The novel begins with CC and David being sent by Grandma Wu to the market to get some supplies. She warns them to be safe and to not reveal the American soldiers Grandma Wu is hiding in her boat. CC, or Ye Xian, suddenly notices a woman in black following her. She panics and tries to escape, which leads to her jumping off a roof.
CC ends up in a hospital in a coma for some time. The woman in black ended up being a friend of CC's late aunt. CC gradually begins to wake up from the coma, but she is confused most of the time. She slowly recovers with time and a doctor suggests that she gets out of bed and explores her surroundings a little. She stumbles upon a book called The History of Art and literature in China. Flipping through the pages, she is captured by a painting from the Song Dynasty called Along the River at Qing Ming. The scene in the painting seems oddly familiar to CC.
As the days go by CC's mind is more and more preoccupied by that painting, and she's having trouble sleeping, and her confusion returns. Dr. Allen suggests that they try a new method of treating called hypnotherapy.
On the first session Dr. Allen is very surprised by the results of the therapy. During the therapy CC became a girl called Mei Lan from the eleventh century. The girl vividly talks of her life, of living with her brother (Gege), her father (Baba) and her stepmother (Niang). She talks of liking to write and how her stepmother doesn't like her and how she never leaves her room. Over the next days CC has these type of sessions daily and when Dr. Allen and her Grandma notice that she is getting better they decide to play the recordings from the sessions to her as well; recordings which tell the life story of Zhang Mei Lan.
Mei Lan's story is closely connected to Ah Lee, and orphan Jewish boy who was taken in by her father. Mei Lan, her brother and Ah Lee spend most of their time together. Ah Lee has a passion for painting and sculpturing. Mei Lan's father notices his talent and tells him to carve a sculpture of a dog for the Emperor. Emperor likes the sculpture so much that he decides to reward Ah Lee by giving him the last name Zhao.
At one of the harvest festivals the three friends are walking the street they come upon a wonderful scene by the river and Ah Zhao decides that he will paint that scene one day. Mei Lan and Ah Zhao are left and Mei Lan tells him the story how she ended up with broken toes on one of her feet. It was when Niang tried to bind her feet, because bound feet are considered to be a sign of feminine beauty. The relationship between the two becomes closer once they talk about their troubles from the past.
As the birthday of Mei Lan's father is coming closer, Ah Zhao decides to create a beautiful painting to honor him. On the birthday feast, one of the Emperor's generals expresses Emperor's interest in Ah Zhao and Mei Lan's father summons Ah Zhao. Ah Zhao brings the painting to show to his benefactor. The Emperor's general offers to take the painting to the Emperor so that he can write a beautiful dedicated poem on it.
After a few days, the general returns with Emperor's offers. First one is that the Emperor liked the painting so much that he took it into his possessions, the second one is that he wants Ah Zhao to be a part of his personal artists at the palace. The condition is that Ah Zhao needs to become a eunuch, as are all the men that work closely to the Emperor. Ah Zhao asks for some time to think about it.
That time passes slowly and Ah Zhao needs to make a decision. Mei Lan's father advises him to run away. He says goodbye to Ze Duan and Mei Lan. Mei Lan is very saddened and wants to run with him. Ah Zhao promises her to wait for her after three years have passed at the place where they revealed their souls to each other during the spring festival.
Three years pass and on the night of the festival Mei Lan's carer brings her and her Gege gifts from Ah Zhao. To her Gege Ah Zhao gifted the painting Along the River, which he promised to paint, and he additionally signed it with Ze Duan's name. To Mei Lan he gifted a strange painting which only she can understand (or, so she believes) of her crippled foot and Ah Zhao's big nose (his nose is the most prominent feature that makes him an outsider) with a note for her to be careful.
Mei Lan understands this as a message to reunite that night with Ah Zhao. After everyone is asleep she sneaks out of the house and meets up with him. He tells her that he has a boat ready for them to escape. Just when they are about to get over a wall Ze Duan and guards catch up to them and Ze Duan tries to convince his sister to come back. She refuses and jumps down the wall.
The recordings stop here and CC is disappointed because she wants to know what happened. Her Grandma reveals to her that the individuals and events from Mei Lan's story can be confirmed with historical evidence which proves her existence. There is some evidence of a Buddhist nun who was a poet whose story correlates with Mei Lan's, meaning that it is probably her. This experience changed both CC's life and Dr. Allen's outlook on it, and that not everything should only be explained by science.
