"Time's up. Lay down your pens."
As the chief eunuch called out, everyone silently set down their pens.
The officials sitting to the side all put down their teacups. It was their turn to take the stage.
Once the eunuchs had collected all the examination papers, the candidates filed out of the grand hall.
The eunuchs at the side were already working efficiently. They gathered the papers into bundles of ten, covered the names of the candidates, and bound them securely.
"You will review the papers in pairs."
Hua Shunming had already made arrangements; he wasn't worried about anyone showing bias after recognizing the handwriting.
After they finished their initial grading, he had them swap papers and grade them again, reducing the possibility of collusion.
Besides, there was one final hurdle: he would personally make the final decision on the best papers. Any attempt at opportunism was utterly impossible.
