At the end of the Liang dynasty's Southern Court, Luo Song, a poor-born scholar, died unjustly in a civil service exam fraud scandal. Reborn three years earlier, he remembered how Xu Xiaolin, a scion of an aristocratic clan, had befriended him for his talent in his previous life. He had never known Xu was the mastermind behind his downfall, and was ultimately poisoned on the eve of the palace exam, his prospects ruined.
Back with the memories of his previous life, Luo Song swears revenge on everyone who betrayed him. In a chaotic age ruled by powerful clans, he also vows to carve a path to advancement for scholars of humble birth. The poison left behind by the nine-rank system has yet to fade. The aristocratic clans of Jiankang monopolize official careers, and the clan faction led by Xu Xiaolin sees rising talents from humble families as a threat. Luo Song is at the top of their list to eliminate.
The civil service exams held a year later under Emperor Wu of Liang's “Tianjian reforms” are his first attempt to break the clans' monopoly. They are a once-in-a-century opportunity for scholars of humble birth, and Luo Song's only chance to change his fate and save his family. If he fails to take first place, history will repeat itself, and his family will remain enslaved for generations. The poor have no one to rely on, while the aristocrats control the exam questions and collude with the examiners. The road to success is already a deadly trap.
Relying on his foresight, Luo Song intercepts the exam questions in advance, reads the examiners' intentions, and cultivates key connections, carefully turning the tables at every step. He pretends to accept Xu Xiaolin's “friendship,” infiltrates the clans' alliance, and uses their own schemes against them to orchestrate a counterstrike against their exam fraud, bringing his enemies from his previous life down one by one.
Yet just as he reaches the summit, Luo Song realizes that Xu Xiaolin is not his true enemy. It is the entire decayed, rigid clan system. Will he become a new aristocrat, or shatter the shackles that have bound the poor of the realm?
