How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

The Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed by a few days ago, and the morning still carried the unique crispness of autumn, making people feel relaxed and happy.

"Bang!" The annoying sound of something being smashed shattered this beautiful moment.

The emperor, high above all others, tossed the storybook he was holding at the feet of his ministers. Looking at them, he saw that their somewhat thin bodies still carried a faint scent of rouge, as if they had just come from the bed of one of his concubines.

His once muddled eyes now held a hint of the clarity they had when he first ascended the throne, but at this moment he glared at everyone with fury.

"Tell me what you have to say," the emperor said, his gaze cold as he looked at the assembled officials.

The group looked at each other, then turned their gazes to the storybook, their eyes filled with confusion.

However, a hint of panic flashed in the eyes of some officials.

Seeing that no one answered, the emperor's eyes grew even more ruthless. He looked at Prime Minister Zhang and asked, "Minister Zhang, what do you think?"

As if suddenly awakened, Prime Minister Zhang slowly stepped to the center, cupped his hands to the emperor, and said: "Your Majesty, we have failed in our duty and have indeed not discovered this seditious letter in the capital."

"Please forgive us, Your Majesty." As soon as he spoke, several ministers and other officials knelt down.

"Ha, dereliction of duty?" The emperor looked at him with deep eyes. "Since the prime minister believes it is dereliction of duty, then I will give you another chance: capture the hermit within ten days."

"Your Majesty," Prime Minister Zhang bowed, "if the hermit were residing in the capital, we could naturally capture him within ten days, but I suspect he is not in the capital."

"Oh?" the emperor said impatiently, looking at him. "Then tell me where?"

"Qinhuai," Prime Minister Zhang said, "I have been keeping an eye on all the major bookstores. I saw a group of people coming from out of town, secretly bringing manuscripts to the bookstores for private printing. If one of them hadn't made a mistake with women, allowing me to discover the error, I probably wouldn't have found out."

"Qinhuai..." the emperor said, as if he had just remembered something. "I recall that the prefect of Huaicheng submitted a memorial saying that traces of a hermit had been found in the red-light district?"

Prime Minister Zhang did not report directly to the Emperor, but instead cursed the Prefect of Huaicheng in his heart.

The prefect of Huaicheng was a member of his family. He originally wanted his son to go to a prosperous place to make some achievements in politics, so that he could find a reason to send him to the capital to serve as an official. However, he never expected that his son was muddle-headed and greedy. He actually amassed a lot of wealth in Huaicheng. Not only that, but he even lied and claimed to have found traces of him in the red-light district of Huaicheng in order to save face.

Just as Prime Minister Zhang was pondering what to do, he was nudged by someone behind him and immediately came to his senses and apologized: "Your Majesty, I believe there are some points worth discussing regarding what the prefect said. As for where the hermit came from, we do not know."

"Have you checked all the book bureaus in the capital?" the emperor asked after thinking for a moment.

"I've investigated, and I don't recognize any of the printing companies. They only said they paid money to borrow their tools," Prime Minister Zhang continued. "However, I've calculated that, given the capabilities of these companies, there shouldn't be so many books on the market. I suspect they have other printing facilities."

"In that case, firstly, you continue to investigate bookstores in various places, and secondly, send people to Huaicheng to investigate brothels based on Prefect Zhang's memorial." The emperor, impatient to listen to his rambling any longer, waved his hand and gave the order directly.

Although the emperor's order was not to his liking, Prime Minister Zhang did not raise any objections and directly knelt down to accept the decree: "Your subject accepts the decree."

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: I have heard of a rebellious traitor hiding in plain sight, writing seditious documents, which is truly contrary to the will of Heaven, and I am deeply enraged. Therefore, I hereby proclaim to the world that, from this very day forward, anyone who can capture this traitor will, if he is an official, be promoted three ranks and bestowed with honor; if he is a merchant, his descendants will be blessed with lasting wealth and honor; if he is a commoner, he will be granted a special title, bringing glory to his ancestors. I hope that all subjects of the realm will unite in this righteous act to restore order to the world, and I will certainly not fail your merits. So be it!"

An imperial edict spread throughout the land, and the recluse once again became the target of public criticism.

Whether they were officials or wealthy merchants, they were all eager to catch the recluse.

Only ordinary people didn't care about this. They had already heard that the hermits were good people who spoke up for the common people. Although they were commoners, they would not forget their kindness and make those who spoke up for them feel cold.

Of course, there are also those from noble families who harbor goodwill towards hermits.

“With His Majesty’s decree, even if the hermit had wings, he wouldn’t be able to escape this inescapable net.” Xu Zhengchu said casually, sitting in front of the chessboard with a cup of tea in hand.

"There's nothing we can do, we can only say this guy is too arrogant." Yu Kangbo was happily drinking his wine.

"I wonder who this hermit is. I'd like to make his acquaintance," Xu Zhengchu said.

"What? Aren't you afraid your father will beat you?" Yu Kangbo teased with a smile.

“My father? He himself also greatly admires this hermit. Although the words in this person’s book are simple and plain, they contain profound truths. Whether it is the Great Harmony world spoken of by the sage or the country and people spoken of by the second sage, he is truly a great talent.” Xu Zhengchu said with deep emotion.

“That’s true, but our Emperor won’t let him off the hook,” Yu Kangbo said nonchalantly.

“Perhaps…” Xu Zhengchu continued.

The imperial edict also reached Huaicheng, but it brought not only the emperor's edict but also a letter from Prime Minister Zhang.

The letter naturally gave the prefect a good scolding, and at the end, it did not forget to instruct the prefect that no matter what method he used, even if he had someone frame him, he should find a scapegoat, otherwise no one could protect him.

Upon receiving this letter, the prefect, who was only greedy and lacked common sense, panicked terribly. He never imagined that his mere flattering memorial would lead to such a disaster.

"My lord, what troubles you so much?" The clerk beside the prefect, noticing the prefect's unusual expression after receiving a letter, hurriedly stepped forward to ask obsequiously.

"Now the higher-ups are demanding the handover of the hermit, and even my uncle sent me a letter saying that the emperor believes the hermit is hiding deep within Huaicheng. Where do you think I am to send a hermit to His Majesty?" the prefect said, rubbing his forehead.

The advisor's eyes darted around, and after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't come up with any good ideas. He could only apologize, "This subordinate is incompetent and really can't think of any good ideas for the time being."

"Go on, go on, I'll think about it myself." Seeing that even his usually clever clerk had no good ideas, the prefect could only wave him away.

After the person left, the prefect sighed deeply, looking at the letter in his hand with a troubled expression. He even lost interest in his plans to enjoy himself in the room of his eighteenth concubine that night.

On his way home, the clerk was thinking of good ideas to help the prefect.

He knew that if he did this well, he would definitely make a great contribution.

Born into a poor family and not particularly talented, he was already incredibly lucky to be a secretary. He had given up hope and thought that being able to do it until old age would be a blessing.

But his current superior happens to be from the same clan as Zhang Chengtong, which tempted him. If he could get close to such a powerful figure, his future would surely be bright.

As he walked, he arrived at the entrance of Hualiu Lane, where he happened to meet two passersby.

"Have you heard the new piece from Qingyintang?" one of them asked.

“That song, ‘The Maiden’s Embroidery’? I’ve heard it, it’s amazing, no wonder it’s by Master Liu.” another replied.

The two short sentences reached his ears, and his eyes lit up as an idea instantly formed in his mind.