sovbooks Chapter 54 If you eat noodles but not garlic, come with me.
Chapter 54 If you eat noodles but not garlic, come with me.
The Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) office had more than one deity enshrined, with the main deity being Zhenwu the Great.
The True Martial Emperor resides in the north, capable of suppressing evil spirits and protecting the entire government office with peace and stability.
Next are Yue Fei and Guan Yu, one who was loyal to the country and the other who warded off evil and upheld integrity.
Then there's the flag god, which is worshipped by any government office related to the military, praying for victory and the safety of weapons.
There is also the Earth God, who oversees the daily operations of the government office, ensuring that things don't go wrong, there are no unexpected disasters, and that everything, big or small, goes smoothly.
In addition to the few who were supplied by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Liu Feng also had an additional Black Spirit God, who was dedicated to the Imperial Prison, specifically to suppress the fierce and malevolent energy in the prison, control the prisoners, and prevent anyone from causing trouble or making a scene.
After bowing all around, Liu Feng was covered in sweat. He was escorted into the main hall by Li Shoutian and his entourage, where he sat down behind the altar and received the worship of the officials of the Thousand Household Office.
"Your subordinate pays respects to Your Excellency, and is willing to serve you faithfully and diligently!"
Liu Feng sat in his chair, looking at the heads all hunched over the ground below him, feeling a mix of emotions. This was the perspective of those in power!
He cleared his throat: "Get up, everyone."
"Thank you, Your Excellency!" The crowd responded and stood up, forming two neat rows.
Liu Feng clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the imperial city: "I am deeply grateful for His Majesty's great favor in promoting me to the position of Vice Commander. From now on, I hope that you all will work together with me to assist me, to guard the capital for His Majesty, and to be His Majesty's most capable eyes and ears. Is that clear?"
The crowd shouted in unison, "We swear to serve His Majesty to the death, and are willing to give our lives for you!"
Liu Feng nodded in satisfaction: "Everything that needed to be explained has been made clear these past few days. Those who are supposed to be on duty should go do so, and those who aren't should go their separate ways and do whatever they need to do."
"Yes."
Apart from Li Shoutian and the other two, everyone else left.
Liu Feng took off his official hat, got up and walked towards the back hall, and Li Shoutian and the other two quickly followed him in.
Liu Feng took a big gulp of cold tea, picked up a folding fan from the coffee table and slowly fanned himself, saying, "The Emperor has approved my recommendation; all three of you will be promoted to centurions."
Li Shoutian, Zhang Laifu, and Wang Daniu's eyes lit up, and they hurriedly knelt down: "We swear to serve you to the death, sir! We will follow you through thick and thin!"
Liu Feng raised his hand and gestured for him to stand up and speak: "Get up and talk."
"Thank you, Your Excellency!" The three men kowtowed respectfully before getting up.
Liu Feng's smile faded: "I have something to tell you. Since the two thousand-household garrisons are not currently staffed with thousand-household commanders, according to palace regulations, a supervising eunuch will be assigned to us."
Li Shoutian and Zhang Laifu exchanged a glance; this was the Emperor's spy.
Wang Daniu, a straightforward man, asked, "Is His Majesty sending people to keep an eye on us?"
Liu Feng glared at him and continued, "He's an acquaintance, the prime minister's godson, Eunuch Li Jinzhong. Be careful what you say and do from now on..." He then looked at Wang Daniu, "Especially you, don't be so careless with your mouth, think things through before you speak, and don't blurt out any nonsense."
"I know," Wang Daniu replied casually, but he didn't take it seriously at all.
"The first batch of personnel allocated to us by the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs will be delivered this afternoon."
Liu Feng pointed at Li Shoutian and Zhang Laifu, "No need to guess, there's definitely a mixed bag of people inside, all sorts of weirdos and monsters. You two put everything else aside for now and focus on thoroughly screening these people for me."
Don't focus on their skills or abilities yet; select those from respectable families with clean backgrounds and train them separately. These men will be the foundation and backbone of our brothers in the future, so we must not be careless with them.
Li Shoutian and Zhang Laifu: "Yes."
Liu Feng turned to Wang Daniu: "Go change your clothes and come with me to the West City."
......................
The Jia family clan was divided into twenty branches. In the early years, eight branches moved to the capital and settled there, while the remaining twelve branches stayed in their ancestral home in Jinling.
