In August of the twenty-third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the triennial provincial examination was being held in full swing everywhere. In the early morning of August 17th of the lunar calendar, in the last room of the Tianzihao room (examination shed) in the Gongyuan of H

In August of the twenty-third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the three-year provincial examination was being held in full swing everywhere.

In the early morning of the 17th day of the eighth lunar month, in the last room of the Tianzihao room (examination shed) in Gongyuan, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, a middle-aged man in his early thirties was enjoying a rare leisure time before the exam. After finishing the exam , the nine-day rural examination is over. No matter what the result is, at least the body and mind can relax.

The man’s name is Zhen Songyuan, and he is from Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture. For this exam, Zhen Songyuan is determined to win. Judging from the feeling of the first two exams, Zhen Songyuan is very confident.

Don't think that Zhen Songyuan is bragging. He really has the capital to brag. Zhen Songyuan is a well-known talent in the local area. Even the local magistrate admires his knowledge.

In order to seek good luck, candidates usually erect a flagpole in front of their home before the exam, which the locals call "lintel". If you pass the exam, the flagpole will be kept upright; if you fail the exam, the flagpole will be removed, which is called "unlucky".

In order to seek good luck, Zhen Songyuan's father did not hesitate to set up a long flagpole at the door. Ever since Zhen Songyuan came to the provincial capital to take the exam, his father would bow down in front of the flagpole every day, praying that his son would get a spot on the gold medal list.

The time for the last exam was coming soon. Zhen Songyuan took a long and calm breath, sat there and waited. With the sound of bangzi, the originally noisy examination room suddenly became silent, and soon, the question papers were handed out.

When he saw the question, Zhen Songyuan was overjoyed. Before the exam, the county magistrate gave him some advice on some possible test contents. This question happened to be the focus of their review.

Suppressing his excitement, Zhen Songyuan began to think about it in his mind. Soon, an article was conceived. He dipped his pen in the ink, and the pen was filled with brilliance. It didn't take long for him to write more than half of the article.

At this moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew in the dormitory where Zhen Songyuan was located. Although it was still August and the weather was still warm, the wind was chilly and made Zhen Songyuan tremble.

The sky is clear and the sun is bright, where does the evil wind come from? Zhen Songyuan was very strange. In order not to waste time, he did not take this matter to heart, but quickly concentrated on continuing to write his article.

had just written less than ten words when the evil wind blew again. Along with the cold wind, a skinny man with a drunken face appeared in front of Zhen Songyuan. He was startled, and then he stopped writing and looked at the man. Looking carefully, he seemed to be somewhat kind.

The sudden appearance of the man frightened Zhen Songyuan. He wanted to scream, but something seemed to be blocked in his throat. He opened his mouth wide but could not speak out. Suddenly, Zhen Songyuan remembered: the man in front of him was one of his senior brothers.

This man's name is Wei Chengli, who is three years older than Zhen Songyuan. Because he once studied under an old gentleman, Zhen Songyuan is very familiar with him. I heard people say that Wei Chengli was once a famous local talent, but his whereabouts were unknown after he lost his fame three years ago.

After a while, Wei Chengli disappeared from Zhen Songyuan's eyes, and Zhen Songyuan also woke up.

What's going on? Why does Wei Chengli appear here? This strange thing happened to

, which wasted a lot of time, and all the articles that Zhen Songyuan had already thought about were completely forgotten. How to do this? Zhen Songyuan scratched his head anxiously. After calming down for a while, he picked up the pen again.

Just when he was about to write on the paper , he suddenly found that four lines of words had been written on the paper at some point:

was in jail and had difficulty escaping,

the examination room relied on this gang.

You can't even make friends with trust,

you can only regret it because of greed.

Who wrote this?

Taking a closer look, the handwriting seemed familiar. After thinking about it again, Zhen Songyuan instantly had the answer: Isn't this Wei Chengli's handwriting?

After seeing these four sentences, the little article he had finally conceived was completely forgotten in an instant. Now, Zhen Songyuan was really anxious. The more anxious he was, the less he could think of it. The less he could think of it, the more anxious he became. He was on pins and needles.

Soon after, it was time to hand in the paper. With great disappointment, Zhen Songyuan walked out of the examination room. If such a strange thing happens, the result will definitely be a loss of reputation. Before the results were released, Zhen Songyuan packed up his things and returned to his hometown of Changxing County.

After learning that his son was hopeless in the imperial examination, Zhen Songyuan's father was very disappointed, so he quickly asked someone to bring down the "lintel" erected at the door. Looking at the fallen "lintel", Zhen Songyuan had mixed feelings. This is Real bad luck (bad luck)!

Fortunately, Zhen Songyuan was able to read, and within a few days he recovered from the disappointment of losing his reputation.

Zhen Songyuan, who recovered from his frustration, focused his energy on the strange things that happened in the examination room. The four lines of poetry that mysteriously appeared on the exam paper have been deeply imprinted in his mind.

When they were studying together in the past, Zhen Songyuan often asked Wei Chengli questions, and he was very familiar with his handwriting. The poem must have been written by Wei Chengli!

Why did he write this poem? In the past, Wei Chengli was a handsome man, but the Wei Chengli who appeared that day was already too thin to be human. It could be seen from his expression that he must have suffered inhuman torture. Why is

being tortured? Who is torturing him? It can be seen from the first sentence of

that Wei Chengli seems to have been locked up. This is consistent with his whereabouts being unknown, but why should he be locked up? Who locked him up again?

The meaning of the second sentence is that Wei Chengli is asking for help, and the person he is asking for help is Zhen Songyuan. Zhen Songyuan's Chinese character is "Liben". This character was picked up by Wei Chengli for him when they were studying together. It means that he should settle down and live his life without forgetting his roots. .

The third sentence obviously means that Wei Chengli's best friend has deeply hurt him. Maybe he is the person who put him in jail? Who is he?

Zhen Songyuan knew that among Wei Chengli's friends, he was the best friend to him, but the best friend in this sentence definitely did not refer to himself, otherwise, he would not ask him for help.

Who is his best friend? After some hard thinking, a person soon entered Zhen Songyuan's sight.

This person's name is Li Rulin. The three of them once studied together. Li Rulin and Wei Chengli were the same age. They participated in the provincial examination together with Wei Chengli and returned to their hometown after losing their names in Sunshan.

Could it be him that Wei Chengli was talking about? In the fourth sentence of

, the meaning is very clear. Zhen Songyuan knew that Wei Chengli liked petty gains and also liked drinking. During his studies, he was scolded by his husband for being often drunk. Could it be that his accident this time was also related to drinking?

After careful consideration, Zhen Songyuan decided to solve the mystery, so he said goodbye to his parents and headed towards Li Rulin's home on the pretext of going out to relax.

On the way, Zhen Songyuan made a special detour to Wei Chengli's house. His son has not returned for three years, and his life and death are still unknown. The family has no longer been able to call it home: his parents are seriously ill and no one is taking care of him, and his wife is missing... .It’s really terrible.

Before leaving, Zhen Songyuan specially left some money for Wei Chengli's parents and told the two elders that he was going to find Wei Chengli. No matter whether he was alive or dead, he would give an explanation to Wei Chengli's parents.

Li Rulin's home is in Deqing County, which is more than a hundred miles away from Changxing County. After a bumpy journey, Zhen Songyuan came to Li Rulin's home.

Li Rulin has been married for a long time and has a wife and a son at home. Li Rulin was very surprised by Zhen Songyuan's arrival. In order not to arouse Li Rulin's suspicion, Zhen Songyuan did not tell him about the strange things he encountered in the examination room. He just said that he was depressed after failing the exam and the purpose of this trip was mainly to relax.

After learning about Zhen Songyuan's intention, Li Rulin was extremely enthusiastic and accompanied Zhen Songyuan on a tour of the mountains and rivers of Deqing County. Later, Zhen Songyuan almost forgot the purpose of his trip.

Wei Chengli's home is not big, just a small courtyard, with three main rooms, three east and west side rooms, and three south rooms. Wei Chengli's family of three lives in the east of the main house, and Zhen Songyuan is arranged in the east. Wing room. There is no one living in the west wing, and the south room is the kitchen and utility room.

The layout of the house is also very ordinary, and there is nothing unusual about it. If Wei Chengli was under house arrest, there would be no movement at all. Isn't Li Rulin the "close friend" mentioned in Wei Chengli's poem?

Since he couldn't find any clues, Zhen Songyuan decided to stay for a day or two before leaving.

The next day, Zhen Songyuan asked to go to the county town. Li Rulin had to go out because he had something to do, so Zhen Songyuan came to the county town alone.

Deqing County is a small county, similar to Changxing County. After walking around for a while, Zhen Songyuan felt that it was very boring, so he planned to go home early.

Just as he was rushing back, a bookstore (ancient bookstore) on the roadside caught his attention. The door of the bookstore was crowded with people, as if they were rushing to buy something.

Zhen Songyuan was very puzzled, so he also walked up to it. Only when he got closer did he realize that it was Huang, the shopkeeper of the bookstore, who had made a book out of nowhere by the articles of the talented students who passed the provincial examination this year. This attracted countless students to rush to buy it.

Hey! If that incident hadn't happened, wouldn't my article have appeared in the book? When he thought of this, Zhen Songyuan smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Soon, all the books were bought, and the students who were watching gradually dispersed. With nothing to do, Zhen Songyuan walked into the bookstore.

The bookstore was not big, but there were quite a few books inside, so Zhen Songyuan stopped and read them carefully. While he was concentrating on reading, a voice came into his ears.

It was shopkeeper Huang and a waiter from the bookstore who were talking.

Shopkeeper Huang asked: "Xiao Liu, why haven't you seen Li Rulin in the past few days?"

Speaking of Li Rulin, Zhen Songyuan became alert and listened carefully and calmly.

The guy named Xiaoliu said: "Yes, I wouldn't have noticed if you didn't tell me. Li Rulin has indeed not been here for several days. Is there something that delayed him?"

Shopkeeper Huang asked again: "Today he If he still doesn't come, you can come to remind me. We can't delay!"

Xiao Liu nodded and hurried off. After Xiao Liu left, Zhen Songyuan walked up to chat with Shopkeeper Huang: "Shopkeeper, I heard you just said that Li Rulin and I are friends, what? Does he often come to buy books?"

Shopkeeper Huang looked at it Looking at Zhen Songyuan, he saw that he looked like a scholar, so he smiled and said: "This young master, Li Rulin is not here to buy books."

Shopkeeper Huang's words confused Zhen Songyuan: "He doesn't come to the bookstore to buy books. What are you doing? Besides, he’s not taking exams, so what’s the point of buying books?”

Shopkeeper Huang said with a smile, “Sir, you may not know that this bookstore doesn’t just sell books!”

The bookstore doesn’t sell books, does it also sell food? Seeing Zhen Songyuan's confused look, shopkeeper Huang explained: "This bookstore not only sells books, but also collects manuscripts. Some failed scholars make money by writing manuscripts for bookstores. They send their manuscripts to me, and I edit them. After hearing what Shopkeeper Huang said, Zhen Songyuan finally understood something: "But what does this have to do with Li Rulin?" Shopkeeper Huang said: "You don't know, this Li Rulin is my big customer. Every three days, he would bring me some manuscripts. Through this, he really made a lot of money."

What? Li Rulin provided manuscripts to bookstores? Can't you be joking? Zhen Songyuan knew that Li Rulin was a notorious fool when they were studying together. Let alone articles, even a few Every word was written as if it had been crawled by bugs. Even if you said that he could write a book, you wouldn’t believe it!

But Shopkeeper Huang didn’t need to lie to him. What was going on?

Zhen Songyuan couldn’t move when he thought of this. He asked seductively: "Really? Shopkeeper Huang, do you still have the manuscript that Li Rulin sent before? Can I take a look? Let me study and learn, maybe I can also provide you with some manuscripts? "

Shopkeeper Huang said with a smile: "What's so difficult about this? "After saying that, shopkeeper Huang went to the back room to look for it. Soon, he came out with a few manuscripts.

Zhen Songyuan took the manuscript and when he saw it, he was stunned!

The handwriting on the manuscript was full of ink. It's not an exaggeration to say that Li Rulin's writing ability has improved so much in just three years after reading the content of the article.

It's impossible, then this manuscript is not Li Rulin's. Who wrote it?

From the first moment he got the manuscript, Zhen Songyuan concluded that the handwriting on it was Wei Chengli's.

Shopkeeper Huang may have noticed something was wrong with Zhen Songyuan, so he quickly asked: "Master, Master, what's wrong? Already? Any questions? "

Zhen Songyuan said quickly: "Nothing, nothing. "After chatting for a while, Zhen Songyuan came out of the bookstore.

Along the way, Zhen Songyuan was struggling: the manuscript was written by Wei Chengli, but where is he?

Unknowingly, Zhen Songyuan returned to Li Rulin's house. When he returned home, At that time, Li Rulin and his family were having dinner. Because they were thinking about something, Zhen Songyuan went back to the house and lay down on the pretext that he was not hungry.

After returning to the house, Zhen Songyuan lay on the bed and could not sleep. He woke up from hunger, so he got up and went to the kitchen in the dark to find something to eat.

Because there was no moon that day, the room was dark. Zhen Songyuan entered the kitchen for the first time, but he couldn't find anything to eat after groping for a long time. Just when he was disappointed, a strong aroma of wine entered his nose. Neither Zhen Songyuan nor Li Rulin drank. During the days they came to Li Rulin's house, they had never seen wine on the table. Drinking, who is the wine in the kitchen prepared for?

Suddenly, the four poems that appeared in the examination room suddenly popped into Zhen Songyuan's mind, right! Wei Chengli is addicted to alcohol, could this wine be prepared for Wei Chengli? Is it?

Since it was prepared for him, where was he?

In order to avoid accidents, Zhen Songyuan did not dare to stay in the kitchen, and quickly returned to the house from the kitchen.

This night, Zhen Songyuan suffered from insomnia. The next day, Zhen Songyuan did not go out. He wanted to take a closer look at Li Rulin's house.

After getting up, it was already dawn. As soon as Zhen Songyuan left the house, he saw Li Rulin carrying an empty bowl and a wine bottle from the side of the kitchen. Come out.

Seeing this, Zhen Songyuan couldn't help but feel moved, and asked: "Brother Li, who are you delivering food to so early? "

Li Rulin concealed his nervous expression and said: "You don't know, today happens to be the anniversary of my father's death, so I brought something to pay tribute. "

After hearing what Li Rulin said, Zhen Songyuan didn't answer any more. Li Rulin said again: "I see that your face doesn't look good. Are you sick? "

Zhen Songyuan said with a smile: "It's okay. I didn't sleep well last night. I felt lack of energy when I woke up today. I'll be fine after a short rest." "

Seeing that Zhen Songyuan was fine, the two chatted a few more words, and Li Rulin went out.

After Li Ru left, Zhen Songyuan sat up in the room bored. Not long after, Li Rulin's six-year-old son entered his room. House.

The child's name is Xiaobao, Li Rulin's only son. Xiaobao is smart and very lovable. During the many days he has been at Li's house, Xiaobao and Zhen Songyuan have gradually become familiar with each other, and Zhen Songyuan is also very fond of him. Love this kid.

It is said that children cannot lie. Looking at this child, Zhen Songyuan planned to get something out of him, so Zhen Songyuan asked: "Xiaobao, I saw a small door over there in your kitchen. Is there a small courtyard over there?"

Xiaobao scratched his head and said, "Are you talking about the small courtyard? You don't dare to go there. My dad said it was haunted. I broke in there once and he killed me. He beat me severely and told me that if I went there again, I would have my legs broken. Do you think there are really ghosts in this world? Why do they have to give me food every day? "Food?"

Zhen Songyuan was about to speak, but he heard Zhen Songyuan's wife shouting outside the house: "Xiaobao, Xiaobao!" Hearing the cry, Xiaobao ran out of the house.

After Xiaobao left, Zhen Songyuan fell into deep thought: There must be some secret in that room? Otherwise, it would be impossible for Li Rulin to monitor him so strictly?

From Xiaobao's words, it can be concluded that Li Rulin must have been lying when he said he would pay tribute to his father today. Li Rulin was not just delivering food today, he must be delivering food every day.

Since we were eating, there must be someone hiding there. Was Wei Chengli really hidden here by Li Rulin?

When he thought of this, Zhen Songyuan became confused. After thinking for a while, his head hurt, so he left Li Rulin's house and wandered outside for a while.

When I got home, it was already dark. Perhaps Zhen Songyuan had told Li Rulin about his departure. Tonight, Li Rulin specially prepared a sumptuous meal.

After eating, Zhen Songyuan returned to the house. Thinking about his experiences these days, Zhen Songyuan had mixed feelings, so he picked up a pen and prepared to compose a poem.

Zhen Songyuan has a habit when writing, that is, he likes to put the brush into his mouth and dip it in it. After writing a line, Zhen Songyuan habitually puts the tip of the pen into his mouth.

At this moment, his nose suddenly smelled a special smell, which he had never seen before. Zhen Songyuan lowered his head and smelled in the inkstone again.

Yes, this smell comes from the ink. What is this smell? Why does ink have this smell?

Just as Zhen Songyuan was thinking hard, a "squeaking" sound came out. Zhen Songyuan looked down and saw a mouse running out of nowhere and running around on the ground.

The mouse didn't seem to be afraid of people, as if it didn't see Zhen Songyuan. Perhaps the special fragrance emanating from the ink attracted the mouse. Soon, the mouse jumped on the table and started licking in the ink. .

After a while, the mouse seemed to be full and was about to jump off the table. Just when it walked to the table, a strange scene happened.

The mouse suddenly turned upside down and lay motionless. It seemed to be dead!

This scene left Zhen Songyuan stunned. What is going on? He boldly poked the mouse with a brush. The mouse remained motionless, and it looked like it was indeed dead.

Why did the mouse that was still alive and kicking just now die? Zhen Songyuan felt it was incredible. He glanced at it and then stared directly at the ink.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Zhen Songyuan quickly stepped forward and opened the door. Outside the door, Li Rulin was looking at him with a strange look.

Zhen Songyuan asked: "Brother Li, what happened in the middle of the night?"

Li Rulin said with a smile: "Nothing, I just saw that the lights were still on in your room, so I walked in and chatted with you for a while."

As soon as he entered the door, Li Rulin first looked towards the table. When he saw the dead mouse on the table, Li Rulin's expression changed drastically. In an instant, he sat blankly on the chair without saying a word.

Seeing Li Rulin's appearance, Zhen Songyuan immediately understood. He smiled slightly and said, "Brother Li, how are you? I didn't expect that a mouse actually saved my life."

Li Rulin sighed and said helplessly: "So, you know everything? "

Zhen Songyuan said: "Brother Li, is Wei Chengli really here with you? Why are you doing this? "

Li Rulin said: "Do you still remember when we were studying together? At that time, I was very stupid, I was not good at reading, and I was often scolded by my husband. Do you know what Wei Chengli treated me at that time?

Zhen Songyuan said doubtfully: "The three of us are together all day long. Doesn't he solve all the problems you encounter?" "

Li Rulin snorted coldly and said: "Humph! In your eyes, maybe he is a good person, but you only see a small part of him. When you are not here, do you know how he fooled me? He laughed at me all the time, saying that my brain was not working well and that I was worse than a pig. He used every curse word he could think of on me. In order to get him to do me a little favor, I humbled myself for several years. Do you know how I got here in those years? Several times I didn't want to go, I didn't want to see his face again, but my parents never agreed, so I had no choice but to endure it. "

After hearing Li Rulin's words, Zhen Songyuan froze: "Isn't it possible? He is not that kind of person! "

Li Rulin said with a smile: "Now that things have happened, do you think I still need to lie to you?

Zhen Songyuan asked again: "So, are you taking revenge on him for all this?" "

Li Rulin said: "Humph! Didn't he make fun of me? God is really wise, don't look at him talking so proudly all day long, how about it? Aren’t you as famous as me? "

paused, and Li Rulin continued: "Since you have discovered it, I will no longer hide it, and I will tell you everything. "

It turns out that Li Rulin and Wei Chengli came to the provincial capital to take the provincial examination together. In order to get Wei Chengli's help, Li Rulin had to pay for the expenses along the way.

Without Zhen Songyuan, Wei Chengli naturally intensified his ridicule and ridicule towards Li Rulin. It's okay. When the exam finally came out, Wei Chengli was dumbfounded!

Naturally, Wei Chengli couldn't accept the result, so he used wine to anesthetize himself every day, but Li Rulin was secretly happy when he came. Without financial support, even returning home after failing the exam became a problem. At this time, Li Rulin also deliberately alienated him.

Wei Chengli had no choice but to lower his face and ask Li Rulin for help. In the provincial capital, Li Rulin overheard people talking about bookstores purchasing manuscripts. There was a calculation in his mind.

After he tricked Wei Chengli into his home, Wei Chengli locked him in a small room in the side yard.

Some people may ask, wouldn't Wei Chengli resist?

As everyone knows, he experienced the disappointment in the examination room. After that, Wei Chengli almost collapsed and almost lost his mind. Another reason was that he looked down on Li Rulin from the bottom of his heart and did not expect that Li Rulin would dare to do such a thing, so he slowly fell into Li Rulin's trap.

By the time he realized it, it was too late. His body had collapsed due to drinking, and in order to have a sip of wine, he became Li Rulin's tool.

He was locked in a small room, scratching his stomach and writing manuscripts every day, and that was it. Nearly two years.

After listening to Li Rulin's story, Zhen Songyuan showed an expression of disbelief. After a moment of silence, Zhen Songyuan asked again: "What happened to the ink?

Li Rulin said: "I went to the bookstore that day. Shopkeeper Huang told me what happened there. I became suspicious at that time. The next day, you saw me coming out with a bowl." , I am sure in my heart that you must know this secret. I know you have the habit of dipping your tongue on your tongue when writing calligraphy, so I mixed the ink with ground almond powder, but unexpectedly a mouse disturbed the situation. It seems that you are not destined to die. Well, now that this matter has come to light, I will no longer hide it from you. Over the years, Wei Chengli has also made a lot of money for me. It is impossible for me to lock him up for a lifetime. I will release him tomorrow. ."

For fear that things might change, Zhen Songyuan did not wait until the next day, but asked Li Rulin to release Wei Chengli that night.

When he saw Wei Chengli again, Zhen Songyuan no longer felt excited at first, but was more filled with emotion.

After the incident , Li Rulin gave Wei Chengli a large sum of money as a kind of compensation for him. Wei Chengli also realized all his past shortcomings, and the two settled their differences and became very good friends.

Soon after, Zhen Songyuan also received a message. Good news. Due to fraud in the rural examination, the results of the rural examination that were held some time ago were cancelled. All students will take the exam again a month later.

After learning the news, Zhen Songyuan was overjoyed and hurriedly packed his bags and came to the provincial capital. Once, Zhen Songyuan was elected to the high school as he wished, and later became a high-ranking official.