Wang San stared at the crowd at the entrance of the examination hall and said excitedly, "Young Master, Xue Xingzhao has finally arrived. I reckon he can't sit still any longer."
I'll proceed to the next step now.
I thought I'd have to wait a while, but this guy arrived so quickly.
It seems they'll be able to enter the examination hall soon. I hope nothing bad has happened to the princess.
Lu Cijian glanced at the wisps of smoke rising above the examination hall, nodded, and looked away from the window, saying, "Let's go, it's time to go in."
The show has already begun; if he doesn't go, how can it continue?
At this moment, inside the examination hall.
Lord Zhao stared wide-eyed at the pavilion not far from the examination hall, which was instantly engulfed in flames, his face filled with panic.
Seeing that the fire was about to spread to the examination room, he was furious and shouted, "You bastards, who started this fire? Quick, put out the fire!"
However, no one paid any attention to his hysteria.
The students inside the examination hall quickly surged out. The Imperial Guards who were fighting with Jiang Yimian had long been dispersed by the thousands of students and were mixed in with them. Even if they wanted to fight, they had no way to do so.
Seeing this, Jiang Yimian breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the fire broke out in time; otherwise, dealing with so many people would have been quite difficult.
The people Lu Cijian arranged were quite reliable.
Yang Qiguang finally made the right choice this time. Instead of acting like a coward, he disrupted the exam and let the students out of the exam room early. Even if the fire spreads, there will be no casualties.
Thinking it over, she immediately called out to everyone, "Leaving the examination hall and exposing the cheating is a good opportunity that we can't miss."
Upon hearing this, the students, who had been panicked by the sudden fire, instantly realized what was happening and hurriedly ran towards the entrance of the examination hall.
Seeing the students trying to leave the examination hall, Lord Zhao panicked and shouted, his face pale, "Stop! Stop! Anyone who dares to leave will be disqualified from the imperial examination!"
However, no matter how loudly he shouted, no one listened to him anymore.
Lord Zhao stared at the pavilion, now slumped to the ground, engulfed in flames, and murmured, "It's over, everything is over."
The situation at the entrance of the examination hall remained deadlocked, as Xue Xingzhao's words had prompted many to criticize the Censorate.
Zhang Yi was furious, but he was helpless and could only stare at the tightly closed gates of the examination hall, hoping that Lord Lu would arrive soon.
Just as he was worrying, he looked up and found something was wrong. Thick smoke was billowing up from above the examination hall. The dark, wispy smoke spread rapidly, as if it would engulf the entire examination hall.
The people outside naturally saw the thick smoke and were immediately terrified.
"Oh no, it's on fire! The examination hall is on fire!"
"That fire looks pretty big. I'm afraid the wind will set the entire examination hall ablaze in no time. What are we going to do? My son is still inside!"
"Yes, this is terrible. My husband was inside too. He finally got to participate in a scientific expedition, and now it's caught fire."
Upon seeing this, Zhang Yicai quickly said, "Lord Xue, the examination hall is on fire. Regardless of whether there was any cheating in the examination hall, the most important thing right now is to put out the fire and protect the safety of everyone in the examination hall."
If you still refuse to open the gates of the examination hall, the students and examiners inside will likely face certain death.
He was both happy and worried at the same time.
The good thing is that the fire started, and no matter how hard Xue Xingzhao guarded it, he couldn't keep the gates of the examination hall closed forever.
The concern is that such a large fire will surely cause heavy casualties among those inside.
Xue Xingzhao frowned slightly, glancing at the thick smoke billowing above the examination hall and cursing under his breath.
He didn't believe the fire was started accidentally; it burned so precisely that someone had clearly set a trap to get him to open the gates of the examination hall.
It seems that what Zhang Yi just said was true.
No one knows what happened inside, but the matter of the proxy exam was discovered. The person who knew everything was not killed by the people inside, but instead ran to the gate of the examination hall.
If he's not mistaken, things inside must be in complete chaos.
Given this, he was even less likely to open the gates of the examination hall.
Thinking it over, he said loudly, "Everyone, there's no need to worry. There are still many Imperial Guards inside the examination hall. They will supervise the firefighting efforts and will definitely prevent a major disaster."
Today is both the autumn imperial examination and something the students have been eagerly anticipating. If the fire inside is small, rushing in like this might actually disrupt the examination.
You are all family to the students here, and naturally you wouldn't want your loved ones' long-prepared autumn examinations to go to waste.
Hearing this, the people hesitated for a moment. They wanted their sons and husbands to pass the exam, but fate also played a part!
If the fire gets too big, everyone inside will die. How could they just stand by and watch their loved ones burn to death in the examination hall, yet they could do nothing about it?
Seeing the hesitation of the crowd, Xue Xingzhao continued, "All you can see outside is thick smoke. You don't know what actually happened. Perhaps I'm just overthinking it."
There's definitely nothing going on inside the examination hall. If something truly unsolvable were to happen, everyone inside would surely rush to the gates of the examination hall.
There's no movement inside, which means nothing's happened. Let's not scare ourselves unnecessarily.
He just hoped the fire inside would go out quickly, otherwise he would be forced to open the door.
It would be easy to explain if only one or two students died, but if they all died inside the examination hall, they would have no way to explain it.
That good-for-nothing Zhao Deyu can't even do something this simple.
Just then, a cold voice came from outside the crowd, carrying an intense chill.
"Lord Xue is far too heartless. At a time like this, he still utters such weak words to fool everyone. Anyone with eyes can see that with such thick smoke, how could it not be a fire?"
There are nearly a thousand people inside. If a problem arises, can Lord Xue really take responsibility?
Or is Lord Xue trying to cover up something unknown, intending to sacrifice those thousands of lives?
Lu Cijian, dressed in the official robes of the Censorate, walked out from the crowd with a cold expression. His aloofness made the crowd unconsciously make way for him.
The Censorate officials following behind him all had the same expression on their faces. From a distance, they didn't look like the civil officials of the Censorate, but rather like a group of ruthless military generals.
These words immediately sparked discontent among the crowd, who all questioned Xue Xingzhao's actions, arguing that he was showing a blatant disregard for human life.
Xue Xingzhao was furious as he listened to the criticism. His hands, hanging by his sides, clenched unconsciously. He gritted his teeth and said, "It seems that the Censorate has nothing to do today. Lord Lu really cares about the affairs of the Examination Hall."
That bastard! No wonder Zhang Yicai was so concerned about the examination hall today. The fire inside was also strange. Now it seems that it was all prepared by this person in front of us.
They must want to expose the cheating in the imperial examinations to the public.
How could he let this person succeed?
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