How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

Steward Liu looked at the portly man with great satisfaction. Although he was the head steward of the Prince's mansion, he was not the manager. There were many head stewards in the mansion. He was neither good-looking nor capable, so he was assigned to guard this villa. He was usually ordered around by the servants in the mansion who fawned over the powerful. Today, he had to be extremely humble. The steward in charge of external affairs was accompanying the young master out of the city. Since he had already agreed to this arrangement, he was the one who was assigned to this position.

His purpose in coming here was not only to have him participate in the game, but also to let him see what makes this new courtesan so special. If she is attractive, he should definitely take the lead and arrange this night of courtesanship for his young master.

Unexpectedly, this fool turned out to be a shallow fellow, easily fooled by these old foxes with just a few words. This state of mind made everyone secretly laugh.

Ever since the old prince fell seriously ill, the heir of Prince Anle has become increasingly unreliable. His ambition and scheming are almost etched on his face, making him appear both vicious and stupid. Which of you here doesn't have a royal family, noble family, or powerful relatives as your backing? Why would you be afraid of someone who is on the verge of decline?

However, such a distant solution couldn't quench their immediate thirst, and they didn't want to break ties with the Prince of Anle, so they naturally put on a good show. Suppressing their deep contempt, everyone just smiled and remained silent.

"Hmph, a petty person who has gained power." At this moment, a voice quietly rang out from the corner. The voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it rang out just as everyone finished speaking, so that everyone could hear it clearly.

"Insolence!" Steward Liu's smiling face immediately fell upon hearing this. He shouted angrily and turned to look at the corner, "How dare you be so disrespectful to my Anle Prince's Mansion!"

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice and saw a middle-aged man dressed in a black robe with leather arm guards sitting there with a disdainful expression. The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, not recognizing him. Before the leader could speak to ease the tension, the man continued, "The Prince of Anle's Mansion? Hmph, nothing more than a grasshopper in autumn."

"You!" Steward Liu immediately stood up, pointing at the man with an extremely ugly expression.

The man fiddled with a jade pendant shaped like a tai chi fish at his waist, completely unconcerned about the other party's rage, showing no fear of the power of the Prince of Anle's mansion.

Steward Liu originally intended to use his power to intimidate others, but upon seeing the jade pendant and recalling a certain matter, his heart trembled, and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.

"How dare you! State your name, and I, the Prince of Anle, will have to learn from you." Despite his inner turmoil, Steward Liu refused to back down in conversation.

"Cui Heng of Shengyuan Trading Company awaits your arrival." The man continued to play with the jade pendant while casually uttering his name.

Upon hearing this, Steward Liu's face turned from black to red and then to green. He couldn't help but tremble with fear. Thinking of the young master's cryptic instructions before leaving the city, he felt a sense of unease.

"Why doesn't this good dog go to its master to complain? After all, its master has been waiting for me for a long time." Only then did the man look up and casually glance at him, giving a mocking smile.

Although no one knew what kind of veiled meaning the two were exchanging, they knew it must be something very important, and their business acumen made them want to find out more.

"Oh dear, oh dear, we're all here today for the new groom, why start arguing? Peace brings wealth, peace brings wealth." Zhu Deyuan, the person who organized the gathering and the head of Ruian Trading Company, who had been watching silently from the sidelines, had no choice but to speak up and mediate when he saw the two people at odds.

But Steward Liu showed no respect for Zhu Deyuan, staring intently at the man. After a short while, he turned and left, completely ignoring the attempts of others to stop him.

He thought that after he left, the others would naturally be terrified, and he could then shift the blame for the tasks assigned by the young master onto those merchants. He could simply say that he had instructed others to make arrangements and that he had come to report on important matters, thus both gaining credit and fulfilling the young master's instructions.

He didn't expect that after he left, the other people's expressions changed, but not in the way he thought. Instead, they smiled at each other, toasted each other, and continued watching the stage, as if nothing had happened.

Zhu Deyuan, no longer the easygoing person he had been just moments before, sat down next to Cui Heng and whispered, "Be careful not to alert them."

Cui Heng replied nonchalantly, "Only a snake would scare another snake. It's just an insect; I'll kill it."

After hearing this, Zhu Deyuan said nothing more, only cupped his hands in greeting. Just then, the new male protégé downstairs was about to go on stage, and everyone stopped their discussion and watched.

Thin veils descended from the sky, with ink-wash bamboo forests rising gracefully on them. A gust of wind blew, causing the veils to flutter more violently, and the ink-wash bamboo forests swayed in the wind. "Clang!" A sound like the ringing of a sword came from the ink-wash bamboo forest, as if a swordsman had drawn his sword and was about to strike.

"Zheng! Zheng! Zheng!" After a few notes, the pipa music gradually slowed down. Although the sound was slow, it was continuous. Each note was urgent, like the sound of clashing swords and galloping horses, yet it was also light and graceful, like a hundred kinds of murderous intent surrounding it.

Looking at it now, in the center of the stage, a woman dressed in civil and military attire, with silver armor on her shoulders and a tasseled crown on her head, is sitting on a huge rock, holding a pipa and her fingers flying across the strings.

When the music slows down, it's like the calm before a storm, carrying a sense of unease and impending doom; when it plays fast, it's like the beating of war drums, with thousands of troops galloping in.

The people present felt their hearts move with each note of the zither, as if they were alone on a battlefield, surrounded by enemy troops with nowhere to escape, or like a knight-errant entering a bamboo forest, surrounded by killing intent yet without a single enemy in sight.

This piece of music made even the most frail scholars who had never seen a battlefield personally experience the feeling of being on edge, with every whisper of wind and every rustle of grass seeming like an enemy soldier.

With each note of the strings and each flourish of the fingers, as the music reached its climax, everyone felt their hearts race and their breath catch in their throats. The timid trembled all over, their hearts pounding with anxiety.

With a sharp "clang," the female general playing the zither raised an eyebrow, drew a long sword from behind her back, and thrust it forward, catching everyone off guard.

"Bang!" Some scholar was so startled that he fell off his stool. Before others could turn around to laugh, the female general on the stage, sword in hand, moved with the music behind her, exuding the heroic spirit of a fierce general who could take someone's head from a thousand miles away.

The sword's edge gleamed with silver light, and the sword dance was incredibly cool. This extraordinary sight, never before seen in the red-light district, appeared before everyone's eyes at this very moment.

"What a sword! What a dance!" Liu Ziheng, who was traveling with Li Mozhu, could not contain his excitement and clapped his hands in praise. "It is in no way inferior to Qingyin Niangzi's pipa music, it is simply... simply..." He was speechless with admiration.

Of course, most of the audience, like him, were drawn to the extraordinary performance before them and couldn't help but applaud and cheer, but they also felt that they were disturbing the scene, so they had to quietly cover up their applause.

The sword dance didn't last long, ending in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. After the ink-wash gauze was removed, Madam Xu stepped onto the stage with a smile: "Gentlemen, today is the first time our Lady Luanqin has appeared on stage, and it is also a joyous occasion. According to the old custom, after my lady has greeted you, you may place your bids."