Chapter Thirty-Three New Guard

  On March 17th of the 48th year of Kangxi's reign, Cao Kun arrived in Beijing for the second day and also reported to the Imperial Guard.

  According to the rules, for a new servant like Cao Gong, he needs to be verified by his flag's assistant leader, deputy commander, and commander in turn, and then issue documents before being sent to the Imperial Guard Camp. However, before Cao Gong arrived in Beijing, all relevant procedures had been handled properly by Cao Zhong, and even the waist card for the shift had been obtained. Cao Gong only needs to take these things to report to the Imperial Guard, which is considered on duty.

  The Imperial Guards were responsible for guarding the gates, divided into inner and outer shifts, rotating in the inner court. For example, those who guarded the inner right gate, Shenwu Gate, and Qianqing Gate were part of the inner shift; those who guarded the Taihe Gate in the outer court were part of the outer shift. Each shift lasted six days, with the first four days spent guarding at the Yuanmingyuan and the last two days spent guarding at the Forbidden City. After each shift, they could rest for six days. Although the shift was six days long, because several shifts of guards rotated, each shift actually only guarded the gate for two hours.

  Still two or three hundred meters away from the Wu Men gate, Cao Song dismounted his horse and ordered Xiao Man to wait in place while he proceeded on foot.

  In front of the Meridian Gate, there were guards on duty, who checked Cao Hu's waist card and then let him in. After entering the Meridian Gate, he turned right into the Gate of Supreme Harmony, and then went north along the甬道, passing the Arrow Pavilion and turning left, and came out from the Gate of Glorious Industry to the square of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The connected houses on the west side of the square were the Imperial Guard Office, where the duty eunuchs and penmen worked. Cao Hu had already inquired about the route and memorized it.

  *

  The officer on duty at the Imperial Guard today was Gui Sheng, the commander of the Guards Battalion, who had followed Kangxi on his southern tour two years ago. Therefore, when he heard someone introduce himself as "Your humble servant Cao Hu", he felt a sense of familiarity. He looked at Cao Hu and vaguely recognized the shadow of his childhood self.

  Guisheng smiled and said, "The Emperor asked about you just a few days ago. I thought it would take some more time for you to arrive at your post!" As he spoke, he arranged for a clerk to take down all the documents brought by Cao Guang and file them away, then told him to open the cabinet and retrieve the waist badge from the left compartment on top.

  Guisheng handed the token to Cao Guang: "The Emperor directly called your name, appointing you as a third-class Imperial Guard. Today I'm on duty, so I'll assign you under my name. First, wait outside for a few days, and after getting familiar with the rules, I'll transfer you to the inner guard!"

  Cao Guang bowed and replied: "Your subordinate will follow your arrangement, sir!"

  Guī Shēng saw Cáo Guì's awkwardness and waved his hand: "Your father and your uncle are both my seniors, I regard you as my own son or nephew. There's still a long way to go in the future, no need to be so formal, find a chair and sit down!"

  Cao Gong responded with his mouth, but he didn't dare to take a big attitude. He sat on the edge of a chair near the door with half of his buttocks and lowered his head in a pretended humble manner.

  Kui Xing nodded secretly in his heart. The Cao family was renowned in Jiangnan, but their family education was extraordinary. Not a hint of arrogance and disrespect that was typical of spoiled sons could be seen on Cao Yun's body. After asking about the attendance situation of each class, Kui Xing called for a guard captain to come over and assigned Cao Yun to this squad.

  Cao Guang stood up and saw his superior officer.

  He was over thirty years old, with a strong and powerful physique. He glanced at Cao Guang and saw that he was elegant and refined, without the slightest air of a martial artist, which made him very unwilling in his heart.

  The guards are all first-class guards with concurrent appointments. Although they don't seem to be in the palace, they are all third-grade officials and are on par with the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

  Guisheng saw the look on his face and knew that he was a person who judged others by their appearance, and must have looked down on Cao Yun. He said: "De Tiehei, aren't you the one who most admires Cao Yun's archery skills for hitting nine targets in a row? You've always regretted not having the chance to compete with him. 'A hero's son is also a good man', since you and his eldest son are colleagues, I'm sure you'll eventually fulfill your wish."

  De Tie Hei's face lit up with joy, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he grasped Cao Yun's arm: "Little Cao, it's really you! The one the Emperor himself praised for being well-versed in both literature and martial arts! Haha, I almost didn't recognize you, brother, don't blame me!"

  "Be polite to your elders!" Cao Yun said tactfully, but rolled his eyes inwardly. It seemed that his father was still this Shang's idol. However, even if Shang admired his father, there was no need to transfer that fervor to himself; did he want to drag him into an archery competition?

  It's as if he was afraid of something and it happened, De Tie Hei said the next sentence with his mouth already open: "Let's go, to the Hu Junying barracks, we two brothers will have a good competition." After finishing speaking, without allowing Cao Yun to refuse, he pulled Cao Yun's arm out, and didn't forget to smile back and say: "Commander, you're going to owe me again!"

  "You rascal, you're always thinking of competing and fighting!" Guisheng scolded with a smile.

  The Huo Junying, also on duty in the Forbidden City, is slightly different from the Shi Weiying. They are responsible for guarding the entire palace, while the Shi Weiying is responsible for certain gates within it. Although the Huo Junying and Shi Weiying have distinct responsibilities, sometimes they are managed by the same person. For example, Gui Sheng holds two positions: one as an inner minister in charge of the Shi Weiying, and another as the commander of the Huo Junying.

  *

  Outside Donghua Gate, the training grounds of the Imperial Guard Garrison.

