During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a famous county official in Dongping County, Shandong Province. He was an honest official, diligent in government and loving the people, and had a very profound knowledge. Unfortunately, it was during the Daxing Literary Prison at that time. The highly learned county official was very enthusiastic for a while after drinking, and wrote some poems that were dissatisfied with the current social situation. He was caught by his colleagues who excluded him. He was accidentally convicted of speech and was ordered to be beheaded by the emperor. A family of all the old and young was issued with hair distribution and beheading.

The people of Dongping County were very sorry for the death of the county official. Seeing that no one had gone to collect his body, they raised some money and buried his body on the hillside of a small village not far from the county seat. They did not dare to erect any monument, for fear that the government would not stop.

Year after year, the days passed like this. During the Qianlong period, people forgot about the county officials, and they didn't know who was buried in the grave bag standing on the hillside. No one thought about it, who cared.

In the countryside, people depended on the land for food, and those who had more land planted more crops and harvested more. The younger generation in the village, relying on their physical strength, all began to cultivate farmland, you with a shovel and I with a rake. After a few years, they reclaimed it near the hillside and got to the grave bag. The villagers had long forgotten who was in the grave, discussing whether to open the grave, remove it or bury it deep?

But the old man Li Deyou in the village did not forget.

Back then, Li Deyou was still a young man, and he watched the county official buried with his own eyes. He knew that the person buried was a very respectable figure in the past! When he saw that the people in the village were discussing moving the grave, he became anxious.

He said, "Don't move that grave, don't move it."

The young and middle-aged people in the village respect the elderly very much, so they asked for advice, "Why?" The old man didn't have any explanation, but he just felt bad. He looked left and right, saw the shovels in the hands of the young and middle-aged people, and had an idea: "There is a rule left by our ancestors in our village, that is, 'the grave should not be dug within three feet of the grave.' This means that you can cultivate the field, but when you encounter the grave bag, you can't dig the ground within three feet of the grave bag." Everyone, look at me, I look at you, listen to what Old Li said, and listen to Old Li's words. When the field was opened, the grave was not cultivated within three feet, and the grave was left behind.

After a lapse of three years, Li Changchang, the youngest son of Li Deyou, rushed to the capital for a scientific examination. Li Changchang was only eighteen years old, but he was born smart and well-known. He was the youngest of Li Laohan's four sons, but he was the smartest. The three older brothers worked hard with Li Laohan to make money and send him to a private school. Li Changchang was also very hard. At the age of eighteen, he just caught up with the scientific examination. The old man's family gave him great hope for this scientific examination.

When he arrived at the examination room, Li Changyuan thought like spring and played freely. A few days of scientific examination was a piece of cake for him. But after all, he was still young and frivolous, and he developed a proud mentality. He accidentally missed a bit of the word "Emperor" in the article he wrote! Looking at it now, if a word was missed, it was no big deal, at most a few points would be deducted. But that was the era of the imperial examination. If a word in an article was missed, it would be reprimanded as "disrespectful study style", and there was not a single point in the subjects of this exam. What was even more terrifying was that the word "Emperor" was missing a little bit, which meant that the head of the emperor Lao Tzu would be chopped off. During the Qianlong period, the literary prison had reached the point of "killing the nine clans with one word"!

When Li Changchang left the examination room, he found that he had missed a little bit. He was so scared that he regretted it! He ran to the inn without eating or drinking for a few days, thinking about how to save his father and brother's life and let himself bear the disaster.

A few days later, Li Changyuan, who had lost a whole circle of weight in the inn, found that a team to welcome the champion was coming to him!

"Who is the new champion Li Changchang?" The official who welcomed the champion asked with a smile.

Li Changyuan was really confused! Didn't he write a little less and commit the great crime of destroying the nine clans? Didn't the examiner find out?

A few days later, Li Changyuan finished the palace exam, met the examiner, and expressed his doubts to the examiner.

The chief examiner smiled and said, "It was really strange that day. I saw that your word 'Emperor 'was missing a little bit. Although I didn't want to say that you are guilty of great disrespect, you can't escape this mistake of being disrespectful ."

"How could there be such a coincidence?" Li Changyuan was happy and also a little puzzled.

That night, Li Long had just slept with his clothes on when a vague shadow appeared in front of him, and he was almost scared to death! Upon closer inspection, he saw an old man with a kind face. The old man smiled and said, "Little friend, don't panic, the old man is here to repay his kindness. That fly is transformed by the old man. Li Long calmly said, "Dare to ask the old man, why do you want to help me? Have I not been kind to you?The old man smiled and said, "Although you have not been kind to others, your father has been kind to ghosts, and the old man is one of the people in the grave bag on the hillside of your village. The old man was lonely in the village, and he almost moved to his place after he died. Fortunately, the old man opened his mouth to save the old man from disaster, and now the old man is going back and forth to repay his kindness. After hearing this, Li Changchang hurriedly stood up and said, "Thank you for your help, sir."

The old man did not receive the courtesy, but said to himself, "The kindness has been repaid, the old man's nostalgia for the world is enough, and it's time to go." After saying that, it turned into a breeze and disappeared.