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 the family's bondservant Su He endures the pain of binding to achieve a perfect three-inch golden lotus. Fate twists: Su He enters a wealthy household as a concubine and rises to become its matriarch, 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 at night, and to protect Qingyan, Su He threatens a rich merchant with the account books, risking mutual destruction.