"Who!" Su Jin instinctively looked up.

There was complete silence all around, and no one responded.

The soft light from under the eaves of the cell cast a shadow on the ground. A crumpled piece of paper flew out of nowhere and landed just three feet in front of Su Jin's cell.

Su Jin looked up at the person opposite her and saw that the examinee was supporting his forehead with his hand. He couldn't see the expression on his face clearly. It looked like he was dozing off, or he looked like he was deep in thought.

Just then, someone coughed softly from next door.

Alarm bells rang in Su Jin's mind.

Oh no! Someone is cheating.

If you're going to cheat, then cheat, but don't let innocent bystanders suffer the consequences.

The crumpled paper just happened to bounce right in front of me, which is a big problem.

If the proctor finds out, it's like mud falling into your pants—even if it's not shit, it'll still look like shit.

What should I do? Su Jin was extremely anxious.

Every fifteen minutes, an invigilator would come to patrol, and perhaps by then a pair of eyes would already be watching.

Su Jin was torn between his conscience and his conscience. If he were to summon the examiners now, those officials with their tense faces and aloof demeanor would not be willing to listen to his explanation.

He leaned forward and looked at Zhen Jingxiu diagonally opposite him. He saw Zhen Jingxiu gesturing to him, meaning that he should kick the paper ball away.

The cells were brightly lit, and Zhen Jingxiu also saw the crumpled paper.

If you kick the paper ball away, you can reach it by stretching your legs, but what if a patrolling proctor happens to come at that moment?

It must be made to disappear without a trace, otherwise it will really cause trouble. If it is considered cheating, it will be expelled from the examination hall and banned from participating in the imperial examination for life.

Su Jin turned around and caught a glimpse of the fire tongs next to the stove, where a pot of tea was still warming.

Su Jin listened carefully to make sure there were no footsteps of the proctors outside.

He quickly got up, grabbed the fire tongs, squatted down, stretched out his arm, and with lightning speed, picked up the paper ball and put it into the stove.

Seeing that the charcoal fire in the stove had gone out, Su Jin placed the paper ball on a piece of unburnt wood and blew on it vigorously.

Just as the paper ball caught fire, an invigilator came to patrol outside.

Seeing Su Jin squatting in front of the stove, the proctor stopped and looked at Su Jin: "What are you doing?"

Su Jin glanced at the half-burnt paper ball in the stove, his heart pounding. He forced himself to remain calm, "The tea's gone cold, let's heat it up."

The people in the next cell all pricked up their ears to listen to what Su Jin was doing.

Zhen Jingxiu was secretly worried for Su Jin, but he only felt relieved when the proctor continued on his way.

Watching the paper balls turn to ashes, Su Jin even poked them in the stove with fire tongs to make sure the burned paper balls left no trace.

With the exam papers due tomorrow afternoon, Su Jin was eager to return home.

I finished answering all the questions and wrote a perfect essay. I hadn't showered or washed my hair for several days, and I could hardly stand the smell on my body.

After checking all the exam papers, Su Jin carefully collected them, wrapped them in a piece of clothing, and placed them on the food box under the bed.

It wasn't that he was petty; he just felt that his last night in the examination hall wouldn't be peaceful.

His older sister's words still echoed in his ears: to prevent anyone from colluding with the invigilator to switch the exam papers, caution is always a good thing.

He guessed that the crumpled paper, which appeared out of nowhere, was written by someone from a nearby cell to a certain examinee. He wondered whether the paper was propelled too far or not, causing it to bounce in front of him.

The people in the opposite cell stared wide-eyed at his outrageous antics.

After tidying up, Su Jin spread out her bedding and went to sleep.

Zhen Jingxiu also finished answering the questions ahead of time. Seeing that the candlelight in Su Jin's cell had gone out, he put the test papers on the table and placed them on the bed that had been made up.

After tidying up the bedding and taking off my outer robe to cover the exam paper, I finally felt at ease enough to go to sleep.

In the past, it was not uncommon for exam papers to be switched. This year was the first imperial examination after the new emperor ascended the throne. It was not that he did not trust the new emperor, but that he did not trust the officials in the examination hall.

Lin Xiangzhi's speed in solving problems was significantly slower than that of Su Jin and Zhen Jingxiu.

He had already written his policy essay, but he hadn't finished writing the couplets.

He's deep in thought right now.

At this time, he wasn't the only one doing his homework.

As night fell, the proctor, after patrolling once, yawned and went to relieve the night watchman.

It wasn't until 3:45 AM that Lin Xiangzhi finished writing the last question.

So far, only a few candidates have been unable to withstand the physical strain and left the examination room early; not a single case of cheating has been caught.

At 1:15 AM, the candidates who hadn't finished their exams went to sleep.

A night breeze blew by, causing the octagonal lanterns under the eaves of the cell to sway from side to side.

Several moths flew in from somewhere and fluttered around the lantern.

As night fell, two proctors emerged from the room where they were on duty; one was fat and the other thin.

One of the fat proctors said to the other, "The candidates are all exhausted by now. You go and rest. I'll go on a patrol."

Another proctor yawned and said in a low voice, "This isn't good. This is the last night. If something goes wrong, we'll all be in trouble."

"No problem, I've proctored the exam several times already. Nothing will happen on the last night."

The skinny guy was already extremely tired, and his words made him start to waver.

He instructed, "Check carefully, don't let them pass the answers under the cover of night."

Seeing his colleague turn and enter the duty room, the man subconsciously clenched his wide sleeves, then strode forward.

When he reached the last cell, he gently tapped the wooden board.

Hearing the noise, the examinees in the cell jumped out of bed.

The proctor glanced around, took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it over, lowering his voice to say, "Copy it quickly tonight, and burn it before dawn."

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