They watched Fu Zhiyun return looking somewhat surprised and bewildered, but she went first to Pei Ye's desk. "...Fellow student Pei, fellow student Changsun asked me to give you this."
"Huh?"
The boy looked up, slightly startled, and accepted the neatly folded note.
Fu Zhiyun nodded and left. Pei Ye curiously unfolded the paper, and a line of neat, upright little characters met his eyes: "Fellow student Pei, the young lord read your essay and called you 'sword-eyed and snow-spirited.' He said it was very well written."
Pei Ye froze in astonishment, caught for a moment between feeling overwhelmed by the honor and wondering whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Then his gaze moved farther down:
"Unfortunately, you are somewhat unfamiliar with certain words. The young lord instructed me to tell you, Fellow Student Pei, to copy out the 'Biography of Xu Chu' from the Records of the Three Kingdoms ten times."
Below that was another line of small writing:
"...I'm sorry, fellow student Pei. I was the one who reminded you to add your name."
Pei Ye stared blankly at that sentence for a while, then his expression abruptly changed. He jerked his head up to look toward the front. Changsun Jue had also been looking back at him, but upon realizing that he had received it, he hastily straightened and turned away the instant their eyes met.
"..."
Pei Ye silently looked at the paper, his fingers unconsciously rubbing its corner. Finally, he sighed softly, folded it, and put it away.
After Pei Ye had nearly worn his eyes out waiting, Fang Jidao finally arrived, holding his hat in place. Pei Ye patted the seat beside him, and the scholar sat down, panting, opening with an apology as usual.
"I'm terribly sorry, Brother Pei. I couldn't