During the Tongzhi era, the Shen family of Jiangnan, a prominent textile dynasty, had grown wealthy on a century-old foundation in cloud brocade weaving. The young master, Shen Yanjun, was brilliant but proud and aloof. He and his cousin Su Xiuping, who lived at the family estate, had grown up together and shared an innocent, close bond. Su Xiuping was exceptionally gifted, especially at embroidery. The screens she embroidered were hailed as unrivaled under heaven. But when the Shen family became embroiled in power struggles within the Imperial Weaving Bureau, rivalries over wealth and status began to fester within the family as well. Shen Yanjun was forced to marry Liu Yunshang, the daughter of a salt merchant, and Su Xiuping left the estate in sorrow. As the Shen family gradually declined amid political infighting, Xiuping drifted among ordinary folk. Years later, a missing embroidered screen turned up in a foreign trading house, unearthing decades-old grudges and entanglements. With delicate prose, the novel portrays the splendor and downfall of a late Qing dynasty Jiangnan family, explores the tangled loves and hatreds of lovers, and captures the last glimmer of glory before an era came to an end.
