On the night before the exam, the prince suddenly came to visit Yan's house, and Yan Wenjing was shocked.

If people of their status wanted to visit, they would usually ask the servant to give them a message in advance. If they suddenly came to visit, it was most likely for something important.

The prince followed Yan Wenjing to the study. After dismissing the servants, he said straight to the point, "Teacher, I came to see you tonight because I have something to ask of you."

Hearing this, Yan Wenjing's heart, which was already hanging in the air, began to beat wildly.

Ah, no way!

The prince is such a sensible person, but he actually comes to him to ask for such a thing?

Ever since Yan Wenjing was appointed as the chief examiner, he was most afraid of someone coming to him for help.

Because usually they ask him to reveal the exam questions or to give them easy scores during the exam.

Thinking of this, Yan Wenjing shook his head like a wave drum.

"Your Highness, you have been my student for ten years, so you should understand my character. What do you think of me?"

"Don't say it, don't say it, I will never agree to it!"

Yan Wenjing's tone was so firm that the prince was stunned.

The prince calmed down and said gently, "Teacher, you may have misunderstood me."

Yan Wenjing raised his head and ignored the prince.

The prince continued, "I just want to ask you, could you please send more people to this examination to pay more attention to the candidates' ink?"

Yan Wenjing's frown instantly relaxed, and then he showed a surprised expression.

"What? Ink!"

The prince nodded: "Yes, ink."

"I think about how, in previous exams, there were always candidates whose scores were invalidated because their papers were stained with ink, and three years of hard work was wasted. It was such a pity."

"Especially, some candidates are very knowledgeable and rare talents."

"Just because the test paper was dirty, I lost the opportunity to serve as an official in the court."

"This is not only a regret for them, but also a regret for Daxia."

"If you're a poor student, you might never have the chance to take the exam again. You'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Only then did Yan Wenjing realize that he had just misunderstood the prince. His old face felt a little embarrassed, slightly flushed, and his tone became much softer.

"Your Highness, what you said is indeed true. I have actually lamented about this group of people."

"So, what does the prince want?"

The prince looked into the teacher's eyes and said, "As the chief examiner, could you please order the examination staff to pay more attention to the candidates' ink?"

"They can increase the frequency of patrols, especially when they see tired and sleepy candidates, so they can wake them up in time, let them put away their inkstones, and lie down on their bunks to sleep."

Yan Wenjing nodded appreciatively: "Well, this method is feasible. The exam will start tomorrow, and I will instruct the examination staff."

After the prince left, Yan Wenjing pondered the specific details for a while before going to sleep.

The next morning, as soon as he arrived at the Imperial Examination Hall, he called together a meeting of his deputy examiners and more than a hundred clerks who were responsible for maintaining order in the examination room.

At the meeting, he asked the clerks to supervise the candidates and place the inkstone to their upper left to avoid ink staining the test papers as much as possible.

In addition, Yan Wenjing also instructed them to strengthen patrols and not be lazy.

Any candidate who dozed off should be woken up or asked to sleep in their own bunks to avoid spilling ink while dozing off.

If an inkstone was knocked over in the examination room, the clerks would be fined ten taels of silver for each time it happened.

If no inkstones were spilled during the entire exam, he would reward them with money from his own pocket and treat them to a good meal.

When the clerks heard the examiner's new requirements, although they were somewhat dissatisfied, they did not dare to disobey.

The test papers were distributed to the candidates and the exam began.

The imperial examination would last for two days and one night. Candidates would bring their own bedding and dry food and stay in their own small cubicles until the end of the examination before they could leave.

It was the daytime of the first day, and the candidates were in good spirits, each of them writing down their answers with high energy.

The clerks in the examination hall also took turns patrolling diligently. For fear of having their wages deducted, none of them dared to slack off or be lazy.

As the sun set in the afternoon, the candidates began to feel sleepy one after another.

The clerks would promptly wake up the sleepy candidates and let them lie down and rest.

Everything went smoothly and uneventfully on the first day.

By the afternoon of the next day, the candidates were already very tired after two days and one night of high mental tension.

Zhu Qi had already finished answering two test papers at this time. He casually put the test papers aside and simply lay down on the table to take a nap.

He himself was not very interested in taking the imperial examinations to become an official. If his family had not been very obsessed with the imperial examinations, he would not have wanted to go to Beijing to take the exam.

It's so great to deal with all kinds of people and make money by doing business.

At the same time, the two minor officials in charge of inspecting Zhuqi's area were sitting on their chairs and slacking off.

Clerk A said, "Go and walk around a few times. My feet are sore and painful."

Clerk B said, "My feet hurt too, and last night I worked an extra hour than you."

Just as the two clerks were whispering to each other, Zhu Qi fell asleep on the table and snored loudly.

Clerk A: "Hey? Listen, is there snoring?"

Clerk B immediately shut his mouth and listened attentively, and sure enough, he could hear bursts of snoring coming towards him.

The two clerks followed the sound and walked over, only to see Zhu Qi lying on the table in a relaxed manner, his face pressed against the table and his saliva dripping out.

His body tilted and his left arm stretched out straight.

It looked like the outstretched left hand was about to knock over the inkstone, and if the ink in the inkstone spilled out, it would most likely spill onto the paper.

"Oh no!" shouted Clerk A.

While shouting, he rushed to Zhu Qi and pushed Zhu Qi away.

Clerk B also rushed over and grabbed the inkstone on the table in his arms.

The two clerks calmed down, looked at the test papers on the table and saw that they were safe and sound, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Clerk B hugged the inkstone and cursed in a low voice, "Damn it! I almost lost ten taels of silver. I almost lost the feast too."

After being pushed so hard by the clerk, Zhu Qi fell directly onto the bunk behind him.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Qi rubbed his eyes and asked blankly.

"You are lucky, kid. If we brothers hadn't been quick-witted, your paper would have been dirty and you would have failed this time." said Clerk A.

Zhu Qi looked at the paper and then at the inkstone in the hands of the clerk B. He understood about 80% of what was said and hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude.

In another area of ​​the examination room, Wei Chong finished the second test paper with full confidence.

He took the two test papers with neat handwriting and no corrections in their hands, looked at them, and smiled with satisfaction.

God really blesses him.

For him, the questions on the test paper were as easy as taking candy from a baby.