Plop.
A drop of ink fell from the tip of the brush, bleeding across the Xuan paper.
Fang Li reached out and crumpled the ink-stained sheet into a ball.
He took a deep breath and looked ahead.
This was a cramped examination cubicle, barely large enough for a desk and one person. It was covered on all sides, solidly built; while it kept out wind and rain, it also left little room to stretch.
A passageway lay before the seat, with two large chamber pots on either side, giving off a foul, nauseating stench.
He would remain here for several days, eating, drinking, and relieving himself all within this space, until the Prefectural Examination ended.
The Education Inspector and several officials, dressed in official robes, sat upon a raised platform at the northernmost end of the examination cubicles. Before them, lamps blazed brightly, along with tea and a selection of seasonal fruits.
Outside, more than twenty saber-bearing soldiers stood scattered around the examination cubicles, while over a dozen constables guarded the entrance and inspected the entering examinees. Other than brushes, ink, inkstones, paper, and water jars, nothing else was permitted.
At his ears came the sounds of people in the neighboring cubicles writing furiously.
"Phew."
Fang Li drew a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
The great Prefectural Examination gathered all the young scholars of Yan Province—over a thousand people!
Everyone who had made it here had fought their way through every hurdle and made a name for themselves in the county examination!
There were countless people like him, those hailed as possessing divine wisdom.
A gathering of heroes, a hundred boats racing for the current!
The next moment—
"Phew."
Fang Li let out the breath in his chest, then abruptly opened his eyes.
A sharp gleam flashed through