Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 436 Personal Guards (Part 4)

As the year draws to a close, more and more civil and military officials are coming to Yan County.

Prefect Tang had prepared many empty houses, but by this time he realized that it was still far from enough. Later, only two or three people could live together.

With more people, there are more troubles. Prefect Tang was extremely busy, but fortunately, there was the precedent of Jiang Huan being flogged in court, so the civil officials were cautious, and the arrogant military generals did not dare to go too far.

General Song was old and experienced, while General Fei had a wide circle of friends and connections. After arriving in Yan County, the military officers all came to pay their respects to the two men. During their casual conversations, they casually inquired, "I heard your eldest son is serving as a bodyguard for the general?"

General Song stroked his beard, concealing his smugness: "Indeed. The first one handpicked by the General was the Fei family's Qilin. My good-for-nothing son, I had to shamelessly beg the General to accept him."

General Fei laughed as well: "Brother Song is too modest. Dalang is much better than Fei Lin. The General praised Dalang in front of others just the other day."

General Song immediately laughed and said, "He is a few years older, and knowing he is clumsy, he just puts in more effort. In terms of intelligence, he is far inferior to Fei Lin."

The two engaged in mutual flattery, praising each other's son repeatedly.

The military officers listened, each with their own thoughts.

The other military officers still had doubts. General Lu of the Puyang Army and General Ge of the Changshan Army had both led troops against the Bohai Army and sincerely admired Pei Qinghe. After listening carefully, the two quickly made a decision.

General Lu shamelessly offered his youngest son to him, saying, "My youngest son is only thirteen years old, the same age as Pei Yue. From now on, he will stay by your side and run errands for you."

Lu Wulang, the youngest in his family, was a robust young man, as strong as a calf. Fearless, he stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said in a loud voice, "Wulang greets the General."

Pei Qinghe's eyes flashed with a smile as she turned and instructed, "Pei Yue, Lu Wulang is new here and doesn't yet understand the rules of our Pei family army. He'll be staying with you, so please guide him."

General Lu took the initiative to visit, sending his most beloved youngest son to serve as his personal guard, and made his intentions so clear that he should be given some preferential treatment.

Pei Yue puffed out his chest and accepted the order, and Lu Wulang immediately stood beside him. It must be said, the chubby boy and the burly boy, who were about the same age, looked like two tiger cubs standing side by side.

General Lu had just left when General Ge arrived.

General Ge smiled and said, “I have three sons, all of whom are adults and lead troops in the army. I also have a daughter, but she is a little younger. She will be thirteen years old after this year. If you don’t mind, General, you can keep her as a bodyguard. She can learn a little or a little from you, which will be enough for her to make a living.”

Twelve-year-old Ge Siniang was quite tall, with a touch of heroism in her eyes and brows.

Upon seeing her, Pei Qinghe laughed: "She looks somewhat similar to Pei Yan when she was young."

Pei Yan looked her over carefully for a few moments: "She's much more pretty than I was when I was young."

Everyone laughed.

Thus, the young Lu Wulang and Ge Siniang joined Pei Qinghe's personal guard.

Led by Generals Lu and Ge, the other military officers also came to request an audience. Those who were sincere sent their sons or daughters as their personal guards. Those who wanted to be perfunctory sent their nephews, nieces, or younger relatives.

Pei Qinghe remained calm and accepted them all.

Pei Yan was indignant and said to Pei Qinghe in private, "The General Dong who came today actually sent his wife's niece with him."

Pei Qinghe said calmly, "Take it first. We'll find an opportunity to teach him a lesson later, and he'll naturally behave himself."

Genuine and loyal military officers, like General Song and General Fei, send their sons and daughters to serve as personal guards, demonstrating their loyalty and promising tangible benefits in the future. Pei Qinghe will certainly train these guards well.

A slippery fellow like General Dong, living much closer to the capital, harbored hesitant and uncertain intentions. He was unwilling to send his own children to Pei Qinghe's side, only sending a young girl from his wife's family. Pei Qinghe couldn't afford to lose her temper over such a trivial matter, otherwise she would lose her composure and dignity. "I'll add him to the list," Pei Yan sneered. "I'll make him pay later."

……

As the number of personal guards increased, and many of them had connections and backgrounds, the personal guard camp naturally became quite "lively." A few days later, Lu Wulang caused quite a stir.

The specific reason is simple: the bed was too hard, the meals weren't plentiful enough, and he had to study at night—it was too hard. In short, the pampered Lu Wulang couldn't endure this hardship.

Without alerting Pei Qinghe or needing Pei Yan to intervene, Pei Yue dragged Lu Wulang by the arm to the training ground. Lu Wulang, his face bruised and swollen from the beating, had lost all his arrogance and became much more docile afterward.

Ge Siniang and Pei Wan were the same age, so naturally they were competitive with each other. When practicing archery in the training ground, Ge Siniang took her bow and arrow and shot ten arrows in a row, eight of which hit the target.

That's really remarkable for a twelve-year-old girl.

This is about the level of the best soldiers in the military.

Ge Siniang glanced proudly at Pei Wan. Pei Wan smiled and went to get a bow and arrow, standing side by side with Ge Siniang, then drew the bow and shot an arrow.

Ten arrows, ten hits! And all of them were on the bullseye!

Ge Siniang's eyes widened in shock, and when she looked at Pei Wan again, her expression changed: "How can your archery skills be so amazing?"

Pei Wan didn't take it seriously: "It's only eighty paces. Hitting the target ten times out of ten is not difficult. Everyone in the Pei family's archery battalion can do it. But it becomes a bit difficult beyond one hundred paces."

Ge Siniang subconsciously asked, "If you shoot an arrow from a hundred paces away, how many out of ten arrows will hit the target?"

"Ten arrows, ten hits." Pei Wan's tone was as natural as if she were saying she needed to drink water because it was hot: "When we got to one hundred and twenty paces, I would occasionally miss."

Ge Si Niang: "..."

Pei Wan seemed oblivious to the astonishment and guilt on Ge Siniang's face, and asked with a smile, "When you shoot arrows from a hundred paces away, how many out of ten arrows will hit the target?"

Ge Si Niang was proud and arrogant and loved to show off: "Seven or eight of my arrows will hit the target."

It doesn't matter where you hit the target, as long as you hit it at least.

Pei Wan smiled good-naturedly and said, "Then let's take another twenty steps back."

The two retreated twenty paces together, then each took a quiver of arrows. Pei Yan had already noticed the commotion and nudged Pei Qinghe with her elbow.

Pei Qinghe smiled slightly and walked over to observe.

Pei Wan's eyes lit up, and she became much more serious. Arrow after arrow, she hit the target with all ten arrows, all close to the bullseye.

Ge Siniang was hit by seven arrows, three of which hit the target. Two arrows hit the edge of the target.

Pei Yan scoffed, "It's a good thing you didn't participate in the selection for the Imperial Guard. With archery skills like that, you wouldn't even be able to get into the Imperial Guard."

The strong-willed girl blushed instantly.

Pei Qinghe said gently, "Practice more, and your accuracy will improve. I'll teach you how to shoot!"

(End of this chapter)