Su Quan sensed an unusual aura.

How could there be such a flourishing of literary brilliance, an outpouring of Literary Qi, in a mere courtyard examination hall?

This discovery caused the always somewhat tense Su Quan to suddenly have a slight shift in his mood.

He immediately turned his head to look at one of the vice examiners beside him, Ding Qian, the Prefect of Yunjiang.

It turned out that Ding Qian also seemed to have noticed something, as his slightly plump face suddenly displayed a forcibly restrained expression of joy.

Su Quan didn't want to say anything, feeling a bit disdainful of this person's lack of decorum, which was truly unbecoming of a Grandmaster's demeanor.

Oh, right, he wasn't a Grandmaster.

In this setting, I am the Grandmaster.

Then there's no problem.

Su Quan gathered his heart and spirit and noted the direction of the anomaly.

Though he deeply wished to personally walk into the examination hall and take a look at the peculiar exam paper that had emerged at that moment,

according to regulations, he must avoid suspicion and thus could not move about at this time.

Only a few examination officers below who do not participate in reviewing the papers can walk around the examination hall, yet during this period, Su Quan and others couldn't have excessive communication with the officers.

The sun rose higher and higher, and for a moment, there were examiners inside the hall even more eager for the examination to end than the candidates themselves.

Chen Xu closed his eyes to rest for a quarter of an hour and suddenly felt an odd gaze fall upon him.

Raising his eyes, he saw it was a young man with small eyes sitting diagonally opposite.

The other's eyes were peculiar, as if smiling, but not.

Chen Xu found it inexplicable and didn't want to pay attention to this person.

However, a small examination officer nearby suddenly shouted: "Number Six of Jia, what are you doing? Yes, you, don't look around arbitrarily in the examination hall!"

Number Six of Jia was precisely that narrow-eyed youth.

Caught off guard by the rebuke, his face suddenly turned beet red.

His brush was suspended above the exam paper, and a drop of ink just fell down.

"You..."

The narrow-eyed youth suddenly widened his small eyes, his heart aching uncontrollably, almost ready to curse.

This narrow-eyed youth was exactly the insidious person Wang Song that Cui Yunqi spoke of.

Wei Song painstakingly suppressed his anger and hurriedly moved the brush away.

At this moment, he didn't dare to look at Chen Xu anymore and could only fidget as he attempted to tidy his brushes and paper.

This paper, already mostly completed, was thus ruined by the ink drip, forcing him to hurry and rewrite a new one.

Wei Song was both furious and anxious, hating the official who spoke out suddenly and blaming Chen Xu for distracting him.

A surge of pent-up anger rose in his chest, making him wish he could immediately achieve results in the exams and outshine everyone.

Chen Xu shook his head, checked one more time, and then neatly put away his own exam paper on policy essay.

In theory, with the extra paper provided, he could easily transcribe another copy.

But Chen Xu's essay was written flawlessly in one go, with no errors or omissions, and no need for revision.

After organizing this paper, the entire examination only left six or seven questions on the interpretation of classics.

That wasn't an issue, at most, it would take another half an hour to finish everything.

Just at this time, a small bell rang, and the examination officer reminded everyone: "It's lunch break time; candidates may take a rest."

Some people took out dry food to eat, while others lit small stoves to cook their meals.

This examination lasted three days and two nights, longer than the previous provincial examination.

In the examination hall, not to mention cooking, even going to the toilet was inevitable.

There were small buckets in the exam booths, and every aisle in the examination hall ended with a latrine.

Rumor had it that the latrines were particularly smelly, and the nearby exam booths were dubbed "stinky booths"—

However, as this was a transcendent world, Chen Xu discovered that the latrines in Yunjiang Prefecture's Imperial Examination Hall did not seem to emit any foul odors.

After completing the previous provincial examination, he had asked Feng Yuanbai about this question.

County Magistrate Feng told him, "If the local government office is willing to fund it, they can purchase Purifying Talismans from the Daoist Palaces, which can lock in odors, reducing the inconvenience of stinky booths in the examination hall."

Then, the County Magistrate laughed again and said, "However, Purifying Talismans can only seal the odor within the latrines.

To completely eliminate the odor, a Purifying Charm is needed.

But that's expensive, and generally, the government office might not be willing to buy such an expensive talisman."

So, although there were no more stinky booths, going to the latrine still required enduring some smell.

