On the first day of the eighth month, just before the autumn imperial examinations began. The entrance to the examination hall was crowded with candidates preparing to enter for the test.

The Liang Dynasty held autumn examinations every two years, and this year coincided with the imperial grace examination. The autumn examination consisted of three sessions, each lasting three days. Beyond scholarly knowledge, it was also a significant test of physical endurance.

Before the carriage, Madam Dong held Dong Lin’s hand, looking him up and down while muttering, “Isn’t your clothing too thin? I heard it’s very cold in the examination cells, without even a charcoal brazier. What if you catch a chill in the autumn cold?”

Dong Lin, pampered since childhood, was uncomfortable at the prospect of staying in an examination cell for nine days and seven nights, which greatly worried Madam Dong.

“Mother, I’ll be fine,” Dong Lin felt slightly awkward. Among the many candidates coming and going at the examination gate, he was the only one who arrived in a carriage with a large group of servants, making him stand out conspicuously.

“I’m just worried about you. Once you enter the examination hall, you can’t come out until it’s over. What if you get hungry or cold inside? Shengquan,” Madam Dong called to the guard beside her, “Check young master’s examination basket again, make sure nothing is missing.”

“Yes, madam.”

At that moment, a scholar passing by witnessed this scene of mother-son affection and became lost in thought.

Wu Youcai stood frozen in place.

In past years, his mother would also send him to the examination gate like this, with endless instructions. She never worried about whether his essays were good or if he could become an official. What she mentioned most, what concerned her most, was whether the examination cell would be cold, if he had enough clothes, if he would go hungry.

Finally, she would smile and say, “Mother will wait for you to finish the exam!”

But now, there was no one at home waiting for his return, and there would no longer be a mother’s loving reminders at the examination gate.

Someone patted his shoulder: “Youcai!”

Wu Youcai turned to see an elderly scholar wearing a split blue cotton robe, a square cap, a graying beard, and a yellow and thin face, carrying an old examination basket. He was startled, “Old Master Xun?”

He knew this person, an old teacher who lived near the temple entrance. Already past seventy, he had been taking the examinations since coming of age, never passing once. Wu Youcai had heard his health had been deteriorating in recent years, making walking difficult, yet surprisingly he still came for this year’s autumn examination.

“I saw you from afar,” Old Master Xun’s white beard quivered as he smiled, his wrinkled face breaking into a grin, “I just saw your examination cell number on the registry, it’s next to mine. That’s good fortune – perhaps we’ll both pass this time.”

Wu Youcai watched his trembling steps without speaking.

Old Master Xun didn’t notice his unusual expression, only gazing at the young candidates coming and going around them, his eyes revealing a trace of longing and envy.

The time had come, and the examiners began urging everyone forward. The candidates entered the main gate together, their examination baskets checked for writing materials before being led to their cells.

The examination cells faced south in rows, sixty-six in total. Wu Youcai was assigned to a cell in the middle, with Old Master Xun in the adjacent cell. Near the entrance, Old Master Xun mysteriously told him, “Write well. I had an auspicious dream the other day – this year, you and I will surely pass together!”

Wu Youcai only smiled, carrying his basket into the cell.

In the distance, the main gate of the examination hall closed.

The examination cells were like a hidden behemoth in the capital, silently swallowing countless scholars in its stillness.

The autumn examination had three sessions of three days each: the first tested the Four Books and Five Classics, the second tested policy questions, and the third tested poetry and prose. During the examination period, candidates ate, drank, and relieved themselves all within their cells, not allowed to leave.

Wu Youcai sat in his cell, looking at the opened examination paper before him. He carefully read through everything, and like he had done for the past twelve years, picked up his brush and began writing his answers.

Time passed slowly, the sky above the examination hall changed from light to dark, then dark to light again.

There were two session changes in between. During the final change after the policy questions, a fine rain began falling outside.

It was the third watch of the night, and Wu Youcai waited with other candidates for the examiners to call cell numbers for the change.

The sky was gloomy, the night dark as ink, making it impossible to distinguish faces. There were guard rooms beside the cells, with dense woods in front where shadows moved faintly. Perhaps because Wu Youcai still had energy that day, his vision was remarkably clear in the cold rain, allowing him to see people changing clothes and hiding in the dark woods in front of the guard rooms.

When roll call began, the named person didn’t respond but quietly retreated into the shadow of the bushes. Then another person emerged, took the tall hat and outer robe of the called person, and walked out pretending to be them.

The originally named person had been fat, while the person who came out was short and thin.

In that instant, Wu Youcai understood everything.

He opened his mouth to shout but suddenly remembered Lu Tong’s words.

“You’re insignificant, and the corrupt officials work together. They might find an excuse to arrest you, keep you until after the autumn examination, and by then the evidence would be gone.”

