How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

Not far from Yuanshui Town, they arrived at the dock for heading south of the Yangtze River. The group boarded a boat prepared in advance by the escort agency and set off for Huaicheng.

At this moment, Liu Yin sat in her room, looking out at the bustling dock, but her thoughts drifted to her conversation with Cui Heng the night before.

"Miss..." Cui Heng accompanied Liu Yin through the alleys at night, "Miss, why did you suddenly ask me to accompany you today?"

It wasn't that Cui Heng was just making conversation; Liu Yin genuinely didn't like them following her around and trusted Mei Wu more. He was already puzzled that Liu Yin hadn't let Mei Wu come along this time, but he hadn't asked about it until now.

“I’ve never really understood why, when Father wasn’t prepared for the massacre of our family, you suddenly came with such a powerful force ten years later, and even…” Liu Yin stopped and turned to look at him, “you even have people in the palace and the court?”

Liu Yin stared into his eyes, unblinking, waiting for his answer.

“We…” Cui Heng stopped in his tracks, stood there stunned, and hesitated for a long time.

Liu Yin didn't urge him, but just quietly watched him from the side until time passed, and she didn't know how much time had gone by...

“We were originally from the Wanlong Trading Company established by the Prince back then…” Cui Heng looked at the stars in the night sky, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

It turns out that more than a decade ago, when the late emperor was in power, his negligence in governing caused instability in the country, and natural disasters continued to occur in remote areas, but the national treasury had no money to help with disaster relief.

Left with no other choice, Prince Anning established the Wanlong Trading Company, which traveled all over the country and earned most of the money. Part of it was used for disaster relief, and the rest was secretly used to replenish the national treasury with the Minister of Revenue at the time. Because he was afraid that other princes would interfere, he had to conceal the connection between the Wanlong Trading Company and Prince Anning's Mansion.

Later, he discovered that the late emperor was increasingly dissatisfied with his high reputation. Even though the late emperor knew that Wanlong Trading Company was established for disaster relief and that most of its profits were used for disaster relief.

However, the late emperor still tentatively asked him to offer more profits so that he could enjoy them, and even later tacitly approved the princes' probing and squeezing of Wanlong Trading Company.

Therefore, he simply had Wanlong Trading Company disappear into the shadows.

"Fortunately, the Prince made that decision that day. Otherwise, there would be no Shengyuan Trading Company today, and none of us would be where we are today," Cui Heng said with emotion.

"What about the escort agency?" Liu Yin persisted, pressing for an answer.

“I don’t know much about the escort agency,” Cui Heng shook his head slightly before continuing, “Back then, we didn’t know there was another force operating there until seven years ago…”

"Seven years ago?" Liu Yin frowned and continued to ask, "What happened?"

"Seven years ago, a man came to my master with the seal of Wanlong Trading Company. That man is Gui Yuanning, the current head of Guining Escort Agency," Cui Heng said.

“Gui Yuanning…” Liu Yin recalled for a moment, but she really didn’t have any impression of this person in her memory.

Cui Heng pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and then continued, "I always thought that Guining Escort Agency was founded by Gui Yuanning, but I later found out that it wasn't."

"Who is that?" Liu Yin frowned as she looked at him.

"Your Highness," Cui Heng gritted his teeth and squeezed out the two words.

“Brother…” Liu Yin’s eyes were filled with disbelief, and her voice rose involuntarily, “How could it be my brother! Where is my brother now!”

"Young Master, calm down!" Cui Heng stepped forward and covered her mouth until she calmed down before saying, "The young master was severely burned in the fire and was rescued by Gui Yuanning. Because all the medicines for treating burns in the capital were bought up by the current prince, who was still the sixth prince at the time, he had no choice but to flee the capital with his serious injuries."

“So…” Liu Yin’s face showed a hint of despair and sadness, “Brother must be in a lot of pain…”

“Young Master…” Cui Heng’s eyes also showed sorrow. “Before the young master left, he specifically instructed that Gui Yuanning should join forces with us, gather our forces and hide in the shadows. Unless we find you, we must not make any more moves.”

"If that's the case, then why were you involved in the destruction of the Anle Prince's Mansion before Yuan Mingyou even discovered me?" Liu Yin suppressed her sadness, a hint of doubt in her eyes. "And why don't I have any memories of you? Who exactly are you?"

Cui Heng felt hurt when he saw the doubt in her eyes.

He lowered his head, somewhat hesitant, until after a long while, he finally looked at Liu Yin.

“We didn’t expect this to happen, but the Empress is dead, and people in the palace are saying that he’s going to take action against the border, and… we also need to find evidence,” Cui Heng said, his head bowed.

"Are you afraid that my mother's family will all be wiped out, and no one will avenge my family?" Liu Yin replied coldly.

"Yes!" Cui Heng replied immediately.

"I can't trust you. I've never met you before, and I don't know what you're up to. Every reason you give seems insufficient to me," Liu Yin continued, looking at him. This was something she had wanted to ask ever since she learned about the escort agency and the trading company.

Cui Heng raised his head, a bitter smile on his face: "As expected, what the eunuch said was right. He warned us long ago not to hide anything from our master. But we hope that you can live a simple life, find a good husband, and have a few well-behaved children."

“When you dragged me into Duan’an, all of this became unrealistic.” Liu Yin looked at him with that same cold expression.

“Yes…” A hint of recollection flashed across Cui Heng’s face. “Young Master may not remember, but I had met you once before.”

"Qingyin Hall?" Liu Yin really couldn't think of any way she had come into contact with him.

“Yes, we met once when the young master saved Luanqin and took her away from Qingyin Hall. At that time, I felt that the young master looked familiar, but I was not as good as Yuan Mingyou in terms of memory, so I did not recognize him for a moment.” Cui Heng’s voice was filled with regret. “At that time, I thought, how wonderful it would be if our little princess grew up to be such a responsible person. In that case, there would definitely be hope for revenge.”

"So after you found out my identity, you decided to involve me, is that right?" Liu Yin's attitude softened at this point.

“No.” Cui Heng blurted out, ignoring Liu Yin’s surprise, and continued, “We hope you will take Duan’an out of the capital. From now on, you will still be yourself. As for Duan’an, we will take her to the frontier.”

“I never expected that I would be willing to take Duan’an with me and personally seek revenge?” Liu Yin looked back at him.

Cui Heng looked at him and knelt on one knee: "This servant Cui Heng respectfully welcomes Master. From now on, I will obey your orders."

Liu Yin looked at him for a long time before saying, "Alright, I accept your loyalty, but I still have one question."

"Young master, please speak."

"What is your background?" Cui Heng understood the meaning behind Liu Yin's question this time.

Liu Yin's meaning was simple: loyalty was acceptable, but I wanted to know everything.

So he frankly admitted, "We were all children saved by the prince, and most of us were saved twenty years ago."

"Twenty years ago..." Liu Yin recalled the books she had read, "Twenty years ago, the Northwest suffered a three-year drought, and the barbarians came knocking on the gates?"

“Yes, most of us are children of Wancheng,” Cui Heng continued, “but I’m different from the others. I… have the same royal blood as you…”