On the night of their wedding anniversary, Pei Xingzhou publicly demands that Shen Zhaoning raise a glass to Lu Mingzhu, his newly welcomed equal wife. He uses the Lu family's political influence and Shen's failure to bear children as leverage to force her to give way. Seeing through his schemes, Shen Zhaoning takes out the divorce agreement she prepared in advance, signs it, and affixes her seal, determined to reclaim her dowry. Despite threats from Pei Xingzhou and the Old Madam, she calmly sets down her wine cup and leaves the Pei residence with her maid, declaring that she will return at dawn the next day to reclaim everything that belongs to her.