Embroidered Uniform Guard

Biodata

Organization and Ranks

Command Structure

• Lu Bing commands the Embroidered Uniform Guard and leads the emperor’s personal troops. His position is reinforced by his childhood friendship with Jiajing and the emperor’s deep trust in him 28 48.
• Liu Zhenyuan, the Northern Pacification Commissioner, assigns missions, approves rewards, and disciplines officers. He ranks first among the Thirteen Guardians 7 8 34.
• The Northern and Southern Pacification Offices share an elite body known as the Thirteen Guardians, also called the Thirteen Great Protectors 7 36 49.

Thirteen Guardians

• Two seats belong permanently to the Northern and Southern Pacification Commissioners. The remaining eleven are selected from the twenty-eight Qianhu: six from the Northern Commission and five from the Southern Commission 49.
• Candidates undergo scrutiny by both the Pacification Commission and the Eastern Depot. The foremost requirement is loyalty to the emperor alone, without involvement in factional strife 44.
• Friendship with political factions such as the Yan Family is forbidden; personal grudges and private conflicts are treated differently from political association 44.
• Shen Xiang ranks twelfth. After the thirteenth Guardian died fighting in the northwest six months earlier, Shen became the youngest remaining member 36.
• Each position is represented by one of thirteen exceptional Embroidered Spring Sabers. Cao receives the thirteenth saber as a reward, but Liu explicitly states that this does not constitute appointment to the vacant position 48 49.

Authority and Duties

Imperial Enforcement

• Killing an Embroidered Uniform Guard constitutes treason, punishable by extermination of three generations of the offender’s family. Windcloud Manor’s men abandon the idea of killing Cao because discovery would also bring property confiscation and clan destruction 10.
• The Guard and the Eastern Depot compel martial sects to surrender their signature arts. Even Wudang and Shaolin must comply when ordered 7 23.
• The narration describes their ability to fabricate charges, destroy sects, and seize their holdings when resisted 7.
• Official protection can deter rival sects, but accepting it carries social consequences: Taiyi Gate’s alliance preserves its legacy while alienating it from the wider martial world 23 25.

Intelligence and Field Operations

• The Guard primarily handles military and political intelligence, while the Eastern Depot chiefly monitors civil officials. Their responsibilities are described as external and internal affairs respectively 48.
• Field duties include undercover reconnaissance, bandit suppression, suspect pursuit, armed arrests, security assignments, and retrieval of imperial tribute 1 8 18 22.
• Its archives provide investigative information: Su Yunsheng retrieves records during Cao’s inquiry into the Hehuan Sect 16.
• Some information about officers’ martial arts is publicly accessible through the Pacification Commission. The Zodiac assassins obtain a list of Cao’s known techniques before attacking him 29.

Recruitment, Promotion, and Regulations

Positions can be hereditary, but inherited rank does not guarantee resources or influence. Cao’s original body inherited his father’s office while remaining poorly trained and vulnerable to bullying. Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang likewise struggle to advance because their fathers were implicated in the Great Rites Controversy 1 7 36.

Facilities and Resources

Secret Vault

The Pacification Commission Treasury, also called the Secret Vault, supplies martial arts, miraculous medicines, and divine weapons to the court’s enforcers 6 7.

• Its collection encompasses sword, saber, internal cultivation, hidden-weapon, and movement arts 7.
• Gu Yanzhu places it alongside Wudang’s Golden Summit, Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s Celestial Master Mansion, and Shaolin’s Bodhidharma Cave 6.
• Authorized officers enter with tokens and select techniques from grade-specific catalogs under the gatekeeper’s supervision 7 32.
• Two squads visibly patrol the vault; hidden protectors and resident guardian servants provide additional security 7.
• Both Embroidered Uniform Guards and Eastern Depot agents use its collection 8.

