During the Republican era, at the Han Residence on West Street in the provincial capital, Shen Wanqing, the legitimate wife of Han Ziheng, commander of the garrison, is notorious among the wives of government officials as a sickly woman. She has been married into the Han family for twenty years, plagued by a persistent cough and taking no part in household affairs. Outsiders say she cannot even manage the household accounts without her husband. But nobody knows that she once worked in the military headquarters' clerical office and is exceptionally meticulous and deeply guarded. One day, Han Ziheng brings home Su Manlin, a visibly pregnant woman, claiming she is the widow of his sworn brother Zhao Chengzong, who died serving his country.