In the prologue, grandfather Wu is seen as a boy, then as a young man who marries a mandarin's daughter and has a child. As Mr Wu's daughter blossoms into womanhood, a marriage is arranged for Nong Ping with a mandarin. Despite the seclusion of her father's palace, she meets and falls in love with Basil Gregory, a young Englishman, and reveals her secret when he asks her to marry him. Wu learns of the situation, and despite his great love for her, he takes her life according to customs in atonement and then determines to wreak vengeance on Basil's family by inviting Mrs Gregory and her daughter to his home. Wu threatens to have Basil killed and her daughter betrayed. The mother offers her own life. Failing, she stabs Wu, thus freeing her children.