Master From the King's Fort Chapter 16

In the Gengzi year of the third lunar month in the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, it was the day of the palace examination.

With the experience of the re-examination, all the candidates in the inn got up early. The servant boy was not flustered. He prepared hot water and asked the store owner for some steamed buns and hot cakes to fill the stomach of the gentlemen.

You can leave the palace in the afternoon for the re-examination, but the palace examination takes a whole day and you can leave the palace only at dusk.

The Imperial Examination Hall sent someone to inform that, except for writing materials and waist badges that indicated one's identity, no other items were allowed into the palace, not even steamed buns or snacks. If someone was caught, the consequences could be serious or minor. Seriously, it could be as serious as not being able to take part in the palace examination, and one could only blame oneself for one's bad luck.

The visitor's tone was particularly stern, and no one dared to take it lightly.