7: Imperial City Guard

[The next day,]

[You were called in for a talk by Grand Secretary Cheng Tianrui.]

[As the chief examiner of the imperial examination, you respectfully addressed him as "Teacher."]

[Cheng Tianrui got straight to the point: "I called you here for two reasons. First, you will accompany me to meet Your Majesty tomorrow. Second, tell me about the matter between you and my daughter, Cheng Rongrong."]

[You had long been prepared for the audience with Your Majesty, but the second matter left you bewildered: "What matter could there be between your student and your daughter?"]

[Cheng Tianrui looked at you meaningfully, and seeing that you were truly unaware, he called Cheng Rongrong out.]

[The moment you saw Cheng Rongrong, your jaw dropped in shock, and you couldn't speak.]

[Cheng Tianrui continued: "Fang Chen is the son of a Duke and holds military power. You have offended him, and your days ahead will not be easy."]

["However, you were right to think of taking the imperial examination to attract the attention of Your Majesty. That was a good move."]

["But to survive in the Imperial Capital, relying on mere cleverness is not enough."]

[As he spoke, he released the pressure of a Grandmaster, and you suddenly found it difficult to breathe, unable to move.]

[After withdrawing his pressure, he said coldly: "If you lack strength, even if you were to die, Your Majesty would not care."]

[The meaning of these words could not be clearer. You would be unable to defend against both open attacks and hidden arrows.]

[From Cheng Tianrui's gaze and tone, you could feel that he had no affection for you whatsoever. You knew this must have been because Ronger had begged him.]

[You secretly rejoiced that you had earned your title in time; otherwise, you wouldn't even know how you died.]

[Now that you had caught the eye of the Emperor, you should be safe for the time being.]

[But you were also clear that not every top scholar met a good end; this was far from enough.]

[Cheng Tianrui continued: "I will give you three years to see how you perform."]

["If you perform well after three years, I will betroth Ronger to you."]

["Otherwise..." He gave you a meaningful look.]

[The implication was clear: if you were qualified in three years, he would marry his daughter to you; if not, you would be left to fend for yourself.]

[Cheng Tianrui seemed to have seen through your intention to act as a lone minister.]

[You had to admit, this old fox had a truly sharp eye.]

[After the conversation, Cheng Rongrong saw you out.]

[With reddened eyes, she said: "No matter what the future holds, I will wait for you. If you do not betray me, I will follow you in life and death."]

[You didn't say much, because you had already been intimate. So you just hugged her tightly.]

[She sobbed in your arms, and you could feel the immense pressure and helplessness she was enduring.]

[Only then did you understand why you hadn't seen her recently. It turned out she had been grounded by her Family.]

[You felt a bit guilty towards Cheng Rongrong; after all, choosing the path of a lone minister was destined to have no good ending.]

[But this was your only way to survive.]

[The Imperial City Guard was the Emperor's claws and teeth, strictly forbidden from associating with officials, and naturally stood in opposition to the officials.]

[Because of this, the Imperial City Guard had instead become a protective umbrella. As long as you didn't make mistakes, no one could touch you.]

[The next day,]

[Grand Secretary Cheng Tianrui took you into the palace to meet Your Majesty.]

[When you saw the Emperor, you were stunned.]

[A young child of about ten years old was sitting on the Dragon Throne!]

[Was it this child who took your treatise on governing and scolded the officials in the imperial court?]

[You truly found it hard to imagine that scene.]

[Logically speaking, such a young Emperor should have been a Puppet...]

[But the one before you didn't look like one at all.]

[You became interested in the young Emperor.]

[The young Emperor also curiously looked you over, his round eyes darting around constantly.]

[After asking you a few questions, the young Emperor felt that your thoughts were novel and bold, and that you were an interesting idealist.]

[He asked you: "What position do you want to hold?"]

[You were direct: "I want to go to the Imperial City Guard."]

[This statement left the young Emperor stunned.]

[Cheng Tianrui, who was to the side, also looked surprised and kept signaling to you. He had originally suggested you go to the Ministry of Personnel.]

[The young Emperor said: "You are a top scholar in the imperial examination; going to the Imperial City Guard is a waste of your talent. Moreover, given your strength and Aptitude... it is not safe."]

