He looked at Pei Kai sitting beside him.
He Shao very much wanted to curse him out, but looking at Pei Kai, who stood a full head taller than himself, he chose to let him off for now.
The two had been locked in the same cell.
He Shao had never been anywhere with such dreadful conditions. The stench all around made him gag, and there seemed to be rats scurrying in the distance. At that moment, He Shao suddenly began to regret it. Why had he led his men into a fight with these people?
All at once, even breathing felt difficult, and he could neither sit nor stand at ease.
In stark contrast, Pei Kai looked perfectly unruffled.
Pei Kai sat calmly in the prison, without so much as another glance at He Shao.
Seeing his reaction, He Shao managed to calm himself as well and studied this celebrated young scholar.
For people like them, becoming famous young was actually no great difficulty. Those with their family backgrounds generally earned a reputation early; a few words of appraisal from a renowned scholar would suffice.
But Pei Kai was genuinely different. His fame came not from appraisals, but from his attainments in classical studies.
At his age, he had already mastered both the Laozi and the Book of Changes, grasping the Daoist School and the Confucian School in either hand. He had forged his reputation through debate and scholarship, unlike someone such as He Shao, who relied on appraisals from relatives.
He Shao had not paid attention before, but now that he studied Pei Kai closely, he found it rather hard to look away.
This dog bastard was so fucking handsome!
He Shao was furious inside.
Being learned was one thing, and being famous was another, but why did