1.27 AuYeung LaiSan - Heightened Security

As we entered the dining hall we could see the worried faces of the men that just returned from the Palace.

My second brother smiled as he saw his children run towards them. One by one my sister-in-laws came into the room and sat down with my brothers at their own tables with the children.

This room is very big, it holds seven square tables with rounded edges made of Redwood, one for each of my brothers and their families. There are four on one side and three on the other side and in the middle is a round table also made of Redwood that seats ten, where my father, mother and I and any guests would sit for our meals. When I was younger and before my brothers were married, we only had this one table and other furniture, like screens and a music area in this room but as the family grew, it became just a room consisting of just tables and chairs.

My father who was now seated at the head of the table, the seat that looks out at the front door and monitors everyone entering. Just by the look on his face, even the children that had been making some noise quieted down and followed their mothers to their seats.

The last family members to arrive were my third brother's family because their courtyard was the farthest from the dining hall. They quickly sat down as they came in and saw that the rest of the family were already seated.

With everyone there, father stood up and said, "At the celebration in the Palace last night there was an assisination attempt on the royal family. This morning, my sons and I were all called into the Palace for this reason."

There were murmurs everywhere. Since my brothers did not attend the celebration, some of my sister in-laws might not have heard about it yet.

My father raised his hand, to signal for everyone to quiet down. "So, the reason that I have called you all here is the matter of the safety of the family. The Imperial Guards and the City Magistrate will be cooperating in investigating the incident and whether there are further threats out there. So I want all the family members to not venture out unless absolutely needed. Also, servants are to remain inside the manor as well and for the time being, all vacation days have been cancelled, I will allocate extra money to each courtyard for the extra days. Servants that have family in the city, will be allowed to return home to their families. They will continue working, but their duties will change to delivering goods to the manor each day. Any questions?"

"Father, I understand it is for the safety of the family, but why are we taking such drastic measures?" asked my first sister-in-law.

"At this time, no one is sure of the intent of the attack or who is behind it all. Since they are able to sneak into the Palace they are also able to sneak into the Official's manors. So all the Officials are doing the same thing to make sure that no strangers will infiltrate. Thus limiting the possibility of attacks or secrets being leaked," my father answered.

"But our family is a literate family and all the men hold jobs that are related to either the Library or School. Why would they be interested in infiltrating our family?" my sixth sister in-law asked.

"There are things about each of our jobs that are related to strategies and security of the Country. Old sixth's job is also serving as the advisor to the head of security in the Palace. So the Emperor has ordered that we heighten our family's security," my father patiently answered.

I saw my sister in-law turn a little red and bowed her head. It is understandable that she was not so familiar with her husband's job. She had married into the family not even a year and my sixth brother is not the most talkative person, so he probably rarely talked about work.

My brother was now holding her hand under the table to comfort her. I smiled a bit, because it was nice to know that even a block head like him knew how to care for someone.

"Okay now go back to your courtyards and gather all your servants, to work out the schedules. List out who will be staying in the manor and who will be residing outside for the time being," father ordered.

"First daughter-in-law, I will leave it to you to gather all the lists and distribute the extra wages to the servants staying. Also to schedule those that do general duties throughout the manor."

"Second daughter-in-law, I will ask that you work out a schedule with all the servants who are leaving the manor, assign days on when they would be delivering goods."

"Both of you should work together to coordinate who will receive the goods once they are delivered. Security is of the utmost importance. Do you understand?"

They answered in unison, "Yes father."

"The rest of you will be incharge of your own household, when you have things that must be purchased, please bring that list to your second sister so that she can schedule the servants to purchase them. Understand that there will be delays, it may take a day or two to get the supplies with this method, so plan well in advance. Okay if there are no more questions, you can all go back now." He waited as he finished his orders and without any other questions, he waved his hand signaling for them to leave.

There were a lot of different conversations going on as everyone lined up to leave the dining hall.

I stayed back and did not move from my seat. Father saw that I was not moving, so he asked if I had any questions.

"Father, do they really have no idea who sent those assassins?" I asked.

"Yes, the Crown Prince and the General had found out about the attack only by chance. One of the dancers had dropped a dagger in the changing room. The maids that were cleaning the room found it and alerted the guard. As you know, no one except the guards in the Palace are allowed to have arms. So they were concerned and had assembled the guards just in case. All the daggers had a symbol on it but it was not one that they were familiar with," he explained.

"The General is at the post house, will he be in any danger?" I asked a little too urgently.

Father smiled knowingly, "No, the General has exceptional martial arts and will not be harmed so easily."

"Okay." I was still a little worried and lowered my head subconsciously.

He patted my head and said, "When girls grow up..."

I looked up at him startled, "What? What are you talking about?" I felt the heat from my neck travel up to my face and up to my eyes.

He just smiled more widely.

"Mom, dad is making fun of me!" I held on to my mom's arm as I whined.

"It is just normal, you are grown up," my mom said with a smile and with a sigh also said, "When this matter is all settled, we should also look into meeting the matchmaker again."

"Mom, you too." I pushed away my mom's arm and got up to leave. "I'm not talking to you two anymore." I screamed back as I was hurriedly walking towards the door.

I had almost crossed half the room when my father yelled "Wait LaiSan."

I stopped and turned to look at him.

"Go visit your grandmother and make sure she is taken care of as well during this time." he ordered.

"Yes, father. I will handle the servants from her courtyard. Since I only have Jo-yi and she stays with me all the time I won't have much to do anyways." I replied.

I waved at them and left the dining hall.