[It seemed the young Emperor knew you well, even knowing that your strength and Aptitude were lacking.]

[He also warned you: "The path of the Imperial City Guard is not easy to walk; you will become a thorn in the side of the officials, and there will be no turning back then."]

[You were very clear that the Imperial City Guard was the Emperor's blade and also the Emperor's eyes.]

[You spoke bluntly: "Only the Imperial City Guard can get things done. Otherwise, even if one reaches the highest position, those below will feign compliance while acting in opposition, and decrees will be difficult to implement."]

[In fact, these were just your excuses. You only wanted to go to the Imperial City Guard to investigate the truth behind your Family being wiped out.]

[These words made Cheng Tianrui's expression turn ugly. Wasn't this implying that he was ineffective in his work?]

[The young Emperor thought for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.]

[After leaving the palace, Cheng Tianrui didn't say much, only telling you to take care of yourself.]

[He seemed to have guessed long ago that you would choose the Imperial City Guard.]

[Holding the Emperor's decree, you came directly to the Imperial City Guard.]

[Duan Kun, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial City Guard, looked you over repeatedly, his face full of curiosity.]

[First, you were a top scholar.]

[Second, the Emperor had not given you a specific position.]

[This puzzled him greatly.]

[You had to know that in the Imperial City Guard, apart from the Commander and the Deputy Commander, no one else could see the Emperor at all.]

[For a top scholar to enter the Imperial City Guard was truly unprecedented.]

[He guessed that the Emperor might have sent you there to gain experience.]

[Duan Kun introduced the structure of the Imperial City Guard to you: the five departments of Arrest, Interrogation, Prison, Intelligence, and Logistics.]

[After the introduction, he didn't forget to warn you: "The Imperial City Guard is the vicious dog raised by the Emperor; you bite whoever you are told to bite. If you want to survive, be a good dog, otherwise, you will be the first to die!"]

["One more piece of advice..."]

["When working in the Imperial City Guard, stay far away from the civil and military officials, otherwise you won't even know how you died."]

["Also... remember, no one here cares if you are a top scholar; everyone who comes here is one of our own brothers."]

[You nodded and bowed, with all sorts of flattery rolling off your tongue.]

[For example: graceful and handsome, with the fortune of a crouching Dragon, the longevity of a tortoise and crane, moving with the stride of a Dragon and tiger...]

[Duan Kun was amused by you and patted your shoulder, laughing: "Scholars are so flowery even when flattering?"]

["Seeing as you are so sensible... tell me, which department do you want to go to?" He narrowed his eyes.]

[You directly stated that you wanted to go to the Intelligence Department.]

[Duan Kun looked surprised: "The Intelligence Department?"]

[In his eyes, the Intelligence Department was just a clean office with no profit to be made.]

[Although the Intelligence Department held the secrets of the world, without authorization, one could see nothing, and trying to get ahead was as difficult as ascending to heaven.]

[Moreover, the people there, from energetic young men to those in their sixties, were everywhere.]

[He shook his head, thinking you scholars were just strange.]

[Soon, he handed you over to Chief Steward Xiao of the Intelligence Department.]

[Chief Steward Xiao, who was in his sixties, took you to the intelligence pavilion.]

[The nine-story pavilion stood tall, each floor piled high with documents and archives. People were coming and going inside, busy off their feet.]

[Chief Steward Xiao arranged for you to organize the documents.]

[These documents were locked in specially made mechanical wooden boxes, graded by color, and labeled with content summaries.]

[Inside were records of major and minor affairs of the Yan Dynasty and even neighboring countries.]

[Your job was to file them according to color grading: White → Green → Blue → Purple → Orange → Gold → Red.]

[The boxes were ingeniously designed; forcing them open would destroy the documents.]

[Fortunately, there were summaries on the outside of the boxes, so you only needed to look at the summaries when organizing.]

[As a newcomer, you were responsible for the lowest-grade white document boxes.]

[These trivial records from various villages and towns documented the miscellaneous affairs of small and medium-sized Families.]

[This job was exactly what you wanted!]

[Because this way, you would be able to find out who harmed the Qin Family.]