Noble tells Little Flower that an American merchant has approved her designs and ordered 1,000 shawls. She, Noble, Ming, and Joy travel to impoverished villages to hire sewing amahs, selecting five skilled women. On the boat ride back, Noble asks Ming and Joy to go below deck so he can speak privately with Little Flower.

At the railing, Noble produces a jade love knot and confesses his love, asking her to be his mistress. He explains that his betrothal to Prudence is an unbreakable family duty, but offers to establish Little Flower in a grand house in Canton City with servants and a generous stipend, allowing her to pursue her art freely. Wary of his promises, Little Flower declines. Noble asks her to keep the love knot and think it over. She keeps it.

On the path back, Joy teases Little Flower about becoming Noble’s concubine, having witnessed their interaction and noticed her pocketing the love knot. Joy urges her to accept, seeing Noble’s offer as an escape from the sisterhood. However, Little Flower worries about dignity and long-term security.

Weeks after Noble’s rejection, Linjing deduces that Little Flower is the woman Noble loves and spies on them in the workshop, observing their easy intimacy. Enraged, she stabs her own forearm with a hair stick and searches Little Flower’s belongings for evidence of “foul magic” (292). She finds the jade love knot beneath Little Flower’s porcelain pillow—proof of their affair—but realizes that without a witness, her aunt might accuse her of planting it. Devastated by Noble’s preference for a formerly enslaved person over herself, Linjing briefly contemplates death by suicide but resolves that Little Flower must not win. She convinces herself that Little Flower has feigned friendship as vengeance for having her golden lilies unbound and vows that if she cannot become Noble’s wife, she will ensure Little Flower cannot either.

Miss Prudence summons Little Flower under the pretext of an embroidery lesson. In her bedchamber, Prudence suffers a coughing fit, revealing her weak lungs, then confronts Little Flower, begging her to release Noble from her enchantment. She reveals that Madam Chan suspects Little Flower of being a fox spirit. Little Flower scoffs, pointing out that a fox spirit would not endure enslavement. She flees, feeling pity and guilt.

Later, in Noble’s office, a guild member named Yip barges in and makes lewd comments about Little Flower. Noble furiously defends her and physically confronts Yip, who sneers that Noble will be a laughingstock for taking a big-footed concubine. After Yip leaves, Noble initially lashes out at Little Flower before apologizing. He explains his plan to move her to a private house in Canton City where she will be protected from insults. Little Flower recognizes this vision as a gilded cage and knows she cannot accept his proposal.

A shaman arrives at the sisterhood, summoned by Madam Chan to determine if Little Flower is a fox spirit. Linjing instigated the trial by fanning Madam Chan’s suspicions. The shaman conducts several tests—a dog approaches Little Flower but does not attack, and a spell paper has no effect. For a third test—citing the legend that Consort Ta Chi was a fox spirit who invented foot-binding to hide her nonhuman feet—the shaman demands to see Little Flower’s feet.

Little Flower refuses to bare her feet before a man, but Aunt Sapphire orders her to comply. When she removes her shoes and socks, revealing her unbound feet, the onlookers gasp. The shaman declares this proves she is a fox spirit and recommends burning her. Little Flower pleads with Linjing to tell the truth about why her feet were unbound. Choosing vengeance, Linjing claims she remembers nothing. Aunt Sapphire furiously ends the trial, declaring she will not permit anyone to harm one of her flock, and Madam Chan’s entourage leaves. Aunt Sapphire glares at Linjing with disgust, and Little Flower looks at her with disillusionment.

After the shaman’s trial, Little Flower goes to Noble’s office, leaning toward refusing his proposal to repay Aunt Sapphire’s trust. Noble apologizes for his mother’s cruelty and asks about her feet with genuine concern. Trusting his gentleness, Little Flower tells him her entire story—how Linjing’s spite led to her unbound feet and the loss of her marriage prospects. She tells him he can retract his offer now that he knows the truth. Instead, Noble kneels, removes her shoes and socks, and tells her that seeing her feet makes him love and admire her more. She confesses her love, and they share their first kiss. She agrees to go away with him on three conditions: They must rescue Joy, search for Spring Rain, and hire only free servants. Noble agrees. He holds her, though the word mistress still troubles her.

The day before their planned departure, Little Flower, Joy, and a withdrawn Linjing attend an opera hosted by Noble for the sewing amahs. During “The Butterfly Lovers,” when the male protagonist fails to understand the female lead’s hints, Joy mutters that he does not deserve her—a phrase that troubles Little Flower.

That night, Little Flower slips out to meet Noble on his houseboat, which is decorated like a wedding chamber. They share a symbolic wedding toast and make love. Lying awake afterward, troubled by thoughts of Noble’s future life with Prudence and her own hidden existence, Little Flower connects Joy’s words to Miss Hart’s idea of a man who would treat a woman as a true equal. She has an epiphany: Despite his love, Noble would remain ashamed of her in public and would keep her in secret; she realizes she needs dignity as much as love.

