The first exam lasted three days. As evening approached, the examiners struck a gong, and the soldiers shouted at the entrance of each row of houses, "The first exam of the imperial examination is over. Please hand in your papers now."

Many people began to panic. Although the exam was over, many people were still writing as quickly as possible.

But the more you rush and get flustered, the greater the chance of making mistakes.

Meng Yunzheng was quite quiet. After the exam papers were collected, he was the first to leave the room while the others were still packing up.

Once outside, my hands and feet, which had been restless for days, finally felt like they could be straightened.

He walked out along the passageway and saw many candidates looking worried. He was the first to line up at the gate of the examination hall.

A large crowd had already gathered outside the examination hall, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their family members who were taking the exam. Some of the wealthier families had even prepared blankets, hot water, and food.

The gates of the examination hall opened, and Meng Yunzheng, carrying things in both hands, was the first to walk out.

Shu Yu was quite close to the gate, so she guessed he must have come out earlier, but she didn't expect him to be the first one to leave.

Her eyes lit up slightly, and she quickly called to Zhao Xi and Xia Yan beside her, "Quick, the person is out."

Xia Yan ran up to him and slowly exhaled when he saw his appearance.

Zhao Xi patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You look pretty good. I heard that the imperial examination was very demanding, and you couldn't eat or sleep well. But you don't look as terrible as the rumors say."

He had just finished speaking when a gasp of surprise suddenly came from behind him.

"The person has fainted! Quick, get them to a doctor!"

Zhao Xi suddenly turned his head and saw a candidate being carried away, his face pale.

He paused for a moment, then looked at the candidates who were walking out one after another, all of them looking dejected.

Looking at Meng Yunzheng's rosy complexion and upright posture, one instantly gets the illusion that 'he is not human'.

Meng Yunzheng glanced at him sideways, took the hot soup that Shu Yu handed him, and drank two mouthfuls.

Although he felt alright, he was indeed tired. The examination room was only so big, and it wasn't comfortable to sleep at night.

Now, after a couple of sips of hot soup, I feel much more relaxed.

Shu Yu then took a hot towel and wiped his face. "How do you feel?"

"It's great, thanks to the oilcloth you prepared for me, otherwise it would have been troublesome."

Shu Yu was delighted. She knew Meng Yunzheng was just flattering her, making it sound like she'd suffered a great loss without the oilcloth she'd prepared. She didn't believe he'd overlooked that.

The group stood at the entrance of the examination hall for a while, and then they saw Xun Sheng come out.

He didn't look well either; his body was trembling slightly when he walked up to Meng Yunzheng.

Meng Yunzheng frowned and said to Zhao Xi, "Take a look at him."

After taking his pulse for a while, Zhao Xi said, "He has caught a cold."

"I didn't sleep well the night before entering the examination room, and I haven't been able to sleep at all these past two days." Xun Sheng's lips were pale as he smiled bitterly. "The roof of the room I was assigned to has a small leak, and my bedding was wet last night."

Everyone was speechless. Your luck is truly exceptionally bad.

These days, the exam halls are in very poor condition. After all, the exam is held only once every three years, and the hall is sealed off after the exam and reopened three years later.

Therefore, if some parts of the examination hall are damaged, they may not be repaired in time.

Therefore, the first thing candidates did upon entering the examination hall was to tidy up their rooms, but it was hard to tell that Xun Sheng's roof was leaking.