I formed the strongest swordsman group

As the leader of Gion, Ziyang relied on more than just her beauty to captivate the country.

A geisha is no better than a wandering girl.

Travel girls are prostitutes, so it is enough for them to have a pretty face.

Those who buy sex don't care at all about the character or talents of the prostitute under them, as long as they are beautiful, coquettish and sexy enough.

This is not the case with geishas.

For geishas who make a living by performing arts, good looks alone are not enough.

Therefore, geishas from the Edo period are really similar to modern idols.

For these two professions, a beautiful face may bring temporary popularity, but to make guests willing to spend money for you for a long time, excellent inner qualities are essential.

Geisha has four basic skills: singing, dancing, playing the piano, and chatting.

"Chat" here refers to the ability to chat happily with guests, and to be able to pick up various conversations naturally without being left in the cold.

The reason why Ziyang can be recognized as "Gion's No. 1 Geisha" is because in addition to her stunning appearance, she has also achieved the top level in the industry in these four basic skills and even her dressing taste. .

The song that the geishas at the Hyakuhana House are currently practicing is a recently popular ballad: "Sakura".

Looking around at the practice site... although it can't be said to be a mess, it can still be said to be a mess.

Someone here is out of tune, someone there is not in tune, and some people are both out of tune and not in tune.

There is nothing wrong with such a chaotic scene.

When there are many people playing, and most people are not familiar with the music, it is easy to cause confusion.

At this moment when everything was in a mess, the sound of a piano suddenly sounded from the corner of the room.

Anyone who often listens to music knows that the music played by top performers has a special kind of magic.

No matter whether the audience is at leisure or busy, the moment they hear the music from the master's hand, their attention will be involuntarily drawn away.

In this "unison" that was as chaotic as a car accident scene, the moment this clear and beautiful piano sound appeared, it was like a crane suddenly appearing in a chicken coop or a seal suddenly appearing in a school of cod.

The gap between the two sides is so large that it can be called a dimensionality reduction blow.

In front of this musician, everyone else is a head shorter.

Her piano music steadily carried the tune of the entire audience, and the originally chaotic performance scene gradually became stable.

Gradually, all the wandering girls present stopped what they were doing and looked directly at the performer who caused a sudden change in the atmosphere of the whole place - Zi Yang, who was holding the shamisen and playing the strings wholeheartedly.

Except for the sound of Ziyang's piano, there was no other sound inside and outside the room.

Ziyang's right hand flexibly flipped the pick, while the slender jade fingers of her left hand ran up and down the neck of the instrument.

With her exquisite skills, the "preface" of the tune is extremely precise, sometimes as fast as a waterfall, sometimes as slow as a trickle.

[Note: Preface: Starting from the Muromachi period (1336-1573), traditional terms in Japanese traditional music arts such as Gagaku and Noh are passed down from generation to generation. It expresses the levels of speed and changes in urgency. 】

This is in private, not during working hours, so the geishas including Ziyang will naturally not wear furisode, which is particularly troublesome to put on and take off, nor will they wear complicated hair accessories on their heads.

I saw Ziyang wearing a light green kimono embroidered with hydrangeas, which was ordinary in both style and fabric.

The glossy black hair was not tied into any hairstyle, and fell down naturally, covering her smooth and jade-like forehead and touching her waist.

Although her attire is completely different from her "geisha form", her delicate and soft body and snow-white skin full of vitality are still full of charm.

Rather, this simple appearance has a unique charm.

The engraved Ziyang looks like a sunny, cheerful, friendly and lovely girl next door.

Such as the specific images of words such as "black and straight", "chuchu moving", "pure and pleasant".

After playing the prelude to "Sakura", Ziyang lightly opened her red lips:

~~"Sakura, cherry blossoms, under the March sky, as far as I can see, is that cloud or cloud?"~~

Ziyang sang without any difficulty.

Accompanied by the shamisen, beautiful singing voices poured out continuously from her small and exquisite mouth.

What kind of song is this?

It is like the tinkling of spring water in the mountains, and the graceful oriole in spring.

