Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

The reporters had already begun lining up, preparing to enter.

Fang Zheng Yi, on the other hand, went directly to meet with the Outer Curtain Official in charge outside the venue.

The Outer Curtain Official was a temporary official responsible for matters outside the examination hall, and also for some matters inside, such as distributing and collecting papers.

Upon seeing Fang Zheng Yi approaching him unhurriedly, the Outer Curtain Official immediately greeted him, anxiously saying, "Lord Fang! Why are you only arriving now!"

"Lord Zhang and the others arrived long ago! You're the only one missing?"

Fang Zheng Yi asked in confusion, "Huh? You recognize me? Waiting for me for what? I'm only responsible for proctoring! Don't even think about assigning me work!"

The Outer Curtain Official gave a wry smile, "I've seen you in the palace before! I don't know what you're talking about... They're urging me to find you inside! Please go in quickly!"

Fang Zheng Yi nodded, just as he was about to go with him, a burst of commotion suddenly came from behind him, and he couldn't help but turn around to look.

The Outer Curtain Official also glanced over, proactively explaining, "Oh! It's probably some students trying to bring non-compliant items inside. This kind of thing happens often, it should be resolved in a moment. Lord Fang, let's go!"

Fang Zheng Yi's expression became somewhat twisted as he watched.

Why were all the onlookers newspaper reporters? Was it an occupational hazard?

Or had his own reporter gotten into an argument with the inspecting clerk?

Filled with doubt, Fang Zheng Yi shook off the Outer Curtain Official and walked straight towards the crowd. The Outer Curtain Official hurriedly followed.

Taking a closer look, it was indeed someone from the newspaper! It was Shen Yi.

Perhaps due to the chaos, he had been jostled and pushed, and he sat slumped on the ground, dejectedly picking up the scattered items on the ground.

Fang Zheng Yi quickly helped him up, facing the clerk and angrily saying, "What is the situation! Why did you push the student participating in the examination to the ground!"

Seeing their backbone arrive, the reporters began chattering, telling Fang Zheng Yi about what had just happened.

"Lord Fang! They said that the things we brought were not up to standard and wanted to throw them away, otherwise they wouldn't let us in!"

"Where is it not up to standard! He can inspect however he wants, we haven't smuggled anything in at all!"

"That's right! There's no rule against bringing something to eat! He pushed Shen Yi down!"

The clerk didn't recognize Fang Zheng Yi, but seeing him wearing official robes, he was obviously no ordinary person, and he quickly defended himself, "This lord! I didn't do it on purpose! There were too many people just now, and they surrounded me... I accidentally... It's just that their things don't comply with the rules! And they insisted on going in!"

Seeing him joining in the fun, the Outer Curtain Official also stepped forward anxiously saying, "Lord Fang! These trivial matters can be left for them to resolve! This kind of situation happens every time, it's very normal."

"No! You have to tell me where it's not compliant? How can students participate in the examination without bringing something to eat! Will you be responsible if they don't do well on the exam!" Fang Zheng Yi pointed at Shen Yi and said loudly.

The food the reporters carried was all what he had prepared, there was no way there would be anything non-compliant!

The meals in the examination cells were only twice a day, and the food was so poor and meager that one usually couldn't eat more than a few mouthfuls before it was gone, so usually everyone prepared their own dry rations.

In order to prevent smuggling, the large chunks of dry food that examinees carried, such as flatbreads, would also be chopped up for inspection.

He had already asked people in advance about the eggs and jerky snacks he had prepared, and they were perfectly fine to bring into the examination hall!

The clerk, seeing his aggressive appearance, dared not answer.

The Outer Curtain Official had obviously seen Fang Zheng Yi in action before, stepped forward and grabbed Shen Yi's basket, saying, "Lord Fang, I'll inspect it! Let's go quickly after the inspection!"

Saying that, he opened the cloth cover of the basket, and various things immediately came into view. The variety of items inside left the Outer Curtain Official dumbfounded!

He pinched out a square-shaped thing and asked Shen Yi, "What is this?"

Shen Yi smacked his lips, as if savoring the taste of this thing: "This is called instant noodles, fried noodles."

These instant noodles were specially prepared by Fang Zheng Yi for the reporters, finding a dozen old women to weave the noodles and fry them uniformly. The reporters had already eaten a wave in advance, and they all expressed their praise!

"This... This... This is not compliant!" The Outer Curtain Official had obviously never seen instant noodles before, and this alone made it non-compliant!

Fang Zheng Yi snatched the noodle cake and said, "How is it not compliant! Look... These noodles are clearly distinct, how could there be smuggling! Compliant!"

The Outer Curtain Official carefully looked at it twice, muttered a few times, knowing that he couldn't win against him, and said helplessly, "Alright, alright, alright! Consider it compliant!"

Then he lowered his head, took out a strip of jerky, and smelled it.

Fang Zheng Yi frowned: "Are you greedy!?"

The Outer Curtain Official's face flushed red, stammering, "It's not... Why does this have a beef smell..."

Fang Zheng Yi also pretended to smell it twice, and said seriously: "This is duck jerky!"

"Duck jerky?" The Outer Curtain Official looked blank.

"Yes! Duck meat! You haven't eaten beef before, have you! What does it matter what meat it is! Does it have anything to do with the exam!"

"Uh... Okay... Okay!"

The Outer Curtain Official was at a loss. He had proctored twice, but he had never seen anyone bring so many fancy things!

Fang Zheng Yi approached him, pointing to the things in the basket, counting them off like treasures: "This is cut cake! This is shrimp stick! This is seasoning! This is sachima..."

The onlookers were all dumbfounded, looking down at the raw rice and flatbread they had brought, feeling a burst of sorrow in their hearts...

The Outer Curtain Official swallowed hard. Was this coming to take the exam, or was this coming for an outing!

Then he pinched out two black, hard things from the basket and asked Shen Yi, "What are these again? These aren't for eating, are they? If they're unrelated to the exam, they'll be thrown away!"

Shen Yi pinched his chin, looking at them for a moment: "They're abalone, dried abalone."

Everyone around had their jaws drop, all staring blankly at the two pieces of dried abalone, a burst of various emotions churning in their hearts.

"........."

The Outer Curtain Official was silent for a moment before finally exploding, unable to restrain himself from roaring: "Why the hell are you bringing abalone to the exam! ! ! What is your purpose in coming to the examination hall! !"

Fang Zheng Yi hurriedly patted him on the shoulder, comforting him: "What's the rush, what's the rush... Aren't there cooks and soldiers inside the examination hall to help the examinees cook? People want to eat abalone, are you not going to let them? There doesn't seem to be such a rule."

"No! There! Isn't!" The Outer Curtain Official squeezed out two words from between his teeth, bracing himself to continue the inspection, and then he felt a package of things that looked like paper, colorful, grabbed a handful and held it in front of Shen Yi, angrily saying: "This can't be for eating, can it!"

"Sir, this is called freeze-dried vegetables, it can be turned into fresh vegetables with a soak in water... The student prepared to have the soldiers help me cook some when I boil the noodles, so the taste wouldn't be too monotonous," Shen Yi honestly said.

Outer Curtain Official: "⊙.⊙ ........."

Fang Zheng Yi smiled triumphantly.

The dehydrated vegetables were made by having the servants in the manor cut them into slices and placing them on the stove while fanning them, not much different from the dehydrated vegetables of later generations, just taking a little more effort.

He was indeed very attentive this time to make sure the reporters ate well!