Shen Yanyan is the star courtesan of the Zu Yue Brothel. To seek out her beloved, the chess sage Lan Qing, and the match he left unfinished, she flees in the dead of night. But barely has she escaped one pit of fire before falling into another trap. With no other choice, she travels to the capital with Xiao Qing, an official on the road.
She is willing to be his bedmate, just for another chance to see Lan Qing. Xiao Qing takes her for a foolish woman who doesn't know her place, and watches coldly, waiting to see how she will become a laughingstock in the capital. But her chess skills are exquisite: she beats him in three moves, then defeats every chess player in the capital. Only then does Xiao Qing see clearly that this woman, born in the pleasure quarters, carries more than love in her heart. She also has a sense of justice. She wants to use chess to right the world's injustices and let women stand in the light.
But before that, when she became pregnant with his child, he told her to "get rid of it." She took the medicine, and only then saw the pain in his heart, and the path she herself must take. Dressed in red, she heads for the frontier to fight for all living things.
She plays against chess enthusiasts from across the land for seven days, winning a hundred matches without a single defeat, and earns the title of the world's greatest chess player.
But on the day she is crowned a sage, she goes blind.
Standing in the snow, covered in blood, Xiao Qing says, "I won't be your man. I'll be your eyes for the rest of your life."
Feeling the chessboard, she smiles. "Xiao Qing, you were never part of my game."
In this game, can a move ever be taken back?