Imperial Prison

• The Imperial Prison is a vital, confidential Guard facility with multiple underground levels, mechanical defenses, specialist guardians, and a central control chamber designed by Kuai Xiang 43 44 48.
• Dangerous prisoners have their shoulder blades pierced and their cultivation sealed 43.
• Even food-delivery jailers require clean family records extending back three generations. Guardians must bring their families to the capital, where the Guard can retaliate against treachery 43.
• Some guardians serve in exchange for treasured weapons or martial arts. Xu Quan accepts a five-year posting to recover his ancestral Violet Star Soft Sword 43.
• According to Shen Xiang, Li Shengtian is the only person ever to escape, having fled from the ninth level 43.
• Divine Axe Sect disciples repair the central mechanism after the Bright Sect’s attempted breakout 49.

Uniforms and Weapons

• Flying Fish Uniforms — Recognizable insignia of office, with color and ornamentation indicating rank. Liu’s commissioner uniform bears cloud patterns and a four-clawed flying fish 4 7 32.
• Embroidered Spring Sabers — Often symbols of status rather than officers’ preferred weapons. Ordinary versions are not top-grade; Cao’s Baihu saber is made of refined steel and breaks against the White Dragon Gu 23 32 49.
• Thirteen divine Embroidered Spring Sabers — Forged after meteoric iron fell on West Mountain in Jiajing’s thirteenth year, using that iron and refined metal from the west. Each represents a Guardian position 48 49.
• Bows and crossbows — Used by commandants to surround suspects and prevent escape during the Hehuan Sect arrests 18.
• Shackles and shoulder hooks — Used to restrain captured prison intruders after the failed Bright Sect breakout 48.

Notable Personnel

• Lu Bing — Commander; Jiajing’s trusted childhood friend and leader of his personal troops 28 48.
• Liu Zhenyuan — Northern Pacification Commissioner and first-ranked Guardian; a Dragon-Tiger Mountain practitioner whose Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Palm allows him to fight without weapons 7 49.
• Cao Jinxing — Northern Office officer who rises from inherited General Banner to Deputy Qianhu and receives the thirteenth Guardian saber without formal appointment 1 31 48.
• Shen Xiang — Qianhu, twelfth Guardian, and Shushan Sword Sect prodigy; commands the Imperial Prison when Cao joins its roster 36.
• Zhu Wu — Veteran officer who insists Cao receive honest credit for destroying the Crouching Tiger Gang and saving the incoming team 6 7.
• Gu Yanzhu — Officer from a distinguished family; prepares Cao’s achievement report and advises him about the Treasury and martial sects 6 7.
• Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang — General Banners selected as Cao’s assistants for their clean records and lack of dubious factional ties 8 36.
• Zhang Ying — Superior who rigs Cao’s dangerous undercover assignment; his subsequent defeat forces Cao to inherit his security duty 8.
• Zhao Siyuan — Internal attacker imprisoned after attempting to murder Cao in the Secret Vault 34.

Relationships

• Emperor Jiajing — Supreme patron and recipient of the Guard’s intelligence and tribute; personally approves Cao’s Deputy Qianhu promotion 31 48.
• Eastern Depot — Close institutional ally. Lu Bing and Depot supervisor Lü Fu cooperate, and their subordinates follow their example. The Depot also scrutinizes Guardian candidates 44 48.
• Martial sects — Broadly hostile to the Guard’s coercive collection of signature arts. Martial artists fear and loathe both the Guard and the Eastern Depot 23 50.
• Taiyi Gate — Seeks imperial protection by offering the Millennium Fire Tortoise; Cao secures the tribute and helps restore its Dark Yin Sword Technique 22 23 25.
• Yan Family — Politically influential adversary in Cao’s missions. Lu Bing shows Yan Song some deference, while Cao openly clashes with the family’s assassins 28 29.
• Zhao Family — Targeted for investigation after assisting the Bright Sect’s prison-break plot; Liu turns the inquiry over to the Eastern Depot 35 48.
• Bright Sect — Opponent whose attempt to free Xiang Qianli ends with the Left Envoy of Light still imprisoned and the Ape King captured 46 48.

Major Operations

Reputation

• In the capital, the Guard’s infamy is second only to the Eastern Depot’s; outside the capital, it ranks first 50.
• Its insignia can compel deference even from establishments backed by powerful officials. The Sun-Moon Prosperity Restaurant treats Cao cautiously despite Zhao Wenhua’s patronage 28.
• Cao’s uniform and Deputy Qianhu rank cause Ghost Market visitors to clear a space five zhang around him 50.