How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

Several dozen days passed, and Liu Yin lived a monotonous life of teaching on the third day and going to class on the fifth. The courtesans' instructors had already learned the new piece "Lian Yu" from the initial "Pipa Language" and were now planning to practice "Pipa Language" together.

As Zhang Yueniang had guessed, her letter disappeared without a trace. The messenger returned and said that the Zhang family had already announced that the eldest daughter of the Zhang family had fallen into the lake and was now seriously ill and preparing for her funeral. Upon learning about her family's situation, Zhang Yueniang cried for several days and finally gave up. Although she had not officially started working, she was learning the craft.

That day, Liu Yin was supposed to take her revised manuscript to Madam An for a look. Just as she was about to leave, Madam Liu called out to her from behind: "Yinniang, you shouldn't go out today. I heard that today is Lianyu's first performance, and Yanyan specially asked us to go to Qingyin Hall to watch it. We'll call your master to come along later."

"Great! Madam Xu didn't tell me yesterday. I thought we'd have to wait a few more days." Liu Yin hadn't expected today to be the day the new song would be performed. No wonder the brothel had been making purchases these past few days; it turned out they were all preparing for today's performance of the newcomer.

"Should we go to fetch Master?" Liu Yin was about to go inside to change into some simple clothes when she suddenly thought of her master and turned to ask curiously.

"No, it's too much trouble to go through that roundabout way. She'll get there on her own."

"Alright, then daughter, change into something lighter."

Upon hearing this, Madam Liu looked Liu Yin up and down. She saw that Liu Yin was wearing a crimson pleated skirt with a moon-white, high-necked, wide-sleeved blouse over it. Her hair was styled in a simple updo with a few small silver beaded flowers. Madam Liu smiled and said, "There's no need to change. This outfit isn't too eye-catching, and we'll be staying on the third floor without going down, so it won't matter."

"This..." After hearing this, Liu Yin looked down at her clothes and nodded hesitantly, "Since Mother says so, then so be it."

Therefore, the brothel was only frequented in the evenings, leaving the mother and daughter idle during the day. With nothing else to do, Madam Liu decided to teach Liu Yin needlework. Liu Yin, however, was completely unskilled at it, and for a moment, she was at a loss, holding the small embroidery needle.

In her past life, she had sewed and mended before, and sometimes did small handicrafts that required sewing. But she had never encountered a craft as delicate and requiring endless patience as Suzhou embroidery. Even putting aside her past life, in this life, although the original owner of this body had learned to read, write, play musical instruments, and study calligraphy and painting since childhood, she mostly served her patrons. She would never have allowed them to learn needlework or other crafts suitable for being a virtuous wife and mother.

Whether it was her clumsiness as a beginner that fueled Madam Liu's competitive spirit, or whether she saw potential in her, Madam Liu didn't care about her clumsiness at all. She told her everything from needlework techniques and thread selection to color matching and the meaning of each pattern without any hesitation.

Liu Yin felt her brain was filled with all sorts of color combinations, such as red and white, white and blue, which forced her to interrupt Madam Liu's endless chatter: "Mother, there's still plenty of time, why don't you teach me slowly? Look, it's getting late, let's eat first."

Seeing that it was indeed getting late and noticing Liu Yin's distraught expression, Madam Liu shook her head helplessly, then tapped her head and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll let you off this time."

After lunch, before Madam Liu could say anything more, Liu Yin excused herself that her eyes and hands were tired and she needed to rest. She hurriedly ran off, prompting Madam Liu to laugh and scold her from behind, "Good girl, you're already this tired after only one morning."

"The young lady hasn't learned it yet. Madam said that it's something that even those of us who know needlework find tedious and boring. Let alone the young lady, who could sit still like this?" Aunt Qian said with a smile, while directing Zhu Mei and Mei Wu, who had recovered, to tidy up the table. She massaged Madam Liu's shoulders to help Liu Yin make amends.

"You're still thinking about her, it's only been a few days..." Madam Liu smiled and rolled her eyes at her, then glanced at Zhu Mei and the other two who were packing their things, and replied in a low voice.

"She's our own daughter after all, how could we not love and pamper her? This old servant thinks the young lady's temperament is just like Madam's back before the New Year." Aunt Qian knew Madam Liu's concerns and lowered her voice to say softly.

"Yes, just like me back then..." Madam Liu looked somewhat dazed in the direction Liu Yin had left, her memory drifting back to her own past...

After quickly retreating to her room, Liu Yin couldn't fall asleep. She sat down at the table, looking at the novel she planned to show Madam An, and hesitated. She thought about it for a while, carefully considered it, and then picked up a piece of paper to make a new copy. She put the original manuscript back in the box, took the copied copy, and left.

"Mother..." Liu Yin's arrival interrupted Madam Liu's memories. Her pensive expression was broken, and she looked at Liu Yin with tenderness, "What is it?"

"Mother, what do you think of this?" Liu Yin said, handing over a stack of manuscripts, the very one she had just copied.

Madam Liu took the manuscript. Her initially casual attitude gradually turned somber as she turned the pages, her eyes becoming increasingly red.

Especially when she turned to the last page, the redness in the corners of her eyes turned into tears that slid down her face. She sat there in a daze for a moment, then came to her senses, picked up her handkerchief to wipe away the tears, and looked at Liu Yin, asking in a hoarse voice, "Good child, did you write this? Why did you start writing this?"

"Yes, it was written by my daughter. The day she met Daya, she had a knot in her heart that was hard to untie. Later, she met Zhang Yueniang and learned that the girls in the brothel each had their own hardships. She thought that men in the world all say that prostitutes are heartless and actresses are unrighteous, and that courtesans do not know the sorrow of a fallen country. How could they know our suffering, or that we want to have feelings but dare not have feelings? This is the first book. My daughter wants to write a collection of stories about women of the night."

"A good idea..." Madam Liu couldn't help but exclaim, but then her expression changed, and she solemnly reminded him, "Have you thought this book through? If it's published, not only will it evoke sympathy for prostitutes, but it might also be treated as heresy and misleading by respectable people."

"I've thought about it, so I'd like to ask for your opinion, Mother and Master, and then we'll talk about it later..." Liu Yin's face also showed some disappointment.

"Then why don't you show it to your master tonight and see what she thinks? She always has a lot of ideas and is very cautious in her actions." Madam Liu composed herself and handed the manuscript to Liu Yin, giving her a detailed explanation.

"Alright then, thank you, Mother. I'll show it to my master tonight." Although Liu Yin was somewhat disappointed that Madam Liu hadn't offered many suggestions, she still held out hope for the advice Madam An would give that evening.