An Inch of Golden Lotus

In late Qing-era Jiangnan, Shen Qingyan, the legitimate daughter of the Shen family, stubbornly tears off her foot bindings, leaving her feet deformed and slightly lame, while Su He, a bondservant born into the household, endures the agony of binding to achieve a perfect three-inch golden lotus. Fate twists awry: Su He enters a wealthy household as a concubine and rises to become its mistress, while Qingyan sinks to become the wife of a destitute scholar. Su He buys Qingyan back, and mistress and servant trade places. Their forbidden affair is discovered late one night, and to protect Qingyan, Su He threatens a rich merchant with the account books, staking everything on a fight to the bitter end.