After settling matters with the Hou Family.
The next day, a work by a master painter from Kyoto was put up for auction.
At the auction, the painting was listed at a price of one thousand high-grade spirit stones.
No one in the entire venue placed a bid.
Even if it was the work of a master painter, it was ultimately just an ordinary painting. Rich people were not idiots; who would spend a thousand high-grade spirit stones on something like that?
However, the lovely beauty in the painting caught the interest of quite a few people.
As it happened, that master painter was drinking with several friends at an inn that evening.
Some people were curious about the beauty in the painting, so they gathered around to ask about her. Only then did they learn that the beauty was not fictional, but the young daughter the Hou Family kept secluded in her chambers.
Before long, the news spread throughout Kyoto: the fallen Hou Family had a peerless beauty.
Some people even went to the Hou residence to pay a visit.
Yet Hou Wen, the head of the Hou Family, closed his doors to visitors, stating that his daughter was already betrothed and hoping everyone would refrain from paying attention to the matter.
But the more Hou Wen acted this way, the more curious everyone became. Some even began investigating whom she was engaged to.
After this wave of gossip kept Kyoto buzzing for several days, everyone's attention shifted to other major events.
After all, this was Kyoto, the liveliest place in the Central Divine Continent. All manner of things happened every moment.
Aside from a portion of the elite Embroidered Uniform Guard who had been transferred to the Hou residence, the rest of the Western Affairs Office's Embroidered Uniform