Inside the examination room of the Imperial Academy, the silence was suddenly broken by the sound of hurried footsteps.

A tribute student who was about to be taken away by the guards rushed out of the examination room in a rage and ran straight to the platform, his face full of determination and anger.

"The emperor is incompetent and the court is corrupt!" He shouted loudly, his voice filled with endless grief and indignation, as if he wanted to pour out all his inner dissatisfaction and accusations.

The guards around the platform were stunned by this sudden change, but they soon reacted and rushed towards the tribute student at the same time.

"Stop!" a guard shouted, trying to stop this crazy behavior.

However, Gongsheng seemed not to hear and continued to rush forward.

"Changing the topic at the last minute, covering the sky with one hand! Why can't we, the children of common people, ever get ahead?" He roared, his voice full of despair and unwillingness.

Deputy Examiner Qian Xili was closest to him. Seeing the man holding the inkstone high, looking like a madman, he turned pale with fear. He shouted in a trembling voice, "Quick! Take him away!"

A guard tried to subdue the tribute student, but in the moment he hesitated whether to draw his sword, the tribute student broke free from his restraints and stumbled to the edge of the platform.

"Heaven is unfair, I will die to prove my resolve!" After saying this, he suddenly smashed the inkstone in his hand against his forehead.

"Bang!" With a dull sound, the inkstone shattered, and a streak of bright red flowed down the tribute student's forehead, staining his face red. Although he was still standing there, his body was shaking, as if he would fall down at any time.

His eyes glared at the sky: "I won't accept it! I won't accept it!" He muttered to himself, and suddenly leaned forward and fell from the high platform.

Chen Jin looked solemn as he quickly walked down the platform. He reached out and gently touched Gongsheng's nose, but found that he was no longer breathing.

The tribute student's eyes were still staring straight ahead, as if he was accusing the world of injustice and would die with his eyes open.

In the examination rooms near the platform, the students were so shocked by the series of unexpected events that they all looked up. For a moment, the entire examination room fell into chaos.

"Quiet!" the guards shouted, trying to restore order in the examination room.

However, the tribute students seemed to be resonating with each other because of this sudden change. Their faces showed indignation and injustice, as if they wanted to seek justice for the dead tribute student.

At this moment, the sound of a gong suddenly rang out from the high platform. The sound was crisp and melodious, echoing throughout the tribute hall.

The sound of the gong was like an order, calming down the tribute students who were originally a little agitated.

The exam is over.

The faces of the tribute students were filled with fatigue and helplessness, as if this sudden change had exhausted all their energy.

Chen Jin asked the guards to maintain order and let the tribute students leave one after another. He still had a lot to do next.

"Investigate!" He uttered the word calmly. Although his voice was soft, it hit everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

"Have Jingzhao Yin Li Zhengxuan come to the Imperial Examination Hall immediately!"

The guards and officials around took action. After receiving the message from Chen Jin, Jingzhao Yin Li Zhengxuan immediately led a group of officials to rush to the Imperial Examination Hall without any hesitation.

He was a little fat, and even though he came in a sedan chair, sweat kept coming out of his forehead because of his anxiety.

In the morning, he was still handling official business in the Jingzhao government office when suddenly an imperial edict came, ordering him to quickly and tightly surround the residences of the chief examiner, deputy examiner and four others.

The imperial edict did not elaborate on the reason, but Li Zhengxuan immediately did as he was told.

When they arrived at the residences of the three deputy examiners, they all cooperated very well. The doors of the mansions were immediately closed, and no one inside was allowed to go out. They did not neglect the imperial edict at all.

However, when Li Zhengxuan and his party arrived at the residence of Grand Secretary Xu Kui, they encountered considerable resistance.

The family members of the Xu family were quite resistant and made a lot of noise, which gave Li Zhengxuan a headache. It took a lot of effort to stabilize the situation.

He thought the matter had come to an end, but unexpectedly he was urgently summoned by the commander of the Imperial Guards and ordered to rush to the Imperial Examination Hall.

Li Zhengxuan did not dare to delay for even a moment, but he could not help but secretly wonder what kind of big event had happened in the Imperial Examination Hall that had caused the imperial court to mobilize such a large force.

As soon as he got off the sedan chair, he quickly stepped into the main gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, walked straight to the platform, bowed respectfully, and asked, "Eunuch Chen, why did you urgently summon me here?"

Several chief and deputy examiners stepped aside, allowing Li Zhengxuan's eyes to fall directly on the corpse covered with white cloth on the ground.

Chen Jin said in a deep voice: "This is the household registration information registered in the Imperial Examination Hall. Please take a look." As he said that, he handed the household registration card to Li Zhengxuan.

Li Zhengxuan took the name card and saw that it read: Zhang Hua, Yuanshui County, Qianzhou, 21 years old... He was moved and realized that this might be the identity of the corpse in front of him.

"This tribute student..." He looked up at Chen Jin. Although he didn't finish his words, his meaning was clear.

"Suspected of cheating in the Spring Examination!" Chen Jin's voice was low and majestic, and every word seemed to carry heavy pressure.

Li Zhengxuan's expression froze, and he immediately asked, "What are your instructions, Eunuch Chen?"

"The Jingzhao Yin government office has records of three generations of the families of the tribute students who took the imperial examinations. I want them immediately!" Chen Jin's tone was firm and left no room for doubt.

"I'll do it right away!" Li Zhengxuan responded without hesitation, then turned around and ordered the prefect's chief clerk who followed him to check the files immediately.

Among the 3,000 students in the Imperial Examination Hall, all those whose examination papers were titled "On Rewarding Loyalty and Honesty" were taken to the imperial prison without exception.

The other tribute students filed out of the tribute hall gate one after another in the prescribed order.

The square in front of the Imperial Examination Hall was suddenly crowded with people, and some people dressed in scholars' clothes were mixed in with them. Their faces were full of anxiety and expectation, making it difficult to tell whether they were the tribute students taking the exam.

Suddenly, a loud shout cut through the chaos and noise.

"Where is Zhang Hua of Qianzhou?"

The sound spread like ripples, causing ripples among the crowd.

Immediately afterwards, the same call rang out again, each time more urgent than the last.

"Where is Zhang Hua of Qianzhou?"

"Can you see Zhang Hua from Qianzhou coming out of the Imperial Examination Hall?"

Some tribute students knew nothing about the name Zhang Hua. However, they gradually realized that the fellow candidates from their hometown who took the spring examination with them did not come out of the tribute hall.

"Has anyone seen Xie Zhicheng from Jining?" An anxious question came from the crowd.

"Look! It's the prison car from the imperial prison! I know the tribute student inside!" someone shouted in horror.

"When I was collecting the papers, I saw a tribute student on the high platform committing suicide. I heard him shouting, 'I'll change the questions at the last minute!' "One hand covers the sky!"

"Change the question? What's going on? Why did they suddenly change the question?" Doubt and anxiety quickly spread in front of the Imperial Examination Hall, and the crowd fell into chaos.

Xue Jiyan and Jiang Lun, who had just stepped out of the Imperial Examination Hall, were also separated by the surging crowd.

The students around were pushing and shoving each other in panic. Jiang Lun had no choice but to go home first. He looked around but could not find his carriage.

Although he was a little impatient, he was too lazy to wait any longer, so he decided to walk back to Jiang Mansion.

When he turned into the intersection of Xing'anfang, he was extremely surprised by the scene before him. In front of the gate of Jiang Mansion, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, stood a row of officials from the Jingzhao Yin. They all had serious expressions and the atmosphere was extremely tense.