After Yun Qiuchen observed Xiao Jinglin’s expression and saw that she wasn’t showing impatience, she continued speaking to Miss Guo and Miss Jiang: “This is the County Princess.”

Miss Guo and Miss Jiang were startled and hurriedly curtsied.

Xiao Jinglin nodded her head. Although she didn’t speak, her expression was relatively mild.

Next, Yun Qiuchen introduced Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaoyin to the two young ladies, Miss Guo and Miss Jiang.

Miss Guo had a very lively personality. Hearing Yun Qiuchen introduce her as “Miss Guo” repeatedly, she said, “We’re all about the same age, so you should just call me Yujiao. As for Miss Jiang Eight, you can call her Yuanniang.”

Guo Yujiao directly made the decision for Jiang Yuanniang, who didn’t show any displeasure and nodded with a smile.

The several people present all gave their names, creating a very harmonious atmosphere.

Guo Yujiao stepped forward to take Yun Qiuchen’s arm and shook it: “Sister Qiuchen, take us to see the peacocks! I’ve never seen peacocks before.”

Yun Qiuchen looked toward Xiao Jinglin. Although the Thousand Gold Banquet was hosted by the Yun family, this place was still under the jurisdiction of the Yanbei Prince’s Residence.

Guo Yujiao and Jiang Yuanniang both looked toward Xiao Jinglin.

Xiao Jinglin nodded: “You take them there.”

Yun Qiuchen smiled and said, “County Princess, come along too? It wouldn’t be good to go back after just coming out for such a short while.”

Xiao Jinglin glanced at Ren Yaoqi, and seeing that Ren Yaoqi had no objections either, she agreed.

Yun Qiuchen couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was the Princess Consort who had asked her to call the County Princess out, but if the County Princess had refused her in front of so many people, it would have made her lose face and become a laughingstock.

Indeed, seeing that Yun Qiuchen had persuaded Xiao Jinglin, Miss Guo became even more affectionate toward Yun Qiuchen.

“Where is Miss Qiu? Wasn’t she with you all earlier?” After walking just a few steps, Yun Qiuchen remembered something and looked around as she asked.

Old Madam Yun had asked Yun Qiuchen to interact more with Guo Yujiao, Jiang Yuanniang, and Miss Qiu Hong from the Qiu family, who had come to pay their respects to her, to understand their private temperaments. Combining Old Madam Yun’s subsequent conversation with Eldest Madam Yun, Yun Qiuchen vaguely understood that Old Madam Yun wanted to select a wife for her second brother. Yun Qiuchen took this assignment to heart; after all, the character of Yun Wenfang’s wife would directly affect the Yun family’s inner courtyard in the future.

Guo Yujiao pursed her lips with some displeasure: “I don’t know. She said she had something to attend to and needed to leave for a while, then disappeared. She probably doesn’t want to stay with Yuanniang and me.”

Yun Qiuchen looked at Guo Yujiao, then glanced at Jiang Yuanniang, understanding somewhat in her heart.

Today in front of Old Madam Yun, the old lady had been very kind to all three young ladies, talking with them for a long time. When Guo Yujiao chatted about jade, Old Madam Yun had even had people bring out several jade ornaments and accessories from her collection for the three young ladies to appreciate.

All three young ladies came from wealthy and noble families and could more or less offer some evaluative comments on jade appreciation. Old Madam Yun was most fond of a jade thumb ring among them, jokingly saying she would give the ring to whoever could guess the jade’s origin. Guo Yujiao, who had shown herself to be very knowledgeable about jade, failed to guess correctly. Instead, it was Qiu Hong who guessed it. In the end, Old Madam Yun gave that thumb ring to Qiu Hong as a meeting gift. Although the other two young ladies hadn’t guessed correctly, Old Madam Yun also gave each of them a gold hairpin.

At that time, Yun Qiuchen had noticed that Guo Yujiao’s expression had turned somewhat unpleasant.

All three young ladies came from good backgrounds. Guo Yujiao and Jiang Yuanniang might be from slightly better families. But in terms of appearance, Guo Yujiao and Qiu Hong were more outstanding, and both were clever and intelligent, valued by their elders at home. Normally, when together, there were no issues, but once there was competition and comparison, some conflicts would inevitably arise. As for Jiang Yuanniang, perhaps because her appearance was more ordinary, she had always kept a low profile, and Guo Yujiao also liked staying with her.

Yun Qiuchen had been somewhat puzzled earlier about why her grandmother would stir up conflicts among these young ladies upon their first meