During the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Yanqiu, a poor student, became an official with the title of "Third Class Jinshi" and was awarded the title of Editor of the Hanlin Academy. He cherished the ambition to "serve the emperors Yao and Shun", but he ran into the intricate confusion of officialdom: in the court, the elders formed cliques based on "fellow townspeople" and "same age", and a good policy could be dismissed as heresy with just "not of my race"; locally, the prefect made false reports of disasters for "political achievements", the county magistrate relied on "filial piety" to cling to the official position, and even the post office clerks dared to use "official duties" to blackmail past officials.
Shen Yanqiu witnessed strange phenomena such as fraud in the examination room, buying and selling officials, and abusing power for personal gain: the censor in charge of the examination turned a blind eye to plagiarism after charging "pen-writing fees"; It is difficult for Jun to pass the imperial examination even if he has an astonishing talent; when officials from the capital are sent to other places, local officials need to "receive the favor", otherwise they will be made things difficult for them everywhere... He once tried to break the situation by being "straight", but he was repeatedly framed and almost lost his official position and died.
After seeing through the unspoken rules of "ranking seniority regardless of merit" and "being able to be a good person is more important than being able to do things", Shen Yanqiu gradually understood that the "weirdness" of officialdom stems from the greed of human nature, the laxity of the system, and the selfishness of people's hearts. He began to find a balance between sticking to the bottom line and complying with the "rules", and finally used his "sober sophistication" to uncover the shady secrets. However, when he became successful, he discovered that this officialdom full of strange things has always been a mirror that reflects all living beings.
