How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

"Rongrong, you must listen to me. Your mother and father are doing this for your own good. You must stay here obediently and not go anywhere, understand?" The beautiful woman with delicate features and rich clothes put her arm around Liu Yin and carefully instructed her. Liu Yin could not control the inexplicable fear in her heart and sobbed softly.

“Mother Consort…” Liu Yin’s thoughts were somewhat confused. At this moment, she seemed to be the original owner of this body who had experienced this event, yet she also had a trace of clarity, knowing that this was just a memory.

"No!" She was in a daze for an unknown amount of time when a sudden burst of firelight, just like in her previous dream, instantly woke her up.

"Miss, what's wrong?" Lan Yan, who was serving, heard the commotion and hurriedly came over with a candlestick to ask.

"It's nothing, just a nightmare. You can go now." Liu Yin was too shocked by the information she had just received in her dream to deal with Lan Yan.

"Yes, Miss." Seeing that Liu Yin was indeed alright, Lan Yan withdrew, not forgetting to place the tea on the small table in front of Liu Yin's bed before leaving.

“Mother Consort…Father King…” Liu Yin paid no attention to Lan Yan’s actions. Her mind was filled with the vague scene from her dream and the shocking title. Then she remembered the indistinct and childish name on the indenture—Zhang Qiao’er. Her heart was full of doubts.

Although she didn't have the original owner's childhood memories, she only had memories of being abducted and sold into Qingyin Hall. Since she was sold into Qingyin Hall under the name Zhang Qiao'er, she naturally always thought she was Zhang Qiao'er. However, these repeated dream scenes, coupled with the fact that Cui is the imperial surname, made Liu Yin have to think about her true identity.

The person she dreamt of being called "father" and "mother" must be a member of the royal family. Moreover, the subsequent events reminded her of someone known as the most virtuous king of the Li Dynasty—King Anning.

Prince Anning was the current emperor's younger brother, outstanding in both literature and martial arts. He had made great contributions during the reign of the late emperor. Unfortunately, he was neither the eldest son nor the legitimate heir, and he was honest and simple-minded. He was also devoted to the frontier and had no ambition to seize the throne. Logically speaking, no emperor would have been extremely fond of such a brother, but he would not have been very suspicious of him. However, this prince was really wicked and had treacherous ministers around him who kept slandering him. In the end, the prince was forced to have his family property confiscated.

If that were all, Liu Yin would never have imagined that the Prince of Anning's family would have a fire breaking out in their mansion on the eve of the confiscation of their property, resulting in the deaths of the entire family. This incident shocked the whole country at the time.

Although more than a decade has passed since this incident, as the emperor has become increasingly incompetent, the people have grown to miss the Prince of Anning even more. Not to mention Qingyin Hall, which is filled with high-ranking officials and nobles, many people sigh when they mention this incident.

However, in the past two years, with the growing power of treacherous officials, fewer and fewer people dare to speak out about these matters...

Could it be… Liu Yin’s heart skipped a beat, and she became more and more convinced that her guess was true. She just couldn’t understand how the girl, who was only six or seven years old at the time, was able to escape the fire and be trafficked here.

It seems I need to be even more careful in the future. Fortunately, no one except Madam Xu knew about the contract of sale that day. I still need to think of a way to test Madam Xu... Liu Yin frowned slightly, feeling miserable. It was bad enough that she was just an orphan girl who was abducted, but the original owner was actually a member of the royal family, and a member of the royal family who should have died long ago. It really gave her a headache.

Liu Yin had finally managed to get to bed, but before she could sleep for long, Lan Yan woke her up: "Miss, someone from Qingyin Hall said they have something urgent and need you to come over."

"Hmm...?" Liu Yin woke up with a yawn, and only after glancing at Lan Yan did she realize that she had moved.

After being helped by Lan Yan to wash up and change her clothes, she ate a bowl of porridge that Lan Yan brought in before going out and seeing the maid who had been following Xu Mama.

"Good morning, Aunt Zhang. Why are you here so early today?" Liu Yin glanced at the sky and saw that it was still early, not the usual time, and couldn't help but tease her.

Aunt Zhang smiled and bowed before speaking, "Instructor Liu, you're too kind. Madam said she'd trouble you to make another trip. The lady who came yesterday was crying and making a fuss, and Madam was really impatient to deal with her. She asked you to persuade her."

"What are you saying? Madam Xu has her own methods, why should I step in?" Liu Yin was even more puzzled. This matter of training newcomers was not something she, the instructor, was responsible for. At most, she would just teach a few lessons, so why was she asked to do it?