At dawn, she wakes Noble and tells him she cannot be his mistress, explaining that she wants a husband who is proud of her. He protests that his duties make a public union impossible. She tells him that despite her low birth, she is his equal in spirit, then hurries off the boat before her resolve can crumble.

Running back to the sanctuary at dawn, Little Flower finds Linjing waiting on the steps. Linjing reveals she followed her, knows about her night with Noble, and has already told Aunt Sapphire. When Little Flower tries to escape, Linjing grabs her and mocks her belief that Aunt Sapphire will be merciful. Little Flower counters Linjing’s accusations of foul magic with logic and reveals she refused Noble’s offer, choosing the sisterhood over love. Briefly swayed, Linjing’s hatred returns, and she drags Little Flower inside, slapping her when she resists.

In Aunt Sapphire’s apartment, an elderly matron confirms Little Flower has lost her maidenhead. Little Flower confesses her love for Noble but affirms her choice to stay. Aunt Sapphire declares she must be “executed by drowning” to protect the sisterhood’s reputation (211). A shocked Linjing pleads for mercy, revealing she never intended for Little Flower to die, but Aunt Sapphire insists the rules must be upheld. Locked in the storeroom, Little Flower is consumed by terror and regret, believing she was foolish to refuse Noble and follow Miss Hart’s ideals.

On the morning of Little Flower’s scheduled execution, Linjing bribes a guard to see her in the storeroom and begs for forgiveness. Little Flower refuses, forcing Linjing to confront her long history of cruelty—from the theft of her golden lilies to her sabotaged marriage. Linjing’s defenses crumble when Little Flower proves she truly knows and loves Noble, while Linjing knows nothing about him beyond his status. Linjing confesses she never loved Noble but was desperate to escape her life and envied Little Flower’s talent. Devastated by self-realization, she offers a genuine, weeping apology. Little Flower believes her sincerity but asks her to leave.

Linjing has an epiphany: The patriarchal system pits women against each other. She regrets all of her unkindness toward Little Flower and wants to atone. Resolved to make a sacrifice, she races to Noble’s office and tells him Little Flower is to be executed in three hours, confessing her own role. She urges him to marry Little Flower publicly to save her and challenges his courage, suggesting he could start a new life elsewhere. She tells him her mother’s tragic story as a cautionary tale about the destructive power of tradition. Noble remains silent, his decision unknown.

Aunt Sapphire brings Little Flower her last meal, which she refuses. Aunt Sapphire explains that the execution is not for pride but to protect the sisterhood’s existence, which was won through earlier sisters who collectively resisted forced marriages—chastity is the price of their freedom, and one scandal could destroy them. Understanding this, Little Flower feels guilt for the shame she has brought.

She is marched out into a waiting mob. Villagers throw rotten food and jeer at her. Linjing rushes forward to shield her with her own body, pleading for compassion, and whispers that she has spoken to Noble—though Little Flower has no hope he will come. At the riverbank, Aunt Sapphire gives a speech reiterating Little Flower’s crimes. Men bind Little Flower’s ankles to her wrists, force her into a narrow bamboo pig cage, and seal it shut.

Two men carry the pig cage into the river and submerge it. Linjing desperately searches for Noble while counting the seconds. After Little Flower is submerged for about 20 seconds, Noble appears, shouts for the cage to be lifted, wades in, shoves the men aside, and hauls it to the bank. He cuts Little Flower free, but she is limp and not breathing. He revives her with mouth-to-mouth. As she recovers, he apologizes for his previous offer, declares she is his equal, and vows to be her husband.

Noble’s father, Master Chan, appears, cuts off Noble’s queue, and disinherits him. Noble refuses to leave Little Flower. Madam Chan arrives and incites the crowd by calling Little Flower a fox spirit and demanding she be burned. As the mob turns hostile and begins throwing stones, Linjing grabs Noble’s knife and holds the blade to her own throat, threatening to kill herself and curse the village if they do not let the two go. She presses the blade until it draws blood. As she loses consciousness, she sees a vision of her mother’s spirit smiling at her with pride.

In March 1895, Linjing writes to Little Flower from Shanghai, where she is now a teacher at a Methodist orphanage alongside Miss Hart, who helped her escape the village after the events at the river. She describes her fascination with the modern Chinese women of the city and reveals she turned down a marriage proposal from a hotel owner, preferring to wait for love and continue her work. She privately admits she has not truly accepted Christianity but must pretend. She reflects on the scar on her throat, which she keeps as a reminder of overcoming her past. Linjing guesses she will never send the letter as she does not know Little Flower’s address, but writes in hope their friendship can one day be renewed.

In October 1896, Little Flower reflects on her life in Hong Kong with Noble, whom she now calls her husband. They live in poverty but as equals. For their third wedding anniversary, Noble takes her on the Peak Tram for the first time. Looking down at the city, she observes the inequality between the European and Chinese districts. Noble announces he has been promoted to associate comprador and that with his new salary they can afford their own house and a maid, allowing her to embroider again. He shares his ambition to rise further, help shape a better Hong Kong, and eventually open a department store with her as his partner. Gazing at the city lights, she thinks of Linjing and wonders if their fates will entwine again in a friendship between true equals.