"I had been thinking that it would be most benificial to wait until after the girls at Okiya Nanahatsu completed their rite before introducing your bidding."  Mother Yan spoke while standing with a little effort.  "There are a few girls there that can be found to be very beautiful, but I think only one is ready for her mizuage."  The old woman stretched out her legs and bent her knees a little to relieve the pain.  "I feel it is best to play the market when there is little resistance.  It is not a case of the girl being prettier than you, but that the luck surrounding the bidding room rises and falls evenly.  We just had a great deal of good luck, allow them to have the poor, and we shall put you up to bid when the luck is high again."<br/><br/>With that, she bade the girls good morning and reminded them to look at the appointment list for where they should be at what time.  She slipped back into the house with Hatsuyuki following close behind.  Mother Yan did not reappear, but Hatsuyuki re-emerged with a long scroll bound in a leather mat tied with a red cord.  She unrolled it on the table, revieling it to be teh appointment scroll.<br/><br/>"It looks like we have a very long list of engagments ahead of us today ladies."