How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

After having dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Wen'an, and briefly discussing the book printing, they decided that once Liu Yin had collected ten stories, they would publish a comprehensive collection and print it together. The title had already been decided: "Biographies of a Hundred Flowers." Liu Yin would eventually write about one hundred women from brothels.

It wasn't until the two of them got into the carriage to go home that Liu Yin couldn't help but ask Madam Liu, "Why is Mother unwilling to move here? If Mother is worried about my teaching at Qingyin Hall, that's fine. There are quite a few teachers living outside in Hualiu Lane. Even if I go to my teacher's place for classes, it won't be a big problem. Anyway, we can just travel by carriage."

“It’s not because of that,” Madam Liu said with a smile. “It’s just that I come from a brothel. Even if I can say to outsiders that I moved from Yong’an Lane, everyone in Huaicheng knows what kind of people live in Yong’an Lane. This is really not a good thing for the couple.”

“But…” Liu Yin hesitated for a moment before saying, “I see that Aunt Liu and Uncle feel extremely guilty towards Mother. I think if Mother refuses their kindness, they will be unable to rest easy.”

Hearing this, Madam Liu hesitated for a moment, but then she looked up and said with relief, "We'll talk about it later. They have children with them, and we don't know what the children think. If their children have no objections, it's not too late to move then."

Seeing this, Liu Yin also felt that what the other party said made sense, so she put the topic aside and asked curiously about another matter: "Where did Mother get the manuscript today? It really startled me."

"I was in a real rush today, and they only have one day left. I was afraid of missing it and delaying your business, so I asked Aunt Qian to have Zhu Mei take it from your desk when she notified you."

Liu Yin then remembered that when she was rushing to wash up that morning, she saw Zhu Mei go to the desk. She had assumed that Zhu Mei was cleaning, but she hadn't expected that Zhu Mei had taken the manuscript and answered her questions. Liu Yin had nothing more to say and lay down on Madam Liu's lap. Madam Liu didn't say anything more, and the mother and daughter enjoyed this rare moment of tenderness.

Madam Liu thought that the Zhang couple had never told their children about her, but she didn't know that the Zhang couple often talked about her in front of the children when they were young. Later, when the children grew up, they told them about the three of them. The children also knew why the couple had come this time.

So when the Zhang couple arrived home after a long journey with the manuscript, their children, who had been waiting for them, came up to greet them: "Father, Mother is back!"

"Father and Mother, how did you see Aunt and Cousin? How are they? Are they alright? Is there anything you can help them with?" Zhang Ruiniang, the youngest daughter of the Zhang family, asked her parents in rapid succession, tugging at their sleeves.

"Yes, Father and Mother, have you seen them?" Zhang Zhixue, the eldest son of the Zhang family, followed up with the question.

"Let your mother and me rest first, there's no rush." ​​Zhang Wen'an smiled and patted his two children before they went into the house together.

After the couple had rested, they talked with their children in the main hall. They then talked about the current situation of Liu Yin and her daughter. When they heard that they were still living peacefully, Zhang Zhixue and his sister breathed a sigh of relief. When they learned that Madam Liu did not want to live in their own house, they were a little worried. When they heard that Liu Yin was now famous in Huaicheng and a well-known lyricist and composer, they couldn't help but feel proud.

"Mother, did you bring the manuscript of Sister Liu's book?" Zhang Zhixue was so excited when he learned that Liu Yin had written other new stories and wanted to ask his family to help print them. He almost jumped up. "I didn't expect Sister Liu to be such a talented woman. I must read it carefully."

Liu Qinyu smiled and nodded, then had a servant bring over the box containing the manuscript.

Upon seeing this, the brother and sister immediately stepped forward, took the box, and eagerly opened it to read through the contents.

Besides the four stories I wrote back then, this box also contains Tangguozi's manuscript.

The brother and sister had never read such a simple yet deeply moving story. As they read, tears welled up in their eyes. After finishing the story of Tang Guozi, Zhang Ruiniang looked at her mother with teary eyes and asked, "Mother, are all the girls there so miserable?"

Liu Qinyu was taken aback, then smiled silently: "No one is born to be a prostitute. They all have various reasons for ending up in brothels, and they also have their own destiny. They can be candy, red moon, dodder, blue rose, or even songbird."

The red moon, dodder, blue rose, and singing bird that Liu Qinyu mentioned were four other stories written by Liu Yin. Zhang Ruiniang looked at the manuscript in her hand and felt extremely sad. She was also a girl of about ten years old. She knew the suffering of the people and that many people in the world could not afford to eat or wear clothes. She had also despised the shameless girls who sold themselves in brothels.

Even though she knew that Liu Qinxue had been sold into prostitution by the government and that such a life must have been a great humiliation for her, a daughter of an official, and that there must have been many women like her in the red-light district, she never knew that some things were beyond her imagination.

"This world is never fair to women, even those born into official families." Zhang Wen'an looked at his daughter's usually bright eyes, which had dimmed somewhat, and couldn't help but pat her to comfort her.

He looked up at his son, who was nearly eighteen years old, and earnestly instructed him: "Son, you must remember that women in this world have it too hard. Whether it is your mother, aunt, or sisters, you must cherish them and respect them."

Tears welled up in Zhang Xuezhi's eyes. He had seen people go to these places before, and those people never showed any respect for these women in their words. There was even a case where a courtesan was humiliated on the spot by a young master simply because she accidentally defiled his folding fan, which cost only ten taels of silver.

At the time, he knew about his aunt's ordeal and was extremely uncomfortable to see the scene, so he tried to comfort her. The other person said, "Brother Zhang, you shouldn't use your chivalry to treat women like this. You're too kind-hearted."

From then on, he gradually drifted apart from those friends, and to this day, due to differences in their views, he has not made many friends and has gradually become too lazy to go out.

Zhang Wen'an looked at his son. He knew why Zhang Xuezhi had broken off relations with his friend. He didn't say much at this moment, but looked at his son with comfort. He then pointed to the manuscript and said, "You can take this manuscript and read it carefully, but don't spread it around. It can only be printed after your sister Liu has written the rest of the story."

Zhang Xuezhi nodded as if he had found a treasure, not caring at all about the rumors. Anyway, he didn't have many friends and didn't like going out, so this wasn't a requirement at all.

Just as they were about to leave with the books, Zhang Xuezhi suddenly remembered something and asked his parents, "Dad, have you asked Aunt why she doesn't want to move there? Why don't you write to her again and try to persuade her? Is Yong'an Lane a good place? She should think about her sister."

"I understand. Your mother and I have our own plans. You two go and have fun." Zhang Wen'an smiled with satisfaction, waved for his children to leave, and then discussed his ideas with his wife.