He fell silent abruptly.

What good would shouting do?

There were two chief examiners, four associate examiners, one superintendent, and several patrol examiners managing the autumn examination. With so many people, how could they not notice the exam substitutes?

The main gate had been closed and wouldn’t open until the examination ended. Without prior approval, how could these substitutes get in? Even if he shouted now, the chief examiner could easily find an excuse to arrest him. Though his words might raise suspicion among other candidates, the examination wasn’t over, and no one would risk their future over such doubts.

He couldn’t continue with the examination either.

The autumn rain soaked the hem of his robe as Wu Youcai stood motionless, a bitter smile crossing his lips.

He looked into the distance where two richly dressed chief examiners sat comfortably under a shelter, legs crossed, leisurely sipping their tea.

In the darkness, it seemed a woman in white silk sat far away, smiling at him.

“If it were me…”

“Of course, kill him.”

Kill him.

The sharp corner of the paper package in his sleeve hurt his finger. Wu Youcai suddenly came to his senses, slowly gripping the small package in his palm.

The autumn rain continued falling, hitting people drop by drop as if to seep bitterness into their hearts. The roll call had ended, and Wu Youcai followed the snake-like line of candidates into his newly assigned dark cell, like walking into a grave already cast for him.

The final session tested poetry and prose.

This should have been Wu Youcai’s strongest subject, yet he didn’t pick up his brush, only sitting at the desk staring at the copper lamp in the narrow cell.

His clothes were slightly wet from the rain earlier. Wu Youcai didn’t mind; these clothes were sewn by his mother twelve years ago before his first examination, using red coarse silk fabric for good luck. After twelve years, the collar and cuffs had been worn through time, but he couldn’t bear to take them apart for mending because they held the traces of his mother’s old stitches.

He sat quietly in the cell for a very long time, until the eastern sky began to whiten and faint cock crows could be heard from the distant market. Only then did he slowly pick up his brush and begin writing on the examination paper before him.

He wrote very slowly, each stroke and character with extreme care, his expression almost reverent, yet looking closer, there was a desolation of one who had finished with everything.

After the final stroke, Wu Youcai withdrew his hand and set the brush aside.

He lifted the paper, bringing it close to carefully read through once, then set it down again and looked into the distance.

Outside the cell window, the sky had brightened. This autumn examination was almost over. Soon, the examiners would collect the papers, and the futures of those in these sixty-six cells would be determined.

Wu Youcai took out the small paper package from his sleeve.

He smiled calmly, then opened the package in his hand.

…

In the adjacent cell not far away, Old Master Xun put down his brush and rubbed his trembling hand.

He was very old now, perhaps unable to last until the next examination, but taking the autumn examination had become an obsession in his heart after so many years. He had no children, never married, and his parents were long deceased. It seemed his entire purpose in this world was to seek scholarly honor.

There were countless scholars like him in this world.

However, for those of humble birth who wished to rise above their station, this seemed the most direct and promising method.

A satisfied smile spread across Old Master Xun’s weathered face.

Perhaps that dream he had some days ago was truly prophetic. He felt he had written exceptionally well in all three sessions this year. Maybe it proved the saying from the books, “Those who persevere long will soar high.” After all these busy years, he might taste the sweetness of scholarly success before being laid to rest.

Old Master Xun put his completed examination paper aside and took out some dried provisions from his basket.

Before the session change, candidates had received provisions from the examiners for the next two days. There were some baked flatbreads and sweet cakes that tasted quite good. Afraid of running short on time, Old Master Xun hadn’t eaten earlier. Now that he had finished writing and was just waiting for the examiner to collect the papers, he relaxed and finally felt his hunger pangs.

He had just taken a bite of flatbread when suddenly a piercing cry rang out nearby: “Poison! Someone has poisoned us! Help—”

The sudden sound was like a thunderclap in the quiet examination hall, startling Old Master Xun so much that his hand trembled and the flatbread rolled to the floor.

He didn’t bother picking it up, instead pushing the cell window outward and stretching up to try to see outside.

To prevent cheating, each examination cell was locked, even the windows had iron bars that only allowed them to open halfway.

Through the half-open window, he could see clearly in the early morning light. In the empty courtyard of the examination hall, a figure in crimson clothes had rolled out, ending up in the middle of the yard. The person appeared so suddenly that neither the associate examiners nor the chief examiners had time to react. Old Master Xun wondered if this person had broken down their cell door to escape—but breaking out would invalidate their examination results, wouldn’t it have been a waste of a year’s effort?

The next moment, the man’s anguished cry rang out again.

“Fellow candidates, someone has poisoned the provisions, the food is poisoned—”

The provisions are poisoned?

As if to prove his words, the rolling figure gradually slowed, his limbs convulsing as he vomited black blood, leaving a horrifying dark stain on the ground.