Moreover, due to the odor lock, the odor inside could be even worse than when not using the talisman.

Therefore, Chen Xu wouldn't go to the latrine, especially since Feng Yuanbai also told him, "Going to the latrine might result in getting another stamp; Xu, how about we... handle things on the spot?"

Oh, the dignified Advanced Scholars, officials of the Imperial Court, when it comes to the imperial examinations, cannot avoid talk of such crude matters!

No wonder they say life's important affairs revolve around the cycle of sustenance and waste!

Chen Xu decided not to eat; fasting for three days was nothing to him now.

Since he wasn't eating, he focused all his efforts on answering the questions.

At this time, although Wei Song repeatedly warned himself not to focus excessively on Chen Xu, sometimes the more you tell yourself not to do something, the easier it is to overdo it.

Wei Song found it difficult to control his emotions.

He was a bit hungry and wanted to grab something to eat, but Chen Xu kept on answering questions without end.

Wei Song wanted to keep up with him; how could he dare to fall behind?

So he bit his lip, endured the hunger, and also focused on writing diligently.

Finally, after completing all the explanations of the classics, Wei Song let out a long breath.

Looking across, he saw Chen Xu still continuing with the classic questions, which made Wei Song feel a sense of pride and disdain.

He thought to himself: So this Chen is just so-so; lingering first then rushing to catch up, what use is it if he's starving? Surely, he won't make it.

The more Chen Xu dawdled, the more proactive Wei Song became. He decided to seize the moment and swiftly finish his policy essay.

Wei Song took out his exam paper to draft. In his youth, being neglected and often bullied by the likes of Wei Tang, he was used to hunger and had a high tolerance for it.

The topic of current affairs was set aside as Wei Song pondered on how to begin his essay on the draft paper.

His mind was torn with various thoughts, caught in a dilemma.

He was inclined to suggest that all unruly citizens should be slain, but he knew that such an answer would ruin his examination.

But if not to kill, then what?

Perhaps he should propose executing a batch first to intimidate them, then proceed with appeasement.

Thus, the problem could be solved!

Instantly, Wei Song felt his thoughts clearing, emotions stirring, and he hurriedly wrote the opening sentence:

"The student answers: The Lord of Shang said, with killing one stops killing; though killing, it is permissible!"

As his pen fell, Wei Song seemed to envision the magnificent scene of heads rolling amidst the treacherous mountains.

With blood flowing like a river, the unruly citizens wailing, struggling, pleading for life...

But what use was that?

"The unruly citizens fear power but do not cherish virtue..."

Wei Song wrote with great zest, filled with intense emotion, ready to pour it all out.

Suddenly, he heard the soft sound of a bell tinkling from across, followed by the examination officer approaching and asking, "What is the student doing?"

Chen Xu replied, "The student has finished his paper, please, sir, collect it."

Wei Song's pen stopped abruptly, and he incredulously raised his head, looking at the person opposite him.

The examination officer asked uncertainly, "You've finished? Is this true?"

Chen Xu said, "I would not deceive; how could such a serious matter be treated as a joke?"

So, so it was true!

Wei Song was utterly stunned, as if a bright flash of light had crossed his mind.

A loud buzzing sound filled his head, as if countless voices were shouting, "The unruly citizens meet their doom!"

"No, we don't want to die, corrupt official, face your end!"

"Kill—"

"Save us... ah! No, we too will kill, kill kill kill!"

Kill kill kill—

Voices resounded to the heavens, blood poured fiercely.

The scorching sunlight shone down, and Wei Song, both hungry and thirsty, suddenly began trembling all over, unable to restrain himself, and lunged forward.

Bang!

He collapsed onto the desk in his cell.

He seemed to hear footsteps rushing over to help him up, with someone saying near his ear, "Exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, Qi Blood counterflow, severe damage to the liver meridian, this is acute, quickly take him down for treatment."

Just as he was about to be dragged away, Wei Song's hand clutched the desk tightly, uttering a thin, mosquito-like voice.

Thin as a mosquito's buzz, yet using all his strength he shouted, "No, I won't go! Don't take me down, I can still write! I can come around..."

But his voice was too faint, and no one seemed to hear it.

Only a few exclamations of wonder: "Gripping too tight, how to move him?"

"What else can we do? Leave him be, in a few days, it's just a matter of carrying out a corpse..."

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