"There's no other way. Madam was quite tired last night after attending a business meeting, and this morning we had some distinguished guests. We couldn't train anyone right away, and several ladies left one after another, so we were short-handed. I thought that since you're a teacher in the brothel, this is part of your job, and it would be reasonable for you to handle it yourself, so I sent this servant to invite you." Aunt Zhang explained the whole story clearly and efficiently, and stood there smiling, waiting for Liu Yin's reply.

"I see..." Liu Yin felt a headache coming on when she thought of Zhang Yueniang from yesterday, but since the matter had fallen into her hands, she didn't want Zhang Yueniang to suffer in the brothel, so she could only nod in agreement.

When she stepped outside, she found a carriage parked at the door. Liu Yin paused, wondering if it was something that Xu Mama, who was always stingy, had bought for her.

Seeing Liu Yin stunned, Lan Yan stepped forward and whispered, "The madam instructed that this person should be used to pick up and drop off the young lady from now on, so as to avoid collisions with crowds on the road."

Hearing this, Liu Yin nodded. That's more like it. Being so generous is unlike that stingy, money-loving guy.

Staggering along towards Qingyin Hall, Liu Yin grew increasingly drowsy and began to let her mind wander. She thought of Zhang Yueniang from yesterday and couldn't help but sigh deeply…

Zhang Yueniang really didn't know whether to call the other party foolish or naive. That day, she asked about the other party's family background, and as she guessed, the other party lost his mother at a young age. After his father passed the imperial examination and became an official, he remarried a beautiful woman. This stepmother came from a wealthy merchant family. Although it was rare for an official to marry a merchant's daughter, Zhang Yueniang's father had a lowly official position, only a minor county magistrate. The new bride's family, although a merchant family, was a powerful and influential family in the area. One wanted money to support her own rise in the social standing, and the other wanted power to change her family's status. They hit it off immediately.

Logically speaking, Zhang Yueniang was already ten years old at the time, and being a girl, she shouldn't have been a problem for her stepmother. However, whether she was naive or tricked, she unintentionally caused the new wife to miscarry. The new wife initially intended to treat her coldly, but after this incident, Zhang Yueniang became a thorn in her side.

One day, Zhang Yueniang, following the instructions of her new wife, went up the mountain to pray to Buddha for her unborn younger brother. She unexpectedly met this handsome young man at the temple. Although she herself thought it was all a coincidence, Liu Yin, who had been exposed to all kinds of melodramatic family drama novels after the information explosion, found the sudden intimacy, the order to go out, the sudden loss of maids and servants, and the sudden encounter with the handsome scholar who helped her unbelievable.

However, seeing Zhang Yueniang sobbing uncontrollably, she had no interest in arguing about these details with her. After comforting her repeatedly and explaining the rules of Qingyin Hall again, she hurriedly ran away.

To her surprise, this woman cried all night. She really couldn't understand why she agreed to that scumbag if she didn't want to sell herself. And if she did agree, why did she act like this?

Thinking about it, they arrived at Qingyin Hall. Liu Yin followed Aunt Zhang through the back door and entered the stone house in the backyard.

Liu Yin was taken aback when she entered. She had thought that Xu Mama would arrange for her to be placed in a room, but she was surprised to find that she was placed in this stone house used for torture. She felt increasingly strange.

The stone house was indeed small, only about ten square meters upon closer inspection. It had a narrow wooden door and a small window in the corner, which was the only source of light in the house besides the door.

Even in the morning, the room was dimly lit with the door closed. However, there were no bloodstained torture instruments as Liu Yin had guessed. Instead, there was a pile of straw in the corner, on which sat a woman sobbing.

"Moon Lady?" After Aunt Zhang, who had brought her in, took her leave, Liu Yin gestured for Lan Yan to follow her out as well, before speaking to the figure.

"Liu...Master?" the woman asked cautiously, sobbing.

“Yes, it’s me. Xu Mama asked me to come. Didn’t you agree to entertain guests yesterday? Why did you…” Liu Yin saw a stool in the corner, and without any objection, she moved the stool, wiped it clean, and sat down opposite Zhang Yueniang.

"I...I...I'm a little scared...I want to go home..." As she spoke, Zhang Yueniang began to sob and cry again with a sorrowful expression.

