When Duke Gu Yuanshan returns from battle, he brings back a beautiful mother and daughter, intending to take them as secondary wives for himself and his son. Duchess Shen Ruoyun appears to accept the arrangement cheerfully, but that night, she secretly joins forces with her daughter-in-law, Su Qingwan, to empty the Duke's estate of all its private wealth and escape. The two women travel to Jiangnan, where they use their intelligence and abilities to establish an embroidery business, take in orphaned girls, and build independent lives. Meanwhile, the father and son of the Gu family are left guarding an empty mansion and drowning in debt. Eventually, their evil deeds, including leaking imperial examination questions, cost them their noble title and reduce them to commoners, leaving them to suffer the consequences of their own actions.