of artistic heritage and deep love in a turbulent age slowly unfolds.
