Shen Qingruo and Gu Yan were married for ten years. Before their marriage, he had sworn before the grave of Shen's mother never to take a concubine, and this was registered at the Jingzhao Prefecture. Returning after five years of service abroad, he brought back a concubine, Song Suxue, and a pair of children. Shen Qingruo did not cry or make a fuss; she quietly put away that guarantee. On the day the ancestral genealogy was updated, she willingly endured ten whip strokes of family punishment, personally confirming his breach of the vow, and left the Gu residence with her children overnight. Gu Yan pursued her to Quzhou to repent, and Song Suxue followed closely behind. But when everyone confronted each other, Shen Qingruo discovered that the so-called pair of children actually had a different origin for their bloodline.