Chapter 195

Mei Ruochu, who had been waiting outside the examination hall for nearly an hour, finally got his turn for body search before entering.

It was still the middle of the night, with a biting cold wind. Many examinees who had been waiting for a long time like him were already trembling with cold and staggering.

Mei Ruochu naturally felt cold too, but because he held a hand stove in his hands and wore specially made socks on his feet, his hands and feet were warm, and his condition was much better than others.

In front of him was an old examinee who was nearing seventy. Being elderly and with his legs frozen stiff, he had difficulty entering.

Mei Ruochu reached out and helped him.

Due to the circumstances, the old man couldn’t speak, so he could only express his gratitude with a thankful look.

After the old examinee, it was Mei Ruochu’s turn to enter.

There was no one vouching for the candidates in the examination, only floating tickets were accepted.

But the examination proctor had a book on hand that detailed the features of the examinees.

This wasn’t like the previous exams where the registration was done by the officials, but rather these were records transferred from the previous exams the candidates had taken.

The proctor glanced at the book and the floating ticket, about to leave.

After the identity check was done, the soldiers came over for a body search. Mei Ruochu had to take off his clothes, and his luck points instantly decreased by 60.

The proctor stopped abruptly, as if struck by a sudden thought.

“Tall and thin, fair complexion…” The proctor muttered the corresponding features of Mei Ruochu from the book, something seemed off.

But what was off?

Back when he was still in Qingzhou Prefecture, Mei Ruochu was busy studying while also taking odd jobs to make ends meet and occasionally tutoring his classmates. He could be said to be juggling three tasks at once.

After coming to the capital, he focused solely on his studies and didn’t need to divert his attention elsewhere. Plus, to conceal his sharpness, he rarely went out.

As the head of the academy, Shen Cui, although spending a large sum of money when renting the new house, didn’t skimp on their food and drink expenses.

With Zhou Shi, a capable person, managing the kitchen chores, they were well-fed.

Therefore, Mei Ruochu, who had been working hard but also enjoying good food and drink lately, had gained some weight compared to before.

He wasn’t fat, just not as thin as he used to be.

Moreover, since he left from the academy at midnight, by now, some stubble had grown on his chin, so he couldn’t be considered “clean-shaven” anymore.

Facing the scrutinizing gaze of the examination proctor, Mei Ruochu wasn’t intimidated and let him scrutinize.

The proctor then consulted other colleagues.

Fortunately, the examination was overseen by the Ministry of Rites, so there were many officials and clerks from the ministry present.

During the provincial exam in the Southern Mansion, Minister Wang was the chief examiner, and clerks from the Ministry of Rites were also present.

Mei Ruochu had made a splash at the banquet after the provincial exam, leaving a deep impression on these clerks, so one of them stepped forward to testify that he wasn’t impersonating anyone.

Mei Ruochu stood naked, allowing several officials to come in and inspect him. By now, almost two quarters of an hour had passed, and they finally entered the formal body search phase.

At this point, it wasn’t just cold anymore; for proud scholars, it felt like an insult.

However, Mei Ruochu had always had a good attitude and was accustomed to such things, so his mood wasn’t affected.

He joked to himself that he had always suffered during body searches, but unexpectedly, there were complications even during the comparison of the proctor and the floating ticket.

However, since the soldiers responsible for the search found his attire peculiar, he figured he wouldn’t receive any more “special treatment” given the current weather.

Another unexpected occurrence was that during previous examinations, one or two soldiers were responsible for searching each examinee.

However, due to the elevated status of the provincial exam, five soldiers were now responsible for the search.

The five soldiers remained motionless until the proctor confirmed the identity. Once he left, they began the search.

The leading soldier doubted, “All the examinees waiting earlier were pale from the cold. Why do you seem unaffected?”

Another soldier chimed in, “Yes, now that you’ve taken off your clothes, your lips are turning purple, obviously showing that you can’t withstand the cold. Could it be…”

Mei Ruochu, with his lips turning purple, pointed to the hand stove, explaining the reason.

The soldiers took turns carefully inspecting the hand stove, but it was indeed very ordinary, containing only ashes.

They then searched through Mei Ruochu’s clothes that he had taken off, finding nothing suspicious.

Still, they couldn’t shake off an inexplicable feeling of unease.

However, since the examinees for the provincial exam were all scholars who, once they passed, could soar to great heights, and considering that this person before them was the distinguished top scholar, they refrained from being too harsh.

The leading soldier suppressed his suspicions and was about to have Mei Ruochu put his clothes back on when another soldier stepped forward and whispered, “It’s strange. This examinee looks honest and upright, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s not a good person.”

The other soldier said, “I have the same feeling, but he shouldn’t be that kind of person. When he entered, I saw him helping others.”

The two soldiers who had been speaking earlier suddenly looked solemn.

