On this day, the sun hung high in the sky, but the sky was sprinkled with a shower of crystal rain.

This dilapidated mountain temple welcomed four more scholars, who had just returned from the prefecture city to participate in the prefectural examination, and hurried here to avoid the rain.

"Being able to pass the government exam this time is really a great joy in life!"

"Brother Chen has already taken the lead in the county test and the government test, I'm afraid it's Lin Wenkui from Jiangxi!"

"How dare I compare with Lin Wenkui, I just hope that I can successfully pass the college exam, and I can go to high school in the autumn next year!"

……

Several scholars congratulated the handsome scholar, and the handsome scholar did not appear too arrogant, but maintained the humility of the reader.

"Brother Chen, you don't have to be modest, with your talents, this move is simply a probe!" The scholars had the intention of stammering, and continued to tout the authenticity.

Junlang's scholar is a young man after all, and a few words of praise made him flutter, but he took out the words in his heart directly and said: "If I really go to high school in the autumn of next year, I will definitely go to Beijing to visit Lin Wenkui, and I will definitely take a look at the true face of this person who is admired by our scholars!" ”

With the continuous improvement of Lin Haoran's status, his reputation has become more and more famous, which has made countless scholars eager to follow his path again and become a "young capable minister" in the Ming Dynasty.

"I heard that he is a beautiful man with red lips and white teeth!"

"No, he is a black-faced man with five big and three thick, and it is said that he is called Lin Qingtian because of this!"

"That's not right, I heard that he was a tall man who was six feet tall like Yan Song's old thief, and his appearance was very similar to Yan Song's old thief!"

……

It's just that few people can see Lin Haoran's true face, among the many rumors that are difficult to distinguish between true and false, there are many versions of Lin Haoran's figure and appearance, but the image of the four people to Lin Haoran is different.

"Ah, there's someone here!"

At the time of the controversy, a scholar heard some movement under the table of the statue of the mountain god, and pointed to the strange old man who came out from under the table and said in a panic.

The three of them looked over in unison, only to see that the strange old man who had come out had messy hair, a few straws on his hair, and a sickly face on his face.

The strange old man seemed to be even more skinny than a while ago, and stood up tremblingly, but he said hoarsely to the four scholars who had just said their own words: "What you said about Lin Wenkui...... I've seen him! I've not only seen him? I...... I also witnessed his growth! ”

"This old man is crazy, isn't he?" The four of them listened to the remarks of this strange old man? But they couldn't help but look at each other.

It's not unusual to see Lin Haoran, after all, Lin Haoran once served as the prefect of Leizhou and Guangzhou? But this strange old man said that he witnessed his growth? That's.

The blame old man wasn't planning to argue with them about anything, or did he simply not have the strength to argue again? Instead, he asked the four directly, "Do you have a pen?" ”

"Yes!" The youngest scholar immediately responded, that is, he untied his back box and prepared to take the pen.

The strange old man opened those cloudy eyes? Can't help but shed two lines of tears? The body is facing due north, and it is to bow down in a proper manner.

That day, he finally remembered who he was!

He was originally an ordinary scholar of all living beings, and he had a childhood sweetheart named Ouyang Shuduan? Due to the disparity in family situation? It was not until she was eighteen years old that she was married to her.

When he was twenty-five years old, he went to the capital for the second time to take the exam, and finally realized the taste of the title of the gold list, and became an enviable Jishi of the Hanlin Academy.

Due to his unfortunate illness, he had to choose to retire and return home. Just watching many people of insight being degraded? The death of his mentor Zhang Yuanzhen, coupled with the fact that Xinjun Zhengde favored the internal officials and greedy for fun? As a result, he stayed at home for ten years.

In the eighth year at home, he and Ouyang Shuduan's son was finally born? He personally named this big fat son Yan Shifan, who was thirty-three years old at the time.

With the joy of being a first-time father? He went north to be reinstated? All of a sudden, the career became very smooth.

Six years later? The new monarch Jiajing succeeded to the throne, he was promoted to the Nanjing Hanlin Academy, and after four years, he was promoted to the prince of the country to supervise the sacrificial wine, and then seven years to the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, when he was fifty-two years old.

Two years later, he went to Beijing to make a pilgrimage to the emperor's examination, and was appreciated by the emperor and successfully stayed in Beijing, serving as a scholar of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, when he was only 54 years old.

If his official career ends here, then his career has already achieved a consummation, not only to be able to seal his wife and son, but also to glorify the lintel.

It's just that he is not willing to do this, and he can't overcome his greed for power, so he is naturally involved in the whirlpool of power in the court.

Six years later, he relied on the firm standing of the great etiquette to successfully enter the cabinet, and successively defeated the two first assistants Zhai Luan and Xia Yan, and finally stood at the peak of power.

In the next twenty years, no one could shake his position, which made him feel the taste of power.

It's just that he can't compete with the years, his body is getting older day by day, and his wife Ouyang Shuduan died in Jiajing's forty years. But he also couldn't escape the dead circle of political struggle, and was plotted by Xu Jie, a junior he had always valued.

I thought that when I resigned and returned to the field, everything would be drawn with a rest symbol. Although his Yan family is indeed greedy for a lot of silver, how can the shrewd saint not know that Yan Shifan's sentence of embezzlement of eight hundred taels of ink is to make this matter a foregone conclusion.

It's just that he underestimated Xu Jie's hostility towards him, and he also ignored the vicious heart under Xu Jie's kind face, and he was even more relaxed by Xu Jie's repeated letters to comfort him.

It was under this kind of unpreparedness that his only son, Yan Shifan, was escorted to the capital and was detained on the charge of "collaborating with the widows" and put on the guillotine.

Therefore, all his grandsons were exiled to the frontier, and his female dependents were sent to the priesthood or as maidservants.

Originally, the Yan family, which was the most beautiful in the Ming Dynasty, was already in the middle of the family, and only he, an old immortal, was left to survive, watching the descendants of the Yan family receive the most humiliating treatment.

Hey?

The four scholars watched Yan Song bow down to the north, and his actions seemed to be very skillful, and they faintly saw some famous halls.

After worshipping, Yan Song took the pen handed over by the scholar, and then walked tremblingly to the pillar, and used his last strength to write on the pillar: "Serve the country in life only loyalty, life and death are from right and wrong!" ”

He has carried out deep reflection these days, but he feels that he is obedient to Jiajing, and he is already a veritable loyal minister.

It's just that his loyalty not only did not win the emperor's forgiveness, but he ended up in the desolation of falling into the wilderness, and he was blamed by the people.

After writing this line on the pillar, he felt as if he had used all his strength, only to feel a tingling pain in his head from the heat. He threw his pen to the ground and died at the age of eighty-seven.

When the court in the capital was surging, in a broken mountain temple, the former first assistant Yan Song died of hunger and cold, leaving only one sentence: "Serving the country in his life is only loyal to the red, and life and death are from people's right and wrong!" ”。