How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

"Here is a thousand taels of silver. You and your brother should take it." Liu Yin took the thank-you gift from the pregnant woman at the post station and handed it to the Nan siblings.

“No, that won’t do, young lady.” Nan Rui’s mother refused directly. “Young lady, it’s already hard to repay the life-saving grace, how can we take your money?”

"Take it. It's not easy to live in the capital. Although this is the suburbs, it's still under the emperor's nose. Keep some money for yourself." Liu Yin pushed the box forward again.

Nan Rui Niang understood perfectly well, but she still waved her hand and said, "Thank you, Miss, but I really don't need that much."

"Take it. It was given to me by someone else anyway, so consider it a gift from me. You can return it to me if you have the chance in the future." Liu Yin knew their fear, but she knew that as ordinary people in this era, it would be difficult to get by without money.

"In addition, here are two travel permits, still with your current names, only your hometown has changed. Also, here is a house deed, which I bought on short notice and didn't choose carefully. You can stay here for now." As she spoke, Liu Yin took another box from behind her and handed it to the brother and sister.

Nan Ruiniang's eyes reddened with emotion. She had already figured out Liu Yin's identity in the past few days, and naturally knew that Liu Yin must have put in a lot of effort to get them new travel permits. Moreover, she had already thought about their future arrangements while they were still on the boat, and arranged for someone to buy them a small courtyard as soon as they got off the boat.

"Miss...Miss..." she choked, unable to speak for a moment.

“Miss…” Mei Wu stepped forward and reminded her.

"Alright, you should go now, it'll be alright." Liu Yin patted Nan Rui Niang's head reassuringly, "Take care, then all my efforts won't have been in vain."

After watching the brother and sister leave, Liu Yin hurried to Li Linfeng's sedan chair and said, "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting, sir."

"You're too kind, Master Liu. What crime is there in our kindness?" Li Linfeng replied with a smile from inside the sedan chair.

Liu Yin bowed again and said, "Then I won't keep you any longer, sir."

Li Linfeng exchanged a few polite words and then let Liu Yin return to the carriage.

They were already quite close to the capital, but it still took them almost a day to travel there. It wasn't until they reached the nearest town to the capital that a servant from the Li family came to deliver a message: "Master, the master has instructed that it is getting late, so we should rest here for the night and enter the city tomorrow."

Liu Yin had nothing to say, so she smiled and agreed, then saw the person off.

Before she could even fall asleep that night, she heard a commotion, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Liu Yin put on an outer robe, sat up, and was about to ask Liu Xuemei to go out and investigate when she heard a knock on the door.

The innkeeper's waiter came to the door apologetically: "I'm sorry to bother you, miss. Some bandits have just sneaked into the city. I was afraid of disturbing you. The yamen runners will be here soon. You can tidy up now."

After Liu Xuemei turned around and explained what had happened, Liu Yin frowned: "Bandits? How can bandits be so rampant?"

"Girl, go and ask around later. You should freshen up first, so those people won't cause any trouble." Liu Xuemei was also completely confused.

Liu Yin nodded, sat down at her desk and combed her hair again, not forgetting to remind Liu Xuemei who was about to go out: "Be careful when you go out, don't clash with others, and come back immediately if things go wrong."

"Okay, don't worry, young lady," Liu Xuemei replied with a smile.

After Liu Yin changed her clothes, she heard a servant from the Li family knocking on the door: "Miss, the master said you can go to sleep, he'll take care of everything."

Liu Yin smiled and agreed, without saying anything more.

After seeing the servants off, she frowned even more.

“Miss…” Mei Wu looked at her with some concern.

Liu Yin shook her head slightly: "I'm fine, I'm just a little worried about Xue Mei."

"Girl, do you really trust her that much?" Mei Wu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. Now that she's by my side, I naturally treat her as one of my own, and besides, she's a girl after all." Liu Yin shook her head slightly before speaking slowly.

Liu Xuemei, who was outside the door, overheard these words. She was about to knock on the door when she overheard Mei Wude's question. She couldn't help but want to know Liu Yin's answer, and the answer was indeed unexpected, but it warmed her heart.

She paused for a moment, then put on an expression as if she hadn't heard anything, knocked on the door, and came in: "Miss, I've found out."

"What's the reason?" Liu Yin pulled her to sit down at the table.

"There was a locust plague in the Northwest, and nothing was left. The people begged their way here. There weren't many people, but the county magistrate here, under the emperor's nose, wouldn't let them in, fearing they would wander into the capital." Liu Xuemei's face showed a hint of anger. "They surrounded the disaster victims at the West Gate. Unexpectedly, a few disaster victims broke in tonight, so they started arresting them under the pretext of bandits."

"Is the news credible?" Liu Yin frowned slightly.

“It’s believable, I caught one.” Liu Xuemei nodded before pointing downstairs.

Liu Yin instantly understood, her brows furrowing even more: "Nonsense, where did you hide them? We're not free anymore."

Liu Xuemei knew perfectly well that she had no choice at the time, but she was forced to do so.

After she went out, she took out some money to ask the shopkeeper, but the shopkeeper only said a few vague words and refused to reveal the details.

Having no other option, she went out into the street to try and find out what was going on.

Because of the curfew in this dynasty, she had to hide on a rooftop and watch the yamen runners arresting people in the distance. Just then, she saw an adult leading a child in a panic as they ran into an alley.

When she arrived, she noticed that the two men were dressed in rags and were covered in dirt, looking nothing like bandits, which aroused her suspicion. Just then, the group of constables came this way, and the alley ended in a dead end.

Left with no other choice, she had to quickly distract the yamen runners before she could meet the two children again. Upon meeting and speaking, she knew she was likely to get into trouble, but she was truly sorry for the two lives lost, so she had no choice but to quietly take her people and hide in an inn.

"I hid the person in the stable," Liu Xuemei said with a guilty expression.

Hearing her explanation, Liu Yin felt somewhat helpless, but seeing Liu Xuemei's guilt, she still advised, "Forget it, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, but people can't be hidden here."

Liu Yin then spoke up, "Since the Northwest has suffered a disaster, isn't there a single local official who has reported on disaster relief efforts?"

“They said that local officials and local powerful families colluded to drive up grain prices to levels that were impossible to afford, forcing people to sell their land, their bodies, and their children.” Liu Xuemei’s anger intensified.

"The Northwest..." Liu Yin thought for a moment before looking up and saying, "The Great General is stationed there. How are things on the frontier after this disaster? Do they know?"