How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

"Have you done what I asked you to do?" The eldest prince, who usually wore exquisite clothes, was now dressed in simple dark cotton clothes. His former arrogance seemed to have been washed away, and he was more amiable than before.

He sat in a chair, holding a teacup, his eyes looking into the distance, as if the question he had just asked was just a casual remark.

Kneeling before him was a young palace maid dressed in black. Her head was bowed, and her expression was obscured by the darkness. She simply replied softly, "It's all taken care of."

The eldest prince showed no extra expression on his face. He simply waved for the maid to leave before revealing a smug smile to the empty courtyard.

"My dear father... are you satisfied with this generous gift? Heh..."

He had only closed his eyes to rest for a moment when he heard rapid running outside.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" The steward of the Prince's residence hurried into the living room and knelt down to reply, "Your Highness, the Third Prince's residence and the Fourth Prince's residence have quieted down."

"They didn't cause any trouble?" the eldest prince asked, somewhat surprised.

The steward of the Prince's mansion bowed his head and replied directly, "It started making a fuss at first, but it quieted down in less than a quarter of an hour."

The eldest prince narrowed his eyes, stroking the teacup in his hand, and suddenly a mocking look appeared on his face: "It seems that my two good brothers are more composed than I thought..."

The steward of the Prince's mansion knelt below as if he hadn't heard anything, without showing any expression.

The eldest prince wasn't asking him anything, so he didn't do anything. He just nodded and instructed, "Send a message to Mother."

The steward of the Prince's residence acknowledged the order and withdrew.

The eldest prince slowly exhaled, but a crisp cracking sound came from the teacup in his hand.

He looked down and saw that he had cracked the teacup in his hand. He then closed his eyes again to calm himself down.

only……

"Slap!" The fact that his scheme had failed made him unable to contain his anger.

"Your Highness..." The Crown Princess came to his side with concern.

The eldest prince glanced at her, said nothing, but took the eldest princess's hand and didn't let go...

The reactions from the princes' residences were also relayed to the palace.

As the emperor read the message from his secret guard, his face, illuminated by the candlelight, appeared even more gaunt and harsh.

He waved for the guards to leave, but gave no further instructions.

The flickering candlelight in his eyes seemed to symbolize his barely concealed calm, while the occasional flashes of ruthlessness and malice added to his sinister aura.

He gazed at the night sky outside the palace, his hands trembling at his sides. He raised his hands to clench them, but failed. He turned to look at the sky, the ruthlessness in his eyes turning into blankness...

Royal secrets are always controlled by people. When the royal family wants to hide something, no one can find out anything. But when the royal family doesn't want to hide it, it's obvious.

Just like the death of the Fifth Prince, just like the confinement of the Third and Fourth Princes' residences, just like the former Consort Wen, now a commoner, quietly disappearing from the palace...

Liu Yin, who was thousands of miles away, was still unaware of the specific details, but she had already guessed about the turmoil in the capital.

What are you planning to write about in your new book?

Wen Shuyun looked at Liu Yin, who was happily eating snacks next to her, with some curiosity.

This time they didn't go very far, but instead chose to stop directly in Weicheng. They stayed there for seven or eight days. Every day, Liu Yin did nothing but sleep and eat, paying no attention to anything else. This surprised Wen Shuyun, which led to her doubts on this day.

Liu Yin held a sweet and sour hawthorn cake, glanced at him sideways, and said, "I am now in the best position to bide my time, what's the rush?"

Wen Shuyun looked at her with some suspicion: "Really?"

Seeing that he didn't believe her, Liu Yin didn't say anything more and just ate her pastries.

Upon seeing this, Wen Shuyun sighed softly, knowing that she would not get a specific answer from the other party today, and did not press the matter further.

Not long after, Mei Wu walked in with a letter in his hand.

Liu Yin took the letter, read it for a while, and a smile flashed in her eyes.

Seeing her like this, Wen Shuyun became even more curious and quickly asked, "What good news is it?"

Liu Yin handed him the letter, shielded her eyes from the glaring sun with her hand, and replied with a smile, "This is a very happy occasion."

Wen Shuyun curiously took the letter and read it carefully in just a few glances. She couldn't help but clap her hands and laugh, "Good, good, good, indeed good news."

Mei showed no curiosity; she simply walked over to Liu Yin and began peeling fruit for her.

But Zhu Mei, who had just entered, heard the laughter and asked curiously, "What's that laughing about?"

Wen Shuyun, however, kept it from her, shaking the letter and laughing loudly, saying, "A great victory in the Northwest!"

"Really!?" Zhu Mei's face lit up with joy as she quickly stepped forward.

Three months ago, a barbarian army arrived in the northwest. At that time, Liu Yin had just encountered an accident, and everyone was worried about both sides. But now, they did not expect to hear that there was a great victory at the border and that Liu Yin was in good health. How could they not be happy?

“Not only that,” Liu Yin said with a smile, “I was worried before that governing the seven cities was an inconspicuous job, and that the merit of governing the cities alone would not be enough to bring Duan An to the court. But military merit is a different story.”

“That’s true. Now we’ll have to see what the court officials’ attitude is,” Wen Shuyun said, clapping his hands and laughing.

"They... hah." Liu Yin gave a cold laugh before continuing, "If they have any shame, they should be rewarded; if they don't..."

"Shameless, of course you'll try to steal the credit." Wen Shuyun thought for a moment before continuing, "What do you plan to do?"

Liu Yin's eyes flickered, and a smile that was hard to decipher appeared on her face: "Didn't you just ask me what the new book was? Now you can start writing it."

"You...you're not going to write about the throne directly, are you?" Wen Shuyun looked at her in surprise.

Liu Yin smiled and shook her head: "I've written so many books about people's livelihoods, it seems like it's been a long time since I've written a simple story. This time, I'll write a novel."

"What novel?" Wen Shuyun asked curiously.

“Novels about soldiers,” Liu Yin said, feigning mystery.

Seeing her like this, Wen Shuyun had no choice but to stop asking and just shook her head with a smile before saying, "Alright, I'll wait and see."

News of the great victory on the frontier reached not only Liu Yin's side.

Princess Duan'an had already arranged for someone to send a message to the capital immediately. She even made a show of it all the way through the city. In the end, everyone she encountered, including the people and cities, knew that Princess Duan'an had led her troops to a great victory over the barbarians. She not only drove the barbarians back a thousand miles, but also recaptured the thirteen cities that had been ravaged by the barbarians.

Especially when they were near the capital, the emperor was taking action against his eldest sons, and the princes were exposing each other's shortcomings, revealing one after another of their acts of harming the people or their corrupt and ignorant behavior.

The battle report from Duan'an was like a bolt from the blue, stirring up the already murky waters of the capital even further.