Shards

Chapter 31 - Bride Gifts

Zhang Xi Xuan stepped into his lavish quarters and stopped in the middle of the spacious receiving chamber. He looked around whilst Captain Zhang gestured silent orders to his men. His guards spread out, did a quick sweep of the area and assembled back in front of their Captain in less than five minutes.

"All is secure Captain."

"Good job. The five of you may rest. Take over from Xu and his team in three hours."

"Yes Sir!"

The five men saluted in sync and filed out. 'Resting' meant getting to know the place, familiarizing themselves with the people here and their routines. All the better to serve and guard their Lord. They (Team Two) would take over formal guard duty from Xu's team (Team One) which had been stationed at key locations around the private residence later.

Captain Zhang and his capable team had already checked every centimeter of the Plum Blossom Residence when Lord Zhang was at his welcome feast. Every corner, painting and tapestry was inspected for suspicious fine dust. Ornaments were sniffed for harmful smells and the range of incense provided verified to be 'normal'. Walls were tapped, beams searched whilst each crack probed for possible secret openings.

He had even walked around each building studying the dimensions to ensure no extra space existed between the rooms. Satisfied that the place was secure and that Lord Zhai had not prepared anything 'special' for House Zhang, he had set his guards around the perimeter. One could never be too careful.

Only then did the good Captain allow the maids to unpack.

However now that Lord Zhang was actually present in the residence, a secondary cursory check was needed.

Zhang Xi Xuan knew all this and waited patiently until given confirmation that all was in order. After all, he had once apprenticed under his elder cousin before branching out his studies to other areas. Master Kai and Lady Wei took it all in stride. They were used to the meticulous but necessary precautions taken by House Zhang to protect their own. That was how they had survived several attempts on their lives and had even turned the tables on the enemy on several occasions.

"All is secure Lord Zhang. You may be comfortable. Our men are already at their posts," said Captain Zhang with a smart salute.

"Thank you, Captain. At ease."

Captain Zhang gave a curt nod before relaxing his stance.

"Zi Min, where's my room?" asked Xi Xiu grabbing Captain Zhang's arm playfully. "You promised me one with windows facing the garden."

"Xi Xiu, mind your manners," scolded Lady Wei. "He may be your close cousin but he is also the Captain of House Zhang."

"I know that," replied Xi Xiu unrepentant, "but a promise is a promise, isn't that right?"

"Ahh, about that ..." hedged the soldier.

Master Kai cleared his throat. "I told him to assign you a room without any windows."

Xi Xiu whirled around to face the craggy faced advisor. "What? Why?!"

"Because we can't have you sneaking out the windows at odd hours of the night to go only god knows where, stirring up mischief."

"But ... Zi Min! You're the Captain. I say you're in charge of security! Tell Master Kai to change my room!"

Zhang Zi Min kept a straight face at his young cousin's antics as he held up his hands in surrender. He was wise enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. However he did wink and jerk his head at Xi Xuan reminding the girl that her brother was Lord. Xi Xuan out ranked him, he should be in charge.