Old Master Xun froze, unconsciously looking at the fallen flatbread on the floor, a chill suddenly running through his heart.

The examination hall provisions were distributed uniformly. In earlier years, candidates brought their food, but due to the dampness of the cells, some food would quickly spoil. Later, the Ministry of Rites arranged for the examination hall to provide provisions during the autumn examinations.

If this person said the provisions were poisoned, then these…

Old Master Xun suddenly withdrew his hand, throwing aside the examination basket as if avoiding snakes and scorpions.

The cakes and bread scattered across the floor with a clatter.

Chaotic shouts suddenly erupted from the surrounding cells—at this time, most had finished their examinations, and seeing this tragic scene, the candidates couldn’t help but feel terrified.

Old Master Xun pressed his hand to his chest, his heart racing, breathing rapidly. At this inappropriate moment, a strange thought crossed his mind—that shouting voice sounded familiar as if he had heard it somewhere before.

Thinking this, he tremblingly pushed open the cell window again, gathering his courage to look at the person lying on the ground.

Crimson clothes, square cap, small build—the person lay there, head tilted, blood from their mouth pooling beneath them.

Their eyes were wide open, an expression of agony frozen on their face, skin turned a ghastly blue like a rigid corpse, their lifeless eyes meeting Old Master Xun’s directly.

Old Master Xun’s breath caught.

A moment later, he cried out, clutching his chest.

“You-Youcai—”

…

The Renxin Medical Shop opened after the hour of Si.

After the beginning of autumn, the days grew shorter and nights longer. Except for breakfast vendors, the shopkeepers on West Street opened later.

Yin Zheng was wiping the medicinal tea jars on the counter when the young apprentice from the tailor shop across the street came running, shouting as he ran, “Something’s happened, something’s happened at the examination hall!”

Tailor Sun, holding a bowl while rinsing his mouth, turned to ask, “What happened?”

“People from the guard station were saying they heard a scholar died in the examination hall. They say someone poisoned the examination cells. It’s complete chaos right now!”

Yin Zheng’s hand trembled, dropping a medicinal tea jar that rolled to the floor.

“Heavens above,” Mrs. Song from the silk shoe shop came out hearing the commotion, “Aren’t they all students taking exams in there? Who would poison students?”

“I don’t know,” the apprentice scratched his head, “Word’s spreading outside the examination hall, but they won’t let anyone in until the proper time. No one knows what’s happening.”

Yin Zheng’s face changed color. Without further thought, she lifted the felt curtain and entered the small courtyard. It was still early, Du Changqing and Acheng hadn’t arrived, and Miss Xia Rongrong and her servant were still in their rooms.

In the courtyard, Lu Tong was collecting dried medicinal herbs into wooden baskets.

Yin Zheng hurried to Lu Tong’s side, her voice trembling.

“Miss, terrible news! They’re saying a candidate died in the examination hall!”

Lu Tong’s movements suddenly stopped.

“You say a candidate died?” Her expression changed abruptly, “Oh no!”

Seeing her reaction, Yin Zheng grew more anxious: “How did it become a candidate? Could Scholar Wu have poisoned the wrong person…”

“No,” Lu Tong put down the wooden basket, various emotions flickering in her eyes, “He took the poison himself.”

Wu Youcai wouldn’t kill the chief examiner, nor would he harm others. The only possibility was that he used the poison on himself.

She had incited Wu Youcai to kill the chief examiner, taking advantage of his resentment and anger. Yet when pushed to the extreme, Wu Youcai chose to poison himself instead.

In an instant, Lu Tong understood this scholar’s intention.

The final session was nearly over, family members were already waiting outside the examination hall, and the candidates inside were restless. For this news to spread from within the examination hall, it must have caused quite a commotion.

For Wu Youcai, it seemed his goal was achieved. As long as he created a disturbance that drew people’s attention, perhaps there would be a chance to investigate the examination fraud.

But the death of an unknown scholar would create very different waves in the capital than the death of a chief examiner. Until the examination hall gates opened, no one would know the truth inside, and with the autumn examination still ongoing, there was enough time to smooth over this ripple.

Wu Youcai had thought too simply.

Yin Zheng was panicked: “Miss, what should we do now?”

Lu Tong comforted her: “Don’t panic.” After a moment’s thought: “Go to the Dong family right away.”

“The Dong family?”

Lu Tong nodded, whispering a few words in Yin Zheng’s ear. Finally, Yin Zheng looked at Lu Tong, hesitant: “Will this work?”

The morning sun was glaring, making even Lu Tong’s eyes blur.

She looked up at the distant sky, murmuring.

“Who knows? Let’s try.”

[Note: This is an alternate history, with adjusted autumn examination rules~]