Acts of kindness performed by upright individuals made them seem kind and generous.

However, if someone like Mei Ruochu, who inexplicably gave them a bad feeling, performed such acts, it made them feel that things were not simple—over five thousand people were participating in the provincial exam, but only two to three hundred would be selected.

In such a fiercely competitive exam, even a provincial top scholar would hope for fewer competitors.

So why would someone rush to help others?

The five soldiers exchanged glances.

They were trusted figures in the military, and intuition often played a significant role in military affairs.

If they let someone with ulterior motives slip through, the consequences would be dire.

The leading soldier paused in handing back the clothes and said, “Let’s search him again!”

Another half-hour passed. Mei Ruochu was nearly numb from the cold by the time the second round of searching concluded.

Mei Ruochu ended up being the last one to enter among this group.

As he dressed himself, the five soldiers in charge of the search felt a sense of dread and cautiously escorted him into the examination hall.

It was fortunate that Mei Ruochu remained steadfast.

If it were someone else who initially hoped for an improvement in the situation but ended up with it worsening, their mentality might have collapsed before the exam even began.

Shen Cui breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Mei Ruochu, pixelated on the screen, finally enter the hall.

At this moment, Mu Er Pang stood up.

He was in the second group to enter.

Shen Cui didn’t need to worry about him entering, so she only accompanied him for breakfast, checked his belongings again, and then sent him out of the academy.

Not long after he left, Wei Shu, Wei Xi, Cui Fei, and Shen Aoshuang also got up.

They were all in the third group to enter. While they hadn’t finished breakfast yet, Mu Er Pang from the previous group had already entered smoothly.

As the soldiers led Mu Er Pang into the examination hall, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by its size.

The main gate had five lintels, surrounded by three layers of walls, towering and imposing.

The public hall and yamen were grand and imposing, with watchtowers at the corners for surveillance.

At this moment, with the sky still darkening, the dim light gave the entire examination hall an excessively quiet atmosphere, giving off a somewhat eerie feeling.

Many people felt apprehensive as soon as they entered such an environment.

Mu Er Pang, however, didn’t feel intimidated. Instead, he thought that since this place looked so good, the accommodations in the dormitories must be equally impressive!

But when the soldier leading him took a turn and led him towards the examination booths, he was greeted by rows of low, nondescript booths that stretched as far as the eye could see—well, this environment was even worse than the provincial exam’s examination hall!

Soon, he arrived at his own exam seat, confirming his earlier assessment.

The booths were indeed smaller than those in the provincial exam.

The value of land in the capital city was apparent even here! He wondered how many years of salary he would need to save up to buy a decent place for his mother to start a school after passing the exam.

Mu Er Pang chuckled to himself as he settled into his seat in the booth, then began familiarly wiping down the desk.

After finishing, he waited for the exam papers to be distributed, casually leaning back— the space was too small for him to even half recline.

As he tidied up and settled in, not long after, Wei Shu, Wei Xi, and the others from the third group began to enter.

Similarly uneventful, they quickly found their seats.

As the sky brightened, similar to the provincial exam, Shen Cui’s screen was divided into small grids.

The Q-version avatars of Mu Er Pang and the others appeared in one of the grids.

During the provincial exam, their grids were quite far apart, figuratively speaking, separated by miles.

Over the past couple of years, Mu Er Pang had experienced a growth spurt, and being short was no longer a concern for him.

He was now almost as tall as Shen Aoshuang and Cui Fei.

Unfortunately, apart from Cui Fei and Shen Aoshuang, everyone else in the academy was also tall, far exceeding the average height of men nowadays.

So if he felt uncomfortable, it was even worse for the others.

Mei Ruochu, Wei Shu, and Wei Xi all looked very awkward, just by looking at them, it was obvious they were extremely uncomfortable.

Especially Cui Fei, who was large in stature and happened to be wearing an orange outer garment that day.

His round Q-version avatar squeezed into the small grid, looking like a fat orange cat that had made a mistake and been locked in a cage.

Only Shen Aoshuang, who was of similar height to Mu Er Pang but exceptionally slender, could barely maintain a relatively comfortable posture.

In this regard, Shen Cui was truly powerless.

She could only hope that the examination would soon be over.

The palace examination required them to go to the Golden Hall in front of the emperor to write their papers. Although the psychological pressure would undoubtedly be greater, at least they wouldn’t have to endure any physical discomfort.

On the first day of the examination, just like in the provincial exam, they didn’t receive any papers; they simply sat and waited.

Unable to recline, everyone from Cuiwei leaned against the wall, some daydreaming, some dozing off.

Shen Cui brought out her needle and thread to pass the time, occasionally glancing up at them.

She thought the first day would pass by peacefully.

However, as she glanced up, she saw all the young men suddenly tremble and then collectively look towards the front of their grids—