I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Now that it was private time, not working hours, the geisha, including Shiyo, would naturally not be wearing furisode, which was particularly troublesome to put on and take off, nor would they be wearing complicated hair ornaments.

Ziyang was wearing a light green kimono embroidered with hydrangea flowers, which was quite ordinary in both style and fabric.

Her glossy black hair was not styled in any way; it simply fell naturally down, covering her smooth, jade-like forehead and reaching her waist.

Although her attire is completely different from that of a geisha, her delicate and soft body and her vibrant, snow-white skin are still incredibly charming.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that this simple outfit has a unique charm.

The carved Ziyang is just like a sunny, cheerful, and kind girl next door.

It is like the concrete image of words such as "long, straight black hair", "charming and touching", and "pure and lovely".

After playing the prelude to "Cherry Blossoms," Ziyang gently parted her lips:

"Cherry blossoms, oh cherry blossoms, under the March sky, within my sight, is that rosy dawn or clouds?"

Ziyang sang effortlessly.

Accompanied by the shamisen, her beautiful singing voice flowed continuously from her small and delicate mouth.

What kind of singing is this?

It sounds like the babbling of a mountain spring, or the melodious warbling of an oriole in spring.

The beautiful singing voice, like smooth ribbons, lingered, swirled, and swayed in the ears of everyone present.

This is truly the best interpretation of Bai Juyi's famous lines, "The large strings clang like a sudden rain, the small strings whisper like private words. The clanging and whispering are played in a medley, like large and small pearls falling onto a jade plate." It is intoxicating and enchanting.

Moreover, Ziyang's movements while playing the zither were extremely elegant.

Every turn of the pick, every press of the strings, every gesture exudes an elegant and graceful temperament.

Watching Ziyang perform is a top-notch experience for both the eyes and ears.

A moment later, the music ended and the song stopped.

The last note lingered in the air, refusing to dissipate for a long time.

The so-called "lingering sound" is nothing more than this.

As Ziyang finished playing, the room fell into a deathly silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

About three seconds later, a deafening roar of cheers and applause erupted, nearly lifting the ceiling off the building.

"Wow, that's amazing! That's incredible!"

"Miss Ziyang, you sang so well!"

"Miss Ziyang, your singing voice is absolutely beautiful!"

……

She is easygoing and never puts on airs. In addition, she is very enthusiastic about mentoring younger generations. When someone around her encounters difficulties, she is truly willing to step up – the recent riots by the Samoans were a great manifestation of Ziyang's personality.

For all the reasons mentioned above, Akihiro's reputation in Gion has always been quite good.

In the Hundred Flowers House where she worked, she always enjoyed great popularity and was deeply trusted and supported by her colleagues.

At this moment, someone carrying a shamisen approached Ziyang.

"Miss Ziyang, could you teach me how to play 'Sakura'? There's a part I just can't understand!"

When others sought his advice, Ziyang always had only one response—

"Sure, if there's anything you don't understand, just ask me!"

Her dimples flickered on her cheeks, much like blooming clouds.

The humility and gentleness revealed in his words did not seem like he was just putting on an act.

Even those who disliked or envied Ziyang had to admit: this woman was simply too perfect!

Beautiful, talented, and with a good personality... she's so perfect it feels unreal.

Do such flawless women really exist in this world?

After someone took the lead, the other courtesans all picked up their instruments and asked Ziyang for instruction.

Whether they can finish playing the piece is directly related to their future, so they can't afford to be careless.

In the blink of an eye, a wall of people, three layers deep, had been built around Ziyang.

Ziyang showed no impatience and patiently taught them one by one.

Suddenly, the person sitting next to her pointed to her left cheek.

"Oh dear, Miss Ziyang, your face is dirty."

Upon hearing this, Ziyang thanked the other party while subconsciously reaching into his robes and pulling out a brand-new, beautiful, and exquisite silver mirror.

A sharp-eyed person immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh? Miss Ziyang, you changed your mirror?"

