How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

"Miss!" Mei Wu, who was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, excitedly greeted Liu Yin as she entered from outside.

Upon hearing her call, Madam Liu and Zhu Mei's group quickly came out of the room and came to greet her.

"Girl." Zhu Mei's eyes welled up with tears.

“Sword Maiden…” Madam Liu, with tears in her eyes, grabbed Liu Yin’s arm with both hands.

"Mother, Mei Wu, Zhu Mei, Aunt Qian, Lan Yan," Liu Yin smiled reassuringly at the people around her, "I'm alright now."

"Quickly, quickly, go wash the house to get rid of the musty smell. Zhu Mei, you and Lan Yan go boil some water."

"Yes." Upon hearing Madam Liu's instructions, Zhu Mei and Lan Yan couldn't hide their joy and quickly agreed.

After Liu Yin finished tidying up, she went to the main room, where a meal had already been prepared.

Madam Liu pulled her hand and sat her down at the dining table: "A few days ago, they suddenly told us that we couldn't send any more money or things in. We were all so worried. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not too sure either, but I ran into a man who looked wealthy when I went out today. Apparently, he's the one who put in the goodwill." Liu Yin frowned slightly and shook her head.

"You don't recognize that person?" Madam Liu frowned as well.

"I don't know them, and their accents don't sound like they're from Qinhuai." Liu Yin shook her head again.

“I see…” said Madam Liu.

"Don't worry about him. He'll arrange for someone to invite me tomorrow, and I'll know then." Liu Yin thought for a moment and didn't pursue the matter any further.

"Let Mei Wu accompany you tomorrow." Madam Liu hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay, that's fine." Liu Yin thought for a moment and then asked, "Is there anything going on at Qingyin Hall?"

"Over there..." Madam Liu recalled for a moment before saying, "Xu Yanyan was fined a lot of money, and it seems that Madam Yuening was also released. I heard that Xu Yanyan gave her a hard time, but nothing else happened."

"Is that so..." Liu Yin pondered for a moment, then realized that her guess was absurd, so she said nothing more.

After resting for a night, the servant she had met the day before indeed sent a carriage over, and Liu Yin did not hesitate to get into the carriage with Mei Wu.

The journey took quite a while, until it stopped in front of a rather wealthy mansion. After turning through the side gate, Liu Yin and her servant were invited to get out.

Liu Yin glanced around. The courtyard was simply tidied, with no signs of long-term residence. Considering the other person's accent from out of town, she made a guess.

Upon entering the main hall, Li Linfeng was sitting in the middle, sipping tea. When he saw Liu Yin enter, he didn't stand up, but simply waved his hand to let Liu Yin sit down.

Liu Yin didn't mind the other party's dismissive attitude and smiled as she bowed, saying, "First of all, thank you for your help, sir, so that I could return safely."

"You're too kind, Ms. Liu. My surname is Li. I'm helping you all because I can't stand seeing you suffer such injustice, and I also hope you can do me a small favor." Li Linfeng looked at Liu Yin meaningfully.

"I am but an ordinary poetess. I wonder how I can serve you, Master Li?" Liu Yin felt uncomfortable with the other person's gaze, so she had no choice but to ask directly.

"Please wait a moment." Li Linfeng said, clapping his hands and summoning the two girls, Fourteen and Sixteen.

Seeing the two pretty girls walk in, Liu Yin was momentarily confused, then turned to Li Linfeng and asked, "Master Li, what's this...?"

“I know that Master Liu previously trained courtesans for Qingyin Hall. I imagine you must have some unique techniques. My two daughters need your guidance.” Li Linfeng smiled politely and waved to the two girls, saying, “Come and meet your teacher.”

"Teacher." The two girls bowed in unison.

Liu Yin quickly stood up to leave, then said to Li Linfeng, "Since Master Li knows that I was previously a therapist at Qingyintang, he should also know that I specialize in treating women from brothels. These two young ladies of Master Li are truly..."

“You train Hua Niang the same way you train them,” Li Linfeng said firmly, looking at her. “I don’t care what methods you use, I just hope these two girls can reach new heights under your guidance.”

Seeing his firm stance, which made it clear that he wouldn't allow her to refuse, Liu Yin didn't object. After all, she knew that this person's background must be extraordinary, given that he had managed to rescue her, and she didn't have the power to refuse at the moment.

Seeing that Liu Yin tacitly agreed, Li Linfeng smiled and said, "Then tomorrow, I will arrange for someone to invite Master Liu." After saying that, he served tea and saw the guest out.

Seeing this, Liu Yin could only smile and say goodbye.

When they arrived home, Madam Liu asked what had happened. Fearing that Madam Liu would worry, Liu Yin only told her that the other party had asked him to teach his two children how to play the pipa.

Madam Liu didn't suspect anything. In this day and age, it's an unspoken rule that powerful and wealthy families secretly hire women from brothels to teach their younger generations some skills.

"Oh, by the way, your aunt heard you were back and wanted to invite you to a get-together, but I declined." Then Madam Liu thought of something else, "Also, you've given your aunt seven copies of your book so far, and she's asking you how you would send the remaining three?"

"I'll write it in my spare time. There's no rush. Only five copies have been published so far." Liu Yin nodded.

Afterwards, Liu Yin brought up the stories she had collected in prison, saying that she would organize them and the last three volumes would probably be published soon. Seeing this, Madam Liu didn't say anything, but she was a little curious about those stories and asked to take a look.

Liu Yin didn't pay any attention and asked Zhu Mei to bring the manuscript over.

Madam Liu took the manuscript and read it carefully.

The story I remember is rather disorganized and simple, only briefly describing the characters and events that occurred. Although it was not embellished at all, it still brought tears to Madam Liu's eyes: "These women are so pitiful."

“Women are pitiful, but men are pitiful too,” Liu Yin added.

"Huh?" Madam Liu looked at her curiously and couldn't help but tease, "Could it be that our Miss Liu has now begun to sympathize with those men?"

“It’s not that I sympathize with those men, it’s that I sympathize with all the common people who have suffered injustice,” Liu Yin shook her head and explained to Madam Liu.

"That's true, everyone suffers in this world," Madam Liu remarked with a sigh.

“Yes…” A trace of sadness flashed in Liu Yin’s eyes, “So I want to change my pen name to write the stories of these ordinary people.”

"If that's the case, why change your name? It wasn't easy for you to make a name like Liu Jianniang." Madam Liu said, somewhat puzzled.

“Because I don’t just want to write about ordinary people later…” Liu Yin murmured. Seeing Madam Liu’s confused look, she smiled and explained, “It’s okay, it’s just an idea. We’ll talk about it later.”

"Alright then." Seeing that she was unwilling to say more, Madam Liu had no choice but to nod.

The next morning, Liu Yin was picked up by a carriage and taken to the Li residence to teach the two young ladies. However, the carriage stopped after traveling for a very short time, which surprised her. When she got off the carriage and looked at the place she had arrived at, her pupils shrank.