The beautiful singing voice was like soft ribbons, lingering, spinning and swaying in the ears of everyone present.

It is truly the best annotation of Bai Juyi's eternal famous line, "The big strings are noisy like the pelting rain, and the small strings are like whispers. The noisy strings are mixed with bullets, and the big and small beads are falling on the jade plate." It is intoxicating and ecstatic.

Not only that, Ziyang's movements of playing the piano are also extremely elegant.

Every turn of the pick, every press of the strings, and every movement reveal an elegant and dignified temperament.

Watching Ziyang's performance, you can get top-notch visual and auditory enjoyment.

After a while, the song ends and the song stops.

The last note hovered in the sky and lingered for a long time.

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

As Ziyang's performance ended, there was a deathly silence inside and outside the room, and you could hear a needle drop.

About 3 seconds later, cheers and applause resounded loudly, almost lifting the ceiling.

"It's amazing! It's amazing!"

"Miss Ziyang, you sang so well!"

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

…

She is easy-going and never puts on airs. In addition, she is very keen on supporting the younger generations. When someone around her encounters difficulties, she really dares to take action - the Satsuma people causing trouble a while ago is a major manifestation of Ziyang's character.

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

In the Hundred Flowers House where she works, she has always enjoyed extremely high popularity and is deeply trusted and supported by her predecessors.

At this time, someone hugged Ziyang holding the shamisen.

"Miss Ziyang, can you teach me how to play "Sakura"? There is a passage that I can't understand!"

When faced with other people's requests for advice, Ziyang had only one response -

"Okay, if you don't understand anything, just come and ask me!"

The smile dimples flickered on her cheeks, like blooming clouds.

The humility and gentleness revealed in his words did not seem to be acting on occasion at all.

Even those who hate and are jealous of Ziyang have to admit: this woman is so perfect!

She is beautiful, talented, and has a good personality...so perfect that it makes people feel unrealistic.

Does such a flawless woman really exist in the world?

After someone stood up, the other wandering girls held their own musical instruments and asked Ziyang for advice.

Whether they can finish the music is directly related to their future, so they can't help but care about it.

In the blink of an eye, a human wall with three floors inside and three floors outside was "built" around Ziyang's body.

In this regard, Ziyang did not show any impatience, and taught him one by one carefully and patiently.

Suddenly, someone sitting next to her pointed at her left cheek.

"Oh, Miss Ziyang, there is dirt on your face."

Hearing this, Ziyang thanked the other party and subconsciously reached out to his arms and took out a brand new, beautiful and exquisite silver mirror.

Someone with sharp eyes suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh? Miss Ziyang, have you changed the mirror?"

Ziyang changed the mirror - as soon as the news came out, it immediately attracted the attention of everyone around him.

After seeing this silver mirror, the whole place suddenly became commotion.

"Ah! This is a mirror made of Tiamante!"

[Note·Tiamante: The Dutch word for "diamond" generally refers to glass products in the Edo period. 】

Currently, the Suez Canal has not yet been opened. If Western countries want to go to Asia, they must either cross the Pacific or go around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

Whether it is the former or the latter, they both have to cross the ocean, and the journey is more than ten thousand miles.

Mirrors are inherently fragile and difficult to transport and preserve.

If you are unlucky when transporting silver mirrors to Japan, half of the ship's mirrors will be broken.

Therefore, Western merchants rarely shipped silver mirrors to Japan.

On this basis, after the unremitting efforts of those with lofty ideals, foreign goods produced in the West are now completely unable to enter Gyeonggi.

Just like that, in Gyeonggi... no, in the whole of Japan, silver mirrors are still a very rare thing, and most people have never even seen a silver mirror.

Looking all over Kyoto, the only people who can use silver mirrors are talented people like Ziyang. Their number is so rare that you can probably count them with two hands.

The geishas here are used to using bronze mirrors and have no specific concept of silver mirrors.

All I know is that this is a very beautiful, high-definition mirror that is extremely expensive at the same time.

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

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

When they saw this silver mirror... it was no exaggeration to say that this was the first time they could see their faces so clearly.

"Miss Ziyang, can you let us take a closer look at this mirror?"

