Chapter 129: Chapter 73 Poison Manifestation_2

The person who was called by name was originally corpulent, but the person who stepped forward was short and thin.

And so, in a moment, Wu Youcai knew.

He opened his mouth, intending to shout out, but the words of Lu Tong suddenly surged into his mind.

"You are of low status and have little influence. The corrupt officials are all in cahoots. They might even find a reason to arrest you and release you only after the imperial examination is over, by which time the evidence would be gone."

He abruptly fell silent.

Even if he shouted, even if he spoke out, then what?

There were two chief examiners for the imperial examination, four associate examiners, one coordinator, and several inspectors. With so many officials, could it be that none had noticed the incident of impersonation? The gates of the Tribute Court had been closed; they cannot be opened until the end of the exams. If someone had not previously agreed to it, how did these impersonators sneak in? Even if he started shouting now, the chief examiner could easily find an excuse to detain him. Although his words might spark suspicion among the candidates, with the exam still ongoing, no one would abandon their prospects over such doubts.

He also could not continue with the examination.

The drizzling autumn rain soaked the hem of his robe. Wu Youcai stood still, a bitter smile emerging on his lips.

He gazed into the distance, where inside a pavilion, the two brightly dressed chief examiners sat at ease, legs crossed, comfortably sipping the tea in their mouths.

In the dim light, it seemed as if a woman clothed in white silk was sitting far away, smiling faintly as she spoke to him.

"If it were me..."

"Of course, I would kill him."

Kill him.

The sharp corner of the paper package in his sleeve pricked his finger, jolting Wu Youcai back to reality, slowly clenching the small package tight in his palm.

The autumn rain continued to fall, drip by drip on people, as if to seep sorrow into their hearts. The roll call had ended, and Wu Youcai joined the queue of candidates, resembling a long worm, entering the dark cell assigned to him as if walking into a tomb forged long ago for him.

The last subject was the writing of poems and essays.

This should have been Wu Youcai’s strongest subject, but he sat there without picking up his brush, just staring blankly at the brass lamp in the cramped cell.

Having been drenched with a layer of rain, his clothes were slightly damp. Wu Youcai didn’t mind; these clothes were sewn by his mother before his first appearance twelve years ago, made of coarse vermilion cloth for good luck. Twelve years had passed, and the collar and cuffs of the red garment had been worn thin by time, but he couldn’t bear to take them apart for mending because they bore the old stitches mended by his mother.

He sat quietly in the cell for a very long time, until the eastern sky turned white and faint crowing could be heard from distant markets, only then did he slowly lift his brush to start writing on the examination paper before him.

He wrote slowly, with great care for each stroke and character; his expression could even be considered devout. However, upon a closer look, there lay a sense of desolation as if everything had been concluded.

After the final stroke, Wu Youcai withdrew his hand and set the brush aside.

He lifted the scroll to examine it closely and, after a thorough look, set it down again before looking up into the distance.

Outside the window of the cell, the sky had brightened. The imperial examination was coming to an end. It wouldn’t be long before the examiners collected the papers, and the fates of those in the sixty-six cells would be sealed.

Wu Youcai took out the small paper package from his sleeve.

He smiled calmly and then opened the paper package in his hand.

...

In a nearby cell, Old Master Xun set down his brush and massaged his trembling hands.

He was very old, not certain if he could survive until the next examination session. Nevertheless, he had persisted with the imperial examination for many years, as if it had become an obsession. He had no children, had never married; his parents had long passed away. It was as though he had come into this world solely to achieve scholarly honor.

There were countless scholars like him.

For a lowly commoner wishing to leap into the heavens, this was the most direct and seemingly hopeful method.

A satisfied smile appeared on the face of Old Master Xun, resembling a withered tree.

Perhaps the dream he had a few days ago really was auspicious. He felt that he had written excellently in all three sessions this year. Perhaps the saying from the books, "He who lies in wait for a long time will soar high," rang true. After being busy for so many years, perhaps he could taste the joy of success on the golden list before being laid to rest.

Old Master Xun placed the completed examination papers aside and took some dry food from his basket.

Before the switch, the candidates received the dry food for the subsequent two days from the associate examiners. There were some flatbreads and sweet cakes among them, and the flavors were decent enough. Old Master Xun, worried about running out of time for answering the questions, hadn’t rushed to eat them. Now that he was almost done writing, waiting only for the chief examiner to collect the papers, he relaxed and realized he was ravenous.

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