This novel mainly describes the story of Martin Rivas, the son of a bankrupt mine owner. /kloc-in the winter of 0/850, Martin Rivas decided to study politics and law and support his mother and sister according to his dead father's last words. He came to the capital, Santiago, and defected to Damaso Encina. Encina used to be an employee of a foreign company, but he made money wisely, married Miss nunes, who enjoys a rich legacy, and joined hands with Martin's father to run the mining industry. After the merger, he gradually became a celebrity in the business community. He is a new bourgeoisie, mainly engaged in industrial and commercial finance, with fertile land and luxurious houses in the city. Looking back on the past, Encina agreed to let Martin live in his home while studying in the capital, and let Martin undertake some secretarial work, and pay him a monthly salary as a subsidy. Martin accepted the job as a secretary, but refused a similar gift.
On the first day when Martin came to the capital, he was deeply moved by the beautiful appearance and arrogant behavior of leonor, the apple of Encina's eye. He fell in love with her at first sight, but he felt sorry for himself, so he kept his feelings in his heart. In a few short months, Martin helped two members of Mr. Encina's family: Encina's eldest son Augustine and Encina's daughter leonor.
The thing is: Encina's eldest son, playboy Agustin, often visits the widow Bernadette's house. This is a family belonging to the ordinary class. Mrs Bernarda has a son and two daughters. Mother and son love money and drink like crazy. From time to time, they invite rich young masters to eat, drink and have fun, and gamble for profit. Adelaida, his daughter, devoted her whole life to seeking a family for the children of the nobility. Among the guests of this family is a poor son named Raphael St. Louis. He is Martin's classmate and leonor's cousin Mathilde's ex-boyfriend. Frustrated in love and desperate, he turned to courtship in Adelaida and had an affair with her, proper relationship. Amado, the widow's eldest son, was greedy for money, and set a trap to induce Agustin to meet Adelaida late at night. Then he and his mother caught the couple by surprise. Under the control of Amador, Agustin was forced to get engaged to Adelaida on the spot. From then on, Amador's endless blackmail made Master Encina desperate, and he had to turn to Martin for help. Martin surveyed all the parishes in the city. He pointed out that only Amador's acquaintance, a general steward of the church, presided over the engagement ceremony that night, not the priest. Therefore, this engagement should be declared null and void.
In addition, Martin helped leonor to marry his cousin Mathilde and Raphael. Raphael fell in love with Mathilde for many years, but was later publicly rejected by Mathilde's father, Mr Elias, because his family went bankrupt. Martin and Raphael are best friends. He asked Mathilde to meet Raphael personally to catch up. Raphael was entrusted by relatives and friends to be in charge of a rural manor. The current tenant of this manor is elias. He has been depressed recently and is eager to extend the lease of this manor. Martin pointed out to Mr. Elias that if he agreed to marry Mathilde and Raphael for the second time, the relationship between him and Raphael could be changed from the relationship between the lessee and the lessor to that of Weng Xu, and the problem of extending the lease of the manor could be solved satisfactorily. At the urging of leonor and Martin, the two parties concerned agreed to wait for the wedding.
With frequent contact with Martin, leonor gradually felt that Martin was simple-hearted, humble and affectionate. However, just as Martin accompanied Raphael and Augustine in and out of Bernardo's house, Bernada's youngest daughter, Edel Milla, a sentimental girl, also fell in love with Martin. For the sake of fame and fortune, Mrs Bernanda tried her best to get Edel Milla to marry a policeman. Edel Milla fell in love with Martin, repeatedly postponed the wedding date, and even took drastic measures to run away from home, asking Martin to help him. Leonor learned from this incident that the two of them have a deep friendship and are in a very painful mood. He questioned Martin, and Encina criticized Martin. Self-respecting Martin took the initiative to alienate Encina's family and took advantage of the school holiday to bid farewell to the capital temporarily.
At the same time, Mrs. Bernada's disillusionment with Master Encina and the exposure of Adelaida scandal made her angry at Master Rafael Saint Louis's heartless abandonment of her daughter and determined to take revenge. One day, she went to a social gathering at Mr. Encina's house in person. In full view, she exposed and condemned Raphael for seducing her daughter Adelaida. In this way, Mathilde herself resolutely announced her divorce. Raphael's reputation was ruined and he had to retire to the monastery for a while.
At the end of the school holiday, that is, in the late summer of 185 1, Martin returned to San Diego, and Raphael also ended his seclusion. Friends meet again and talk about the current situation with each other. Raphael told Martin about the establishment of the Equality Association. Equality Society is a political group established in Chile at the beginning of 1850, with the basic slogan of human rights and fraternity, which was influenced by the June uprising in Paris. Shortly after its establishment, it campaigned with liberals, opposed the Conservative Party's ruling, and publicly called for an armed uprising. Martin and Raphael made an appointment to attend together.
The spoony Adele Milla was uneasy about Martin's estrangement from the Encina family because of her. He decided to visit leonor and revealed the letters Martin had written to her before, thus proving that Martin had only friendship with her, but he fell in love with leonor. At the same time, leonor also received Martin's farewell letter on the eve of the uprising. He wrote: "When you receive this letter, maybe I am no longer alive ... You will always be the earliest and only lover in my life ..."
On April 20, the "Equality Society" led the masses to hold an armed uprising, and fierce street fighting took place in the capital. The uprising failed because of the appearance of traitors, which is known as the mutiny of the people's army in 185 1 year. Raphael was seriously injured and died, and Martin was injured and fled to leonor's residence, surrounded by pursuers. Martin is ready to fight to the death with his pursuers and die generously. Leonor stepped forward at this time and made it clear: "Although Martin is cold, his quality is noble and his intelligence is extraordinary; I love him for a good reason. " She asked Martin to lay down his arms and obey her arrangement. Martin was arrested and sentenced to death. Leonor mixed feelings, anxious, trying to rescue. At the urging of her daughter, Encina also went to the authorities for mediation. Edel Milla made great self-sacrifice for her deep affection for Martin. She told the police officer who proposed that she could accept his proposal, but only if Martin was rescued. Under the planning of leonor, Martin finally managed to escape from prison and take refuge abroad.
At the end of that year, the situation subsided after the uprisings in various places were put out one after another. Martin was pardoned and returned to his motherland, where he married leonor happily.