Reincarnation In The Shanghai Dynasty

Untitled Episodechapter6

Chapter 6: The Spider’s Nest

The North Pavilion was a place of gray shadows, but the West Wing was a riot of artificial gold. As A-Mei walked the long corridor, she felt the transition in her very bones. The air grew warm, heavy with the cloying scent of jasmine and roasted pears. It was a sensory assault designed to broadcast one message: Here lies the future; the North is the grave.

A-Mei clutched a small, lacquered wooden box against her chest. Inside was her favorite jade hairpin, a plum-blossom carving that was the last remnant of her dignity. Following Lin Xia’s "Re-education" drill, she didn't walk like a victim. She walked like a girl who had finally been broken by the weight of her father’s new world.

“Do not think of the jade as a loss,” her mother’s voice echoed in her mind. “Think of it as the entry fee for a theater of war.”

At the doors of the nursery, two guards stood with polished armor and bored expressions. To them, the eldest daughter was merely a ghost.

"I am here to see Lady Hua," A-Mei said, her voice small and trembling. "I have brought a gift for my new brother, the Young Master."

The guards exchanged a smirk but let her pass. Inside, the nursery was a masterpiece of greed. Concubine Hua was lounging on a chaise of purple velvet, watching a wet nurse rock a cradle draped in imperial yellow silk.

"A-Mei," Hua said, her voice like honey poured over a razor blade. "I heard you were all locked away, weeping. What brings the 'Primary Daughter' to the house of the living?"

A-Mei didn't answer with words. She sank to her knees, making sure they hit the floor with a dull, submissive thud. "Mother is... not herself, Lady Hua. I am the eldest. I know where the sun rises now." She held out the box. "For Chen Bo. To bless his naming ceremony."

Hua snatched the box, her eyes gleaming as she tucked the jade into her own hair. "Finally, a girl with sense. Your father will be pleased. He is meeting the Great Merchants tonight to buy an Imperial Title for the boy. Soon, this infant will have more rank than you will ever see in a lifetime."

While Hua bragged, A-Mei performed the "Audit." She stopped listening to the insults and started watching the room.

She saw the wet nurse’s hands shaking. She saw the baby—Chen Bo—wrapped so tightly he could barely move, making a strange, whistling sound as he breathed. It wasn't the sound of a "Dragon" heir; it was the sound of a struggling creature.

Then, her eyes caught a pile of discarded cloths tucked under a stool. They weren't stained with milk. They were dark, brownish-red. The iron scent hit her nose—goat’s blood. Nian had been right. They were feeding the baby animal blood to keep him quiet because Hua’s deception couldn't provide a mother's milk.

But then, a sharp thud came from behind a decorative screen. Thump. Thump-thump. Someone was kicking a door from the inside of a storage closet. Hua immediately began to cough loudly, trying to drown out the noise, her face turning a panicked shade of white. "Get out!" she shrieked at A-Mei. "The Young Master needs rest!"

A-Mei bowed and hurried out, her heart racing. She didn't return to the North Pavilion immediately. Instead, she ducked behind a stone pillar in the garden, waiting for her breath to return.

As she stood there, she saw a side door to the nursery open. A man stepped out—not a guard, but the Master’s personal physician, a man who was supposed to be in the Great Hall preparing the banquet. He looked around nervously and handed a small, sealed scroll to a messenger.

A-Mei recognized the seal on the messenger’s tunic. It wasn't the Chen family crest. It was the crest of the Imperial Tax Bureau—the very people Lin Xia planned to use as a threat.

The physician whispered, "Tell the Commissioner the 'deposit' is ready. The man thinks he is buying a title, but he is actually signing his own confession."

A-Mei froze. Her father wasn't just being tricked by a concubine; he was being set up by his own physician for a much larger sting operation. The "Golden Son" wasn't just a fraud—he was the bait for an Imperial trap that would lead to the execution of the entire Chen line, including A-Mei and her sisters.

A-Mei scrambled back to the North Pavilion and burst through the door, finding Lin Xia standing by the map.

"Mother!" A-Mei gasped, her face pale. "It's not just the midwife. The physician... he’s working for the Tax Bureau. They aren't selling Father a title tonight. They're letting him pay for it so they have proof of his illegal wealth before they arrest everyone!"

Lin Xia’s face went deathly still.

Suddenly, a thunderous boom shook the estate. The Great Hall’s doors were thrown open. A herald’s voice screamed, "The Imperial Commissioner has arrived! All members of the Chen household, come forth and kneel for the audit!"

Lin Xia looked at her daughters, then at the secret tunnel where A-Jiao was still hidden with the midwife.

"They're early," Lin Xia whispered, her eyes burning with a terrifying light. "A-Mei, A-Ling, A-Zhen... the 'Audit' just became a trial for our lives. And the only person who can save us is still stuck under the floorboards."