The Jia family was one of the four great houses of the capital, linked by marriage to the imperial family itself. Their compound — the Rongguo Mansion — was a world unto itself: hundreds of rooms, dozens of pavilions, lakes, gardens, and private theaters.

At the family's center was Jia Bao-yu, the heir, a boy of exquisite sensitivity was born with a jade stone in his mouth. He preferred the company of girls to boys, calling men 'filthy mud' and girls 'clear water.'

His two cousins lived in the mansion: Lin Dai-yu, a fragile, brilliant poetess who had been sent to live with the Jias after her mother's death, and Xue Bao-chai, serene, practical, and favored by the family matriarch.

The Grandmother Jia ruled over all — a matriarch of immense authority who doted on Bao-yu. The household was a hive of maids, servants, relatives, and retainers, each with their own ambitions, secrets, and jealousies.