Ziyang nodded lightly and generously lent it to them.

Geishas rushed to borrow it and looked at the familiar and unfamiliar faces in the mirror.

"So this is the legendary silver mirror...it's really clear!"

"Oops, I hate it! If you look carefully, you can see that fine lines are starting to form at the corners of my eyes!"

"Huh? Looking at it this way, the left side of my face looks better."

"Well...I just realized now that there are so many red bloodshot eyes in my eyes..."

"My hair is so dull and has no luster at all..."

…

While everyone was enjoying themselves in the mirror, someone turned around and asked Ziyang curiously:

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

Ziyang smiled slightly and replied:

"This is the mirror that Nioh-sama gave me as a gift. This mirror is not difficult to buy. The new dealer in Rensheng Township sells it!"

As soon as Ziyang finished speaking, the person who asked the question opened his eyes wide and asked hurriedly:

"The Shinsei Chamber of Commerce? Is it the Shinsei Chamber of Commerce that Nioh recently established?"

Ziyang nodded gently:

"That's right! It's the new chamber of commerce that Nioh-sama recently established!"

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

"Did Nioh-sama's chamber of commerce originally sell mirrors?"

"I only know that Lord Nioh recently opened a new chamber of commerce, but I don't know what products it mainly sells."

"To be honest, this really shocked me. Nioh-sama's Chamber of Commerce can actually sell such a beautiful mirror..."

Ziyang's words continued:

“The mirrors from Xinsheng Chamber of Commerce are not only beautiful, but also very cheap!”

Speaking of this, she smiled and held out two fingers.

“Such a beautiful mirror only costs 20 taels of gold~~”

"20 taels of gold?!"

The deafening screams... Even in the corridor outside the room, the geishas' screams could be clearly heard.

The reason why they screamed was not because they thought the price was too high, but... 20 taels of gold? so cheap? !

As far as they know, a silver mirror of this quality can be sold for at least 30 to 40 taels of gold!

Everyone was immersed in shock... Ziyang added at the right time.

"In addition to small mirrors as big as your palm, there are also large mirrors that are full-length."

As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell into silence...

…

…

Recently, a large number of women - ranging from 6 to 70-year-olds to teenage girls - have been flooding into Gion.

There are also many men among them.

Most of these men who come to Gion are those who are very concerned about their appearance and those who rely on their reputation to make a living, such as kabuki actors and the male favorites of a certain family.

The reason why this is so is not complicated: they heard that the garden concubines, including Ziyang, collectively switched to a cheap and clear mirror.

Gion and Shimabara are Kyoto’s fashion trendsetters.

If a popular geisha or geisha changes her hairstyle or clothes, countless women will imitate her, let alone a "large-scale collective action" by geishas?

For those who love beauty, how can they not come to check the situation when there is such a big movement?

So, when they rushed to Gion, they immediately discovered: the rumors were true.

Looking up, you can often see geishas on the street taking out a small, delicate, and surprisingly clear mirror from their arms or belts very naturally.

"Wow!", "What is this?!", "Is this...me? Is this really my face?"...Screams similar to these spread throughout Gion. ’s streets and alleys.

Most of the people who look directly at the shining mirror in the hands of geisha will make such a cry.

…

…

Wenjiu three years (1863), March 27——

On this day, an influential tile dealer published a piece of news: The Shinsei Chamber of Commerce opened by "Nioh" Tachibana Aoden was selling silver mirrors with astonishing clarity!

Specifically, there was nothing substantive about the news.

Basically, it’s just a fancy way of touting the newly chosen chamber of commerce.

It is said to be "a mirror you have never seen before" and "the clarity is a hundred times better than a bronze mirror", which is regarded as the pride of Japanese people.

At the same time, another influential tile dealer published another piece of news with completely opposite content: the silver mirrors sold by the Xinxuan Chamber of Commerce were simply a piece of shit.

In this way, the two newspapers...ah, no, the two tile dealers started to quarrel with each other from afar.

You say "The New Selection Chamber of Commerce is awesome", I say "The New Selection Chamber of Commerce is rubbish".

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