A Clap of Thunder

As the strips of paper being pasted onto the exams only differed very slightly in length, one would not notice anything unusual at just a glance. But if you were one of the officials making copies, who knew what was going on, you would be able to notice the difference. After Fan Xian saw that Yang Wanli's scroll had been affixed with a short strip of paper, he inexplicably felt quite pleased. He shook his head and laughed and couldn't help but say something. "Even if they've been chosen, when they're being copied out, how do you make the seal?"

The official next to him laughed a little uneasily. He knew that this new guy didn't have a good understanding of the customs, and responded carefully. "Young Master Fan, when copying, as long as the characters have been written with skill, then the examiner marking the papers will understand."