Of the eight families that moved to the capital, the direct descendants of the two Dukes of Ning and Rong lived in the Ning and Rong mansions, while the other collateral relatives lived in the area around Jiajia Back Street.
The back street of the Jia family was not only inhabited by members of the Jia family, but also by servants and their families, as well as ordinary people from the city.
These past two days have officially marked the start of the dog days of summer in Beijing, with the weather becoming increasingly hot and dry, and cicadas chirping incessantly throughout the city.
Fortunately, there was a bit of wind, so sitting under the old locust tree made it not too unbearable.
Even though it's hot, life goes on.
The shady area behind Jiajia Street was filled with all sorts of stalls, selling large bowls of herbal tea, sour plum soup, lotus leaf porridge, mung bean porridge, and even a variety of refreshing snacks like dried fruit and chilled cakes.
There are also filling and affordable foods like cold noodles and mung bean jelly.
Liu Feng led Wang Daniu to sit down under the old locust tree. Each of them had a bowl of cold noodles and a plate of spiced tofu, which smelled delicious.
Wang Daniu shoveled a large mouthful of cold noodles into his mouth, asking between bites, "Sir, what are we doing here?"
Liu Feng ignored him, lowered his head to eat his noodles, but his eyes subtly glanced at the courtyard diagonally opposite.
He came to find someone, or more accurately, to take someone away.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard's excellent intelligence network relied on its extensive network of informants throughout the city. While the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs could allocate manpower to the Thousand-Household Offices, these low-level informants mingling in the streets and alleys had to be cultivated by the guards themselves.
Liu Feng thought of Ni Er. Although Ni Er was a rogue, he was quite loyal and had a wide network of connections. He was well-known in all the streets and alleys and was a good tool.
Those below had already found out that Ni Er worked at the casino at night, lending money at exorbitant interest rates, and only went home to sleep at dawn, going out for lunch at noon.
This cold noodle stall is the old place that Ni Er often comes to.
Just then, the gate to the courtyard opened, and a man with a full beard strolled out. It was none other than Ni Er, the Drunken Vajra. Judging from his expression, he seemed to still be drunk.
Seeing Ni Er slowly walking towards them, Liu Feng gave a wink to the Imperial Guards in plain clothes in the distance.
Ni Er went straight to the wooden table where he usually sat and sat down. The boss immediately brought him a large bowl of cold noodles and then went to the stall next door to cut half a braised chicken.
Ni Er was engrossed in eating chicken, thoroughly enjoying himself, when he suddenly noticed someone daring to sit down opposite him. Immediately, his brows furrowed and his face darkened.
Knowing Ni Er's temper well, and fearing trouble might arise, the shopkeeper quickly came over to persuade him: "Sir, please give me some face and let's sit at another table, okay? I'll offer you a plate of fennel beans as an apology."
The Imperial Guard ignored him, looking at Ni Er's greasy mouth, and said, "Noodles have to be eaten with garlic, that's what makes them flavorful and satisfying."
Ni Er was already annoyed at being disturbed while eating, and these words only fueled his anger. He slammed his greasy hand on the wooden table, his eyes wide, and yelled, "Whether I eat garlic or not is none of your business! Get the hell out of my way!"
The Imperial Guard simply smiled faintly, didn't reply, casually picked up a clove of garlic, peeled it, and handed it to Ni Er: "Try it."
Who was Ni Er? A street ruffian and scoundrel. In the entire backstreet of the Jia family, aside from the Jia family members, no one dared to defy him. He couldn't stand the other's "provocation," so he slapped the other's hand away and reached for his collar, cursing, "Dare to mess with me, the Drunken Vajra Ni Er? I'll show you what's what today!"
How many eyes does the Horse King have...? Ah!
Before he could finish speaking, and before his hand could even touch the other person's collar, his arm was disarmed and his head was slammed onto the table.
The Imperial Guard pressed down on Ni Er's head, grinning maliciously: "You eat noodles but not garlic? Come with me."
As he spoke, he suddenly grabbed Ni Er's head, dislocated his jaw, and lifted him up like a chick, taking him away.
Only after the two figures disappeared into the alley did the noodle stall owner come to his senses and hurriedly run towards Ni Er's house...