A male academic official from Suzhou Prefecture, serving as an academician and schoolmaster during the imperial examination in Yong'an Prefecture. Known as the iron-faced and impartial Song Yunfan, he had never been moved by any candidate's handwriting until he saw Xu Huaiqian's test paper. He deeply admired the beautiful handwriting, especially the scripture dictation section, but ultimately rejected the paper because the answers were poor, prioritizing his reputation over his personal preference. He was not popular in Hanlin Academy and had been sent to the remote and poor Changnan region.
