A long cold corridor in the Pei estate. Stone floors, bare walls, winter light filtering through high windows. At the far end, a doorway glows with candlelight.

Zhaoyue stands in the doorway of her grandfather's study, watching the scene inside.

Close-up on the grandfather at his desk, brush poised over the document.

Pei Grandmother speaks, her counsel being ignored.

Pei Grandfather dismisses his wife with a sneer.

Grandfather signs the document with a flourish.

The scene in the study ends. Grandmother and Zhaoyue's reactions.

Time skip. The estate in autumn, showing the first signs of decline.

The fall of the Pei house. Imperial messengers arrive.

Zhaoyue's father retreats into wine.

The newborn brother is taken away to maternal kin.

Zhaoxia is taken to the Shen household. The sisters part.

Zhaoyue watches from the cold wing. Her expression begins to calcify.

The estate in winter. Halls going dark. More servants leaving.

Zhaoyue walks the empty estate. She finds her grandmother.

Zhaoyue looks at her grandmother. The grandmother is not weeping. She is studying the map.

Zhaoyue enters her grandmother's room. The old woman looks up.

The grandmother speaks. 'Sit.'

Zhaoyue sits. The grandmother begins to teach.

The grandmother continues. The first lesson begins.

Night falls. The lesson continues by candlelight.

Montage suggestion. Seasons pass. The lessons continue.

Montage continues. Zhaoyue grows. The grandmother teaches.

Final page. Zhaoyue at seventeen, standing before a wall of maps. The ten years are complete.