Ziyang has changed his mirror—this news immediately attracted the attention of everyone around.

Upon seeing the silver mirror, the entire audience erupted in commotion.

"Wow! This is a mirror made of tiamante!"

[Note: Tiamante is Dutch for "diamond," and in the Edo period it generally referred to glass products.]

Currently, the Suez Canal is not yet open, and if Western countries want to travel to Asia, they either have to cross the Pacific Ocean or go around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

Whether it's the former or the latter, they both have to cross oceans, a journey of more than ten thousand miles.

Mirrors are inherently fragile and difficult to transport and store.

If you're unlucky, half a ship full of silver mirrors can break when you're shipping them to Japan.

Therefore, Western merchants rarely shipped silver mirrors to Japan.

Based on this, and thanks to the tireless efforts of those who advocated for the restoration of the capital, Western goods are now completely unable to enter the capital region.

And so, in the Kyoto region… no, throughout Japan, silver mirrors remained an extremely rare object; most people had never even seen one.

Throughout the entire capital, only a talented person like Ziyang could use a silver mirror, and their numbers were so few that they could probably be counted on two hands.

The geisha present were used to bronze mirrors and had no specific concept of silver mirrors.

All I know is that it's a very beautiful mirror with high clarity, but it's also incredibly expensive.

Therefore, the silver mirror in Ziyang's hand greatly shocked them.

Its appearance and clarity far surpassed those of bronze mirrors, and were even clearer than the mirrors Ziyang had used before.

When they saw this silver mirror... it's no exaggeration to say that it was the first time they had seen their faces so clearly.

"Miss Ziyang, may we take a closer look at this mirror?"

Ziyang nodded gently and generously lent the money to them.

The geishas vied to borrow it, to see the familiar yet unfamiliar face reflected in the mirror.

"So this is the legendary Silver Mirror... It really is very clear!"

"Oh dear! Upon closer inspection, I've noticed fine lines starting to appear around my eyes!"

"Huh? Looking at it this way, my left profile seems to be prettier."

"Hmm... I just realized now that my eyes are so bloodshot..."

"My hair is so dull, it has no shine at all..."

……

Just as everyone was enthusiastically admiring their reflections in the mirror, someone turned to Ziyang and asked with a curious expression:

"Miss Ziyang, where did you buy such a beautiful mirror? It must be very expensive!"

Ziyang smiled slightly and replied:

"This is a mirror that Lord Niou gave me. It's not hard to buy; the Shinsengumi in Mibu Township sells them!"

No sooner had Ziyang finished speaking than the person who had asked the question opened his eyes wide and hurriedly pressed for an answer:

"Shinsen Trading Company? Is that the Shinsen Trading Company that Niou recently established?"

Ziyang nodded slightly:

"That's right! It's the trading company that Lord Niou recently established!"

The geishas looked at each other, and they all saw intense shock on each other's faces.

"So Lord Niou's trading company used to sell mirrors?"

"I only know that Lord Niou recently opened a new trading company, but I don't know what kind of goods it mainly sells."

"To be honest, this really surprised me. Lord Niou's trading company can actually sell such beautiful mirrors..."

Before Ziyang finished speaking:

"The mirrors from the New Selection Chamber of Commerce are not only beautiful, but also very cheap!"

At this point, she smiled and held up two fingers.

"Such a beautiful mirror, only 20 taels of gold!"

"Twenty taels of gold?!"

The deafening screams... could be clearly heard even from the corridor outside the room.

The reason they screamed wasn't because they thought the price was too high, but because... 20 taels of gold? That's so cheap?!

As far as they knew, a silver mirror of this quality could fetch at least 3 or 40 taels of gold!

Everyone was still in shock... Ziyang added a sentence at the right time.

"Besides these palm-sized small mirrors, we also sell life-size mirrors."

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent...

……

……

Recently, a large number of women—ranging from elderly people in their 6s and 70s to teenage girls—have flocked to Gion like a tide.