Student Dou Tianzhan, who has devoted himself to teaching since childhood, has overcome many books, nevertheless has not achieved any rank or fame. It has already been four years since his wife died and he had a young daughter in his arms. And then poverty came up. I had to borrow twenty a thousand silver coins from the widow of the aunt lender Tsai. Now you need to return forty. There is no money, but the aunt began to send matchmakers, wants to marry her son. The student agrees - he will forgive his debt. In addition, he had come to go to the capital to take state exams for an official position. We have to give the grieving daughter to the house of Aunt Tsai.

Thirteen years have passed. Over the years, the daughter of a student, now called Dow E, managed to get married and widowed. Now she lives with her mother-in-law. Once, when Aunt Tsai went to collect her debts, one of the debtors, a doctor, Sailu, lured her into an abandoned village and tried to strangle her. Suddenly, old Zhang and his son appear, nicknamed Zhang-Foal. Caught at the crime scene, the healer escapes. Rescuers, having learned that they saved a widow living with a widowed daughter-in-law, offer themselves to be husbands. Otherwise, they threaten to end the killing. Aunt is forced to agree, but Dow E resolutely refuses. The foal is furious. He promises to insist on his own soon.

The doctor Saylu repents of his deed, but is afraid of the new appearance of the lender. Then the Foal appears and demands to sell him the poison with which he planned to poison Aunt Tsai, believing that then Dou E will become more accommodating. The doctor refuses, but the attacker threatens to take him to a judge and accuse him of attempted murder. Frightened, Saylu sells the poison and hurriedly leaves the city.

Meanwhile, my aunt got sick. At her request, Dow E prepares a lamb gut soup for the sick. The foal sneaks a poisonous potion into the soup. Suddenly, the aunt refuses food, and the soup goes to the old peasant, the father of the Foal. The old man is dying. The foal is strongly accused of killing Dow E. According to him, only by marrying him can she escape punishment. Dow E refuses.

The case is being examined by the ruler of the region, Tao U. He is known for his extortion. On his orders, despite the truthful story of Dow E, she is beaten with sticks, but even then she does not take herself in vain. Then they are going to carve the old woman Tsai. And then Dow E takes the blame. Now her fate has been decided: the poisoner will be decapitated on the market square.

On the way to the execution, Dou E begs the executioner to lead her through the backyards so as not to worry her mother-in-law in vain. But the meeting cannot be avoided. Before his death, Dow E tells the old woman how things really were. During the execution, confirming the unfortunate words about her innocence, it snows in the summer, blood does not spill on the ground, and drought is established in the district for three years.

After some time, an important official arrives in the district, whose duties include interviewing prisoners, checking court cases, and searching for embezzlers and bribe takers. This is Dou Tianzhang, the father of the executed. The first case he checks turns out to be the case of Dow E, but the official believes that this is a surname. However, in a dream, the spirit of his daughter appears to him, and the father learns about the circumstances of the innocent death of his own child. However, even a true story does not immediately convince Dow Tianzhang that an injustice has been committed: as an incorruptible official, he even wants to maintain impartiality in his daughter’s business. He demands to call the doctor Sayla, Zhang-Foal and the old woman Tsai. The doctor cannot be found anywhere.

The foal denies everything. The spirit of Dow E accuses him of killing his father, but he insists on the doctor’s testimony, hoping that he will never be found. But the doctor is brought in, and he confirms the Foal's guilt. He is supported by the old woman Tsai. The criminal is sentenced to a terrible execution: they beat him to the "wooden donkey", and then they cut him into one hundred and twenty pieces. Punished and former ruler Tao Wu, and his assistant. Dow E is completely whitewashed.