Dmitry Budishchev's dream came true - he became an officer and nobleman, and now nothing interferes with his career. He can even marry the daughter of a court banker, but he sets a condition for his future son-in-law to receive recognition from his alleged father and title. Count Bludov agrees to recognize him as a son, and the emperor to approve it, but, as it turned out, not only terrorists want to kill the tsar-liberator. Among the royal entourage there are many influential gentlemen who dream that reforms will be stopped and history will turn back. On their orders, the police arrested the hero's pupil Stesha, and now Budishchev is being blackmailed, demanding that he do the dirty work instead of the Narodnaya Volya. But these people don't even know who they contacted.