Reincarnation In The Shanghai Dynasty

Untitled Episode chapter5

Chapter 5: The Secret Classroom

The North Pavilion felt like a different world once the sun began to rise. Outside, the Chen estate was buzzing with the sounds as everyone ran around to look after ChenBo. The "Golden Son," Chen Bo, was being celebrated with expensive wine and roasted meats. But inside the North Pavilion, there was no food, no heat, and no celebration. There was only the cold and the quiet.

Nian lay in the corner on a thin, tattered mat. Her back was a mess of red welts from the Master’s whip, but she hadn't cried out once since being brought back. A-Jiao, the youngest daughter, was kneeling beside her, using a damp cloth to clean the soot and blood from the girl’s skin.

Lin Xia stood in the center of the room. She looked at her four daughters. They were huddled together, shivering in their thin silk robes. They looked like they were waiting for the end of the world.

"Look at me," Lin Xia said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it had the sharpness of a snapping branch.

The girls looked up. They saw a mother they didn't recognize. Gone was the woman who spent her days weeping or praying for a miracle. Standing before them was a woman with eyes like flint.

"Yesterday, your father tried to sell A-Mei like a bag of grain," Lin Xia said, her voice echoing in the rafters. "Today, he has locked us in here to starve. He thinks that because he has a son now, we are garbage to be thrown away. He thinks he has all the power because he holds the money and the name."

She picked up a piece of charcoal from the cold fireplace and walked over to a large, decorative silk screen. With a quick, jagged motion, she drew a large circle in the center.

"This is the Chen Estate," she said. She drew a smaller circle inside it. "This is us. We are trapped in a small box inside a bigger box. But do you know what happens to a man who builds a box and forgets to check the foundation?"

The daughters shook their heads, mesmerized.

"The whole thing falls on his head," Lin Xia said. She turned to them, her face dead serious. "I am going to teach you how to pull the stones out of his foundation, one by one. We are not going to beg for our lives. We are going to take over this house."

Lin Xia pointed the charcoal at A-Ling, the second daughter.

"A-Ling, you have always been the quietest. You spend your time reading and thinking. From today on, you are the Watcher of the Coin. Your father is a merchant, but he is a fool. He spends more than he makes. I want you to memorize every number in the household ledgers. I want you to find out who he owes money to and when those debts are due. If we know his debts, we own his neck."

A-Ling blinked, her breath catching. "But Mother... women aren't allowed to touch the books. Father says it’s 'unlucky.'"

"It’s only unlucky for him," Lin Xia countered. "Knowledge isn't a gender, A-Ling. It’s a weapon. Use it."

She turned to A-Zhen, the third daughter. "A-Zhen, you are the Voice of the Wind. You know every servant by name. You know who is lazy, who is greedy, and who is sad. I want you to listen to the whispers at the well. I want to know what the guards say when they think no one is listening. A man’s secrets usually travel through his servants' mouths before they reach his ears."

A-Zhen nodded, a small, curious light beginning to glow in her eyes.

Then, Lin Xia looked at her eldest, A-Mei. This was the hardest part. A-Mei was the most traditional, the one most hurt by the Master's cruelty.

"A-Mei, you are the Actor. You are going to be the 'Perfect Daughter.' This afternoon, I want you to go to the West Wing. You will bring a small gift—something we have left in our jewelry boxes. You will apologize to Concubine Hua. You will tell her that you are so happy for your 'new brother.' You will make her believe you are her most obedient servant."

A-Mei’s face turned pale. "Mother, no! I can't look at her! She laughed while Nian was being whipped!"

"I know," Lin Xia said, her voice softening just a fraction. "And that is why you must go. Because while you are smiling at her, you will be looking for the gaps in her story. You will be looking for the jars of goat’s blood Nian mentioned. You will be looking for the cracks in her perfection. If you can make her trust you, she will hand us the rope to hang her with."

"The midwife..."

The voice was weak, coming from the corner. Nian had pushed herself up onto one elbow. Her eyes, usually hidden by soot and lowered lids, were wide and terrifyingly sharp. This was the "high perception" that Lin Xia had sensed—the girl saw things that others ignored.

"The midwife is not just resting," Nian panted, her face tight with pain. "They say she is tired from the birth. But she is being kept in the small room behind the nursery. I saw the guards bring her food, but they never let her out. And the windows are boarded up from the outside."

Lin Xia felt a shiver of excitement. This was the legal lead she needed. "Why would they lock her up if everything was normal?"

"Because she knows the truth," Nian whispered. "The Concubine... she was never as big as she should have been. And the baby... he doesn't cry like a newborn should."

Lin Xia realized then that Nian was more than just a maid. She was a natural detective.

"A-Jiao," Lin Xia said to the youngest daughter. "You are the smallest. You can move through the shadows. Your job is to find a way to that midwife’s window. Use the old drainage tunnels under the garden. Don't let the guards see you. Just find out if she’s alive."

The four daughters stood in a row. They were no longer the weeping girls who had thought their lives were over. Lin Xia had given them something more important than food or heat: she had given them a strategy.

"Everything in this world is a contract," Lin Xia said, her mind flashing back to the courtroom. We are going to make it so that if he tries to hurt us, he loses everything he loves."

She looked at her daughters, her face hard and determined.

"No more crying. No more begging. From this moment on, we are a business. And our business is taking back our lives."

Suddenly, the heavy bolts on the North Pavilion’s outer gate began to rattle. A servant’s voice called out from the other side.

"Lady Wei! The Master has ordered that your furniture be removed to pay for the Golden Son’s naming ceremony! Open the doors!"

The daughters looked at Lin Xia in terror. But Lin Xia didn't flinch. She picked up a heavy wooden chair and slammed it against the door, wedging it shut.

"Let them try," Lin Xia whispered. She turned to her daughters. "A-Mei, get ready to go to the West Wing. A-Ling, start the count.

The daughters didn't run. They didn't hide. They stood behind their mother, their faces set in stone. The re-education was only hours old, but the "disappointments" of the Chen family were already turning into a wall of iron.

Lin Xia looked at the door, her heart beating with the steady rhythm of a hunter. She had died once. There was nothing this ancient world could do to her that was scarier than that.

"Welcome to the first day of your new lives," she said to the room.

The siege had begun.