To Li Dai's surprise, Zhenjing did not pull any tricks. It seemed she genuinely missed her and simply wanted to catch up. She poured Li Dai a cup of tea and slowly began to share her story, recounting her tragic experiences. These accounts were half true and half false, though she never explicitly revealed that she was a woman.
Li Dai, of course, already knew that Zhenjing was female. If an ordinary male monk were sitting across from her, he would likely feel immense sympathy for her plight. From Zhenjing's own lips, Li Dai learned that she had grown up in an ambitious and snobbish family. Her father was a dissolute second-generation spendthrift, and her mother was the top courtesan of the Misty Rain Tower. Consequently, she had spent her entire childhood and youth growing up in the brothel. Because of her mother's lowly status, her father's family held her in contempt, and since she was also a girl, her hedonistic father cared nothing for her either. He never had any intention of bringing her home. It was precisely because of this that Zhenjing had harbored a lifelong craving to become powerful. Watching her mother use various wiles to amass considerable wealth, she had learned a great deal through sheer exposure and observation.
Later, her mother passed away from illness, and by the time she turned eighteen, she was preparing to begin receiving guests. It was at that very moment that her father's family suddenly tracked her down and brought her back to the estate, transfo…
Chapter 631