How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

"Is that the girl?" A middle-aged man stood by the window, watching Liu Yin leave with two elders, and asked meaningfully.

Behind him, Xu Yueling, who was usually quite outspoken, was kneeling tremblingly in front of the table, while her mother, who always doted on her, stood by with her head bowed and hands clasped, not even glancing at her daughter.

After the man watched Liu Yin leave, he turned around and was surprised to find that it was none other than Boss Cui, the owner of Shengyuan Trading Company, who had just been arguing with Steward Liu of the Prince Anle's Mansion downstairs.

He no longer had the cold, hard demeanor he had downstairs. Although his eyes were still sharp, they held a hint of languor, and a faint smile played on his lips.

At this moment, besides Xu Yueling kneeling and Xu's mother standing, there was also a young woman standing in front of him. The woman, dressed in black, stood in the doorway like a corpse, completely oblivious to everything in the room. Xu Yueling glanced at the woman from time to time, her eyes filled with panic, not knowing what the woman had done to her to frighten her so much.

Upon hearing Cui Heng's question, Xu's mother dared not move, and Xu Yueling was even more bewildered. Only the woman turned her head and replied, "I'm not sure."

Upon hearing this, Cui Heng turned his gaze to Xu's mother: "Ms. Xu, please tell us."

Madam Xu trembled, her voice filled with fear: "Lady Qingyin is... is already dead. That was Lady Liu's daughter, Liu Yin."

As soon as she finished speaking, a silver sword appeared with a "whoosh" sound, its murderous aura aimed directly at her face, making her teeth chatter in fear.

"Hmm?" Cui Heng waved his sword back and forth at Xu's mother's neck a few times. Seeing that Xu's mother was about to kneel on the ground like his daughter, he raised his eyes and said with a half-smile, "I dug up the grave, and it was empty."

Upon hearing that the grave had been dug up, Xu's mother's face paled even more. She gritted her teeth but still refused to admit it. Seeing this, Cui Heng coldly reminded her, "Xu Yanyan, don't forget who you are."

As he spoke, the man threw a jade pendant onto the table. Looking at it, it was the same jade pendant that had scared away Steward Liu downstairs with the Tai Chi fish.

Looking at the jade pendant, Madam Xu's expression changed several times. She was about to admit it, but when she glanced at her daughter's face, which was now ruined by makeup, and thought of her second daughter's current brilliance, and of Luanqin's current glory, whom she had once disregarded, and then of the large sum of money that Qingyin had brought her today, she decided that for the sake of the countless riches in the future, she should persevere: "It's really not her. That was Liu Jianniang, the illegitimate daughter of Liu Yuxue and a wealthy merchant. She had never been seen before. She did have a similar figure to Qingyin, but she died a long time ago because she couldn't withstand the high fever after being disfigured. Her funeral was held a few days ago, and the whole city knew about it."

"Oh?" Cui Heng narrowed his eyes, carefully observing Xu Mama's reaction, and continued to tap her shoulder with the tip of his sword. "Even if outsiders only have a brief encounter with Qingyin and don't know what she looks like, there are quite a few people in your building who grew up with her since childhood. Are you sure you want to keep this from me?"

Madam Xu panicked for a moment, then realized that Liu Yin had also been afraid of the same thing, so she spent a lot of money to bribe several of the women she knew, and bought Qiao Gu and Jiao Jie, who had been serving her but were not good at keeping secrets, and put them to serve Madam An's residence.

In addition, because Liu Yin's initial conditions were excellent and she was obedient and well-behaved, she only took her, her eldest daughter Yue Ling, her second daughter Yin Ling, Hong Yu, and a few other courtesans such as Hong Xia and Cai Yue. Hong Yu had already left, and her two daughters dared not disobey her orders. Hong Xia was dead, and she had already warned the remaining few. Thinking of this, she felt relieved.

Madam Xu recounted the entire story of Qingyin's injury and death, mentioning that a famous doctor from a brothel in the red-light district had treated her. Then, she stood there trembling, waiting for Cui Heng's reaction.

"Is that so?" After listening to Xu's mother's detailed account, Cui Heng realized that he couldn't get any more information out of her. He had also checked beforehand and there were no major suspicious points. The only thing that came to mind was that guests who had seen the two of them said that they looked somewhat alike, but there were too many people in the world who looked alike, and he had encountered them a few times himself. "What is Qingyin's background?"

"Qingyin was sold into this family by her own father. Her father was a compulsive gambler, and he spent all the money he was paid to sell her in just three days. She was beaten to death outside the city in less than a month." Xu Mama breathed a sigh of relief and quickly explained the situation. Fearing that Cui Heng might not believe her, she added, "I signed the contract myself. There's absolutely no mistake."

"She died after only a month? Didn't she have any other relatives?" Cui Heng frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with the news.

"No, I heard that my mother was sold many years ago. All the family's belongings were sold off, leaving only her and her father. That's why they sold her."

"Is his father a local?" Cui Heng's expression remained serious.

"Yes, I heard they're local thugs from a small village outside the city. I've also inquired and found out there's such a family," Mrs. Xu added, afraid people wouldn't believe her.

After hearing her explanation, Cui Heng's brows relaxed. It was basically consistent with the past that he had investigated. He couldn't think of any other doubts. After thinking for a moment, he could only instruct her: "If that's the case, from today onwards, you should inquire carefully about the woman who was sold into prostitution about ten years ago, is about sixteen or seventeen years old this year, and has a red mole behind her right ear. She may be surnamed Cui, or she may be surnamed something else."

"Yes." Hearing the man's words, Mrs. Xu knew she had passed this hurdle and breathed a sigh of relief.

"As for the marriage..." the man seemed to want to say something, but then gave up and said, "It's up to you to arrange it."

After the man left, Xu's mother finally breathed a sigh of relief. She slumped down at the table, gulped down a cup of tea, and then looked up at Xu Yueling, who was slumped on the ground, with eyes full of disdain: "Alright, you should be more careful in the future. You dare to wander into any place and do anything. Consider this a lesson learned."

Xu Yueling was already terrified by the methods of the woman in black in front of her, and she would not argue with her mother as usual. She could only nod in agreement.

Xu's mother ignored her again and gestured for her to leave.

After Xu Yueling left, Xu's mother covered her head with her hands, feeling a terrible headache. She couldn't believe that after living here for more than 20 years and managing Qingyin Hall for 15 or 16 years, she would never expect that the so-called master would come knocking on her door.

Twenty years ago, she caused a huge uproar at her brothel after giving birth to her eldest daughter and keeping an actor as a mistress, which drove away many customers. Her mother, seeing that she had lost her value, wanted to sell her to a brothel at a low price. Fortunately, she received help from her friends An Liu and An Liu.

Later, she met a young master by chance, and they reached an agreement to help her open a first-class brothel in a red-light district. The young master would cover all expenses, and she would manage and operate the brothel for him, both to make money for him and to gather information.

Fearing that it would arouse suspicion from An Liu and the other person, she did not give the young master the full amount. She only said that it was her private savings accumulated over the years, and at the end, she also asked for money from a distinguished guest. With the help of An Liu and the other person, she was about to open Qingyin Hall.

Even the courtesans in the early days of Qingyintang were sent by that young master. An Liu and the other man had suspected where she got such a few beautiful courtesans, but she made an excuse to argue with them and change the subject. Later, because the three of them had very different ideas, they tore up the agreement, took away the money they had initially invested, and completely broke up.