"This...you should have beaten that person with a stick when you were sold yesterday and left immediately. Now that you're in this state, I can't help you." Liu Yin looked at the other person's condition. It wasn't that she didn't want to save her, but she was struggling to protect herself, so how could she have the strength to save someone else?

"I know it's difficult for Instructor Liu, but I truly don't want to lose my chastity here and disgrace my family." Zhang Yueniang swallowed hard, carefully sizing up Liu Yin before speaking softly, "I only ask that Instructor Liu help me send a letter to my family..."

"This... are you sure?" Liu Yin thought of the harsh treatment women faced in this era and felt this was a terrible idea. Just as she was about to say something more, she suddenly thought that what if Zhang's father was willing to save his daughter? If she caused Zhang Yueniang to miss this opportunity, she would be making a huge mistake. After thinking for a moment, she changed her words and said, "Yueniang, I'll help you this time. I'll send over some paper money later. Anyway, you need to learn some skills, so there's no rush to entertain guests. I'll take this opportunity to have someone send you a message."

"Thank you, Instructor Liu, thank you, thank you! I will never forget your great kindness. In the future, I will serve you like a slave to repay this kindness." Zhang Yueniang kowtowed to Liu Yin with joy upon hearing this.

"Don't thank me yet. I've delivered the letter for you, but I can't guarantee the outcome. I've also said that, given Xu's mother's greedy nature, your parents will be in for a lot of trouble. You should be prepared." After helping the other person up, Liu Yin wanted to leave, but after thinking about it, she still opened her mouth to persuade her.

Seeing that the other person looked like they were about to cry again, she couldn't help but curse herself inwardly for being so nosy. Looking at the other person's tearful but grateful eyes, she couldn't help but blush a little: "Ahem, alright, you stay here for now, I'll go find Aunt Xu."

With that, she lifted her leg and strode away, leaving behind the increasingly emotional gaze she was receiving.

"Have you persuaded her?" Upon entering Xu Mama's room, Liu Yin saw that the woman was counting silver notes. When she saw Liu Yin enter, she calmly put the silver notes into the box.

"It's alright. Send her some paper and pen later; she needs to write home." Liu Yin glanced at the box; there was quite a bit of money. She felt a pang of sadness, thinking that this money was all the blood and flesh that had been taken from the girls, but she remained outwardly calm and only talked about Zhang Yueniang's matter.

"Write a letter? What letter? We're not forcing anyone into prostitution." Mrs. Xu raised an eyebrow, glancing at Liu Yin. "Qingyin, what are you trying to do? Steal my man?"

"Mom, just call me Liu Jiaosi or Liu Yin. Since I've changed my identity, it's not appropriate to call me by my old name. I don't really mean anything by it; I just felt sorry for her and wanted to fulfill her wish. Besides, this is also for your sake." Liu Yin, confident in her freedom, didn't hide her true nature at all and casually picked up the teapot on the table to pour herself a cup of water.

"Oh?" Xu's mother perked up at the question, looking at Liu Yin with great interest. "Tell me about it?"

"Firstly, Zhang Yueniang eloped first and then went to the brothel, so she has long lost her reputation. According to her, although her father is an official, he is a pedantic old man. Why would he come to take her away? This way, she will give up and stay in Qingyin Hall from now on, without having any other thoughts. Secondly, even if her parents are willing to come and take her away, you, holding the contract of sale, can ask for a high price. This whole process will only take a few meals. Why not?"

"Good idea." Xu's mother's eyes lit up after hearing this, and she looked at Liu Yin with admiration. "Liu Yin, now I feel more and more that it would be a pity to send you away."

"It's not a matter of sending her away or not. Liu Yin doesn't work for Madam anymore." Liu Yin didn't really want to scheme against Zhang Yueniang. It's just that if Madam Xu didn't give her a reason that would benefit her, she would rather beat Zhang Yueniang into submission. Having seen what Hong Yu was like, how could she bear to let Zhang Yueniang end up like that?

"Alright, do as you say. I'll have Aunt Song deliver it over in a bit. As for Liu Yin, I'll be counting on you from now on, so you'd better do your best." Madam Xu agreed with a smile, then gave Liu Yin a few more words of advice before letting her leave.

Nothing much happened that day. Liu Yin continued to teach the flower girls their skills as arranged, until she got into the carriage to go home in the evening. It wasn't until she fell asleep that she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to ask Xu Mama about the name of the indenture and why Zhang Yueniang was thrown into the stone house. She thought to herself that she had been confused, but it would be strange to ask her about it now, so she had to keep it to herself for the time being.