The Shen family of Jiangnan is a silk-trading house. Its clever and patient illegitimate daughter, long suppressed by her stepmother, has spent years pretending to be dull and keeping a low profile. She is a master of arithmetic and business, and has secretly pored over all the account books and business strategy notes her mother left behind.
Forced to take her sister's place in marrying into the Gu family, a northern weaving house on the verge of bankruptcy, she starts by managing a tiny embroidery workshop and soon displays extraordinary business acumen. She modernizes weaving techniques and opens up overseas trade routes.
She rises to become a leading figure in Jiangnan's weaving industry. She establishes a women's business school and sponsors girls from poor families to study and learn a trade, changing the lives of countless women through her actions.
