In the Hou Manor, four senior maids—Dongxue, Chunlu, Xiahe, and Qiushuang—face a fateful choice at seventeen. Dongxue, Chunlu, and Xiahe choose to become concubines, while Qiushuang chooses to marry an outer court steward. Chunlu is framed by the First Madam and expelled from the manor. Xiahe takes her place as the First Young Master's concubine, secretly helping to frame Chunlu. When Xiahe is pregnant and about to give birth, the First Madam pretends to arrange for Chunlu to return as midwife, using Chunlu's hands to kill Xiahe and claiming Xiahe's son as her own.
Dongxue marries into the Second Young Master's household. To protect her unborn daughter, she sacrifices herself to save the Second Madam's daughter and has her own daughter registered under the Second Madam's name. The sisters' fates rise and fall. Qiushuang takes a risky gamble to free her son from his bondservant status, and finally leaves the Hou Manor with her family. Later, the Hou Manor is convicted of treason and falls. The women are imprisoned and enslaved. Qiushuang rushes back to rescue them, and Dongxue sacrifices herself to protect the Second Madam. After many twists and turns, they are ransomed out, and the First Madam dies at Chunlu's hands. In the end, Dongxue's daughter, Youyi, establishes her own female household, breaking free from the shackles of feudal ethics, and Dongxue also escapes her concubine status, beginning a new life of her own.
