"You practice the sword too, sister, so you must know the swordsmen currently in the Divine Capital?" Cui Zhaoye picked a topic that seemed promising, and that she knew well.
But Li Piaoqing smiled faintly. "No, I think you're all very nice. I like Pei Ye very much too."
"...Really!"
"Yes. Few can rival Pei Ye's swordsmanship, and his character is one in ten thousand. It's only natural that people like him," Li Piaoqing said, smiling earnestly.
"Few can rival him? He's clearly unrivaled under heaven!" Cui Zhaoye's eyes widened. Gripping the girl's wrist tightly, she led her into the pavilion. "So you like Pei Ye too! We should have met ages ago!"
She had the delighted surprise of a sovereign worried for her country stumbling upon a worthy minister in the wilderness. Her eyes shone as though her true form had been exposed, and she turned, extending a hand toward the girl in the blue-and-white dress beside her. "Here, let me introduce you. This is one of Young Hero Pei Ye's rare surviving traces."
Changsun Jue was stunned, and Li Piaoqing's eyes widened too.
Fortunately, she quickly added, "-His deskmate when he studied at the Imperial College!"
"A living witness to Young Hero Pei Ye's schooling-an exceedingly rare specimen! If you ever meet anyone mocking Young Hero Pei Ye's education, just ask whether they ever attended the Imperial College," Cui Zhaoye said.
"...Traces of his schooling are rare indeed." Li Piaoqing clasped her hands in greeting and smiled at this seemingly well-brought-up girl. Changsun Jue hastily returned an impeccably proper scholar's salute.
Then Cui Zhaoye introduced Li Piaoqing to her various treasures: books Pei Ye had read, sword manuals he had annotated, and her most treasured possession, wrapped in layer upon layer of silk-the Sword Cultivation Academy's Dao Student