银娣（夏文汐 饰）爱慕着药店伙计小刘，却最终拗不过长辈的安排，嫁给了乡绅姚家的二公子。成亲当晚，银娣才发现，这位二公子身患数种疾病，生活不能自理，然而木已成舟，银娣只得把怨恨和愤怒隐藏在心底，担负起了照顾丈夫的沉重负担。

　　姚家三少爷（徐明 饰）生性轻浮多情，尽管已有妻室，但他仍旧常常勾引调戏银娣，银娣日子过得本就苦闷，三少爷成为了唯一能够带给她快乐的男人。银娣怀孕生下了儿子玉熹（马邵君 饰），就此在姚家站稳了脚跟，丈夫和婆婆去世之后，银娣的日子渐渐好过起来。银娣为儿子娶了媳妇芝寿（张盈真 饰），哪知道芝寿样貌丑陋，于是，银娣处处刁难折磨芝寿，最终令其染上重病含恨而亡

In this drama, the harsh treatment of women in Chinese society is examined and subtly commented upon as it tells the tale of an impoverished woman living in Shanghai, circa 1910 who tries to support her brother and sister-in-law. A marriage to a wealthy man is arranged for her, and reluctantly she endures it, even though she does not love the man who is as cruel as he is wealthy. His mother is also brutally unkind to her. She then has a son, but her struggles are not over when her husband dies and only leaves her a modest inheritance. Her wretched life has made her bitter, and so she begins making her son suffer as she die; she also becomes addicted to opium.