  On the field, apart from the soldiers of the Imperial Guard, there were also many rotating guards who had not yet left the palace. It seemed that many people knew Detrekh, some called him "Old Black", others called him "Old Det". There was a lively atmosphere, knowing that Detrekh loved to compete and fight fiercely, often bringing people to this side of the training ground for trials, so they all gathered around.

  "Old Black, who is he compared with?" someone asked.

  "Lao De, it's from that battalion, now there aren't many who dare to challenge you!" someone said beside him.

  "How come the other side hasn't arrived yet? Are they giving us face or not?" Someone shouted from a distance.

  Although everyone's eyes were fine, and they all saw a handsome young man following behind Detrekh, but apart from thinking that the young man looked a bit more handsome, no one else paid attention to him. In the Imperial Guard, apart from real heroes like Detrekh, there were also many nobles who relied on their ancestors' fame to get by. In their minds, Cao Yun was naturally classified as the latter.

  "What's the fuss, hurry up and get two 2-shaku-5-hiki bows!" Detto was used to using 2-shaku bows, but looking at Cao Gong's slightly slender build, he changed his mind and asked for a 1.5-shaku bow instead.

  When the bow and arrow were brought over, Detu Hei handed one of the bows and a quiver of arrows to Cao Kun, taking up the other bow himself.

  The onlookers were shocked: "What? How could it be this kid?"

  "Old Black, you really can't find anyone else, come find me!"

  All sorts of voices rose in a cacophony, with various scornful and doubting glances cast towards Cao Guang.

  Cao Kun was a bit annoyed with his superior, but he didn't have the intention of teaching him a lesson. With so many eyes watching, why make a scene? One should be low-key when doing things. Similarly, he also didn't plan on admitting defeat directly. After all, he would be mixing with these men in the future, and if he didn't show off some real skills, people would look down on him.

  De Tie He and Cao Kun shot three arrows each, and the skeptical voices around them gradually subsided. Everyone saw that this young man had some real skills. De Tie He shot first, and after finishing, he watched Cao Kun's movements, seeing that his actions of drawing the bow were smooth, and his arm was steady when pulling the string, knowing that he had practiced hard, and nodded in satisfaction.

  When he saw the arrow on the target, Detu Hei's face turned black. The stone and a half bow was not very handy for him, and he was anxious to see Cao Kun shoot arrows. The last one didn't control well, slightly deviating from the center of the target by about half an inch. On Cao Kun's target, there were also two arrows in the center of the target, and one arrow deviated from the center of the target by about an inch.

  Although Detuhei was a good fighter, he wasn't the kind of person who thought "I'm invincible". Since Cao Guang was Cao Yun's son and skilled in archery, Detuhei assumed that Cao Guang's archery skills were exceptional and that he himself wouldn't be able to defeat him. Now seeing that Cao Guang didn't have much more skill than him, just a little bit less, Detuhei felt relieved and thought that Cao Guang was looking down on him as an opponent, intentionally letting him win.

  At once, De Te He slammed the bow in his hand to the ground and roared at the surrounding crowd: "Get me another pair of two-stone bows!" After roaring, he stared at Cao Yun with wide eyes: "If you dare to lose again, you are not worthy of being Cao Yun's son, you bastard!"

  Although Cao Heng was well-bred, he had a bit of a temper. It seemed that today was not a day to be won over, otherwise in the future he would not have to hold his head high as a person in the Imperial Guard camp. His personality was not showy, but he also didn't have the habit of pretending to be humble.

  De Tie He changed into his familiar Twin Stone Bows, tried them out, and felt that they were just right. Charging towards Cao Hui, he raised his chin: "You shoot first!"

  Cao Cao was annoyed by the impolite and arrogant words of Taishi Ci, and didn't want to argue with him anymore. He took three arrows and shot them out. Without any fancy moves, all three hit the bullseye.

  De's face turned slightly better, holding his breath, fully focused and shot out three arrows, also hitting the bullseye.

  A burst of applause erupted around him, Cao Cong's three arrows shot out again, all hitting the bullseye.

  Deer Tie He shot out three arrows in a row, although they also hit the bullseye, but he pushed down two of the previous arrows.

  De Tie He looked at Cao Kun's arrow target, only to see the dense arrow tails, which completely covered the bullseye. Nine arrows were on the target, and not one of them was loose from the target, showing how strong the force of the shot was and how clever the angle was.

  "Switch targets, this time we're going for a combo shot!"

  "No way!" Cao Cong put down the bow in his hand and replied very succinctly. Damn it, this rough guy, you like to find someone to compare with no harm, but finding me is not right. He muttered to himself in his heart.

  De Tie He listened and thought Cao Yun was going to repeat his old tricks, so he opened his mouth ready to scold him. Cao Yun feared that he would say something unpleasant again, so he said: "Wait until we go out and see the real chapter, are you doing acrobatics here?"

  Deke He saw Cao Kun's expression was calm, listening to his words seemed reasonable, looking at the surrounding guards who were making a ruckus, it was like watching a lively show. Looking at Cao Kun again, from entering the scene until now, he was not arrogant in victory or frustrated in defeat, not very old, but calm and composed, unlike other young people who were restless.

  "Good job, young Cao! Your archery skills are impressive. I'm convinced!" said Deke Hai, putting down his bow and arrow, as he walked up to pat Cao Yun's shoulder.

  Everyone watched the excitement, seeing Cao Yun win steadily against Detuhei, and they all sighed that they almost missed it. In the military, people admire the strong, although Cao Yun's appearance is far from being a strong man, but his hands are truly skilled. Therefore, many people asked: "This young man is not bad, whose descendant is he?"

  De Tie He glanced at everyone and introduced with a hint of pride: "This is the newly arrived third-class guard Cao Yun, from now on he will be one of us!"