Russia in the last third of the 19th century. The greedy landowner Meropa Mursavetzkaja is afraid of every means and ways of enriching herself, and the angular advocate Chugunov is her compliant assistant. The two cheat everyone with whom they have to do financially, sparing neither relatives nor friends and neighbors. As the latest victim, they have chosen the young widow Jewlampia Kupawina, from whom they demand cash payment or repayment of debt by marrying the drunkard Apollon, Meropa's nephew. At the last moment, Kupawina receives dubious help from her neighbor Berkutow ...