Li Yan, a scholar from a poor family, failed in three examinations and took the examination again in the snow of the seventh year of Yuanhe. Fellow travelers include energetic young men, old Confucians who have gone through many vicissitudes of life, and sons of famous merchants, all of whom are struggling with the interpretation of the scriptures. Li Yan read the remaining papers at night and wrote shocking remarks in the examination room, and finally won the gold medal. However, under the imperial ranking, some were happy and some were sad, and the joy of being ranked first turned into a heavy burden. Carrying the dim light of decades in the cold window, he will step into the temple and face the merits, faults and sufferings of this "Mo Ce" that has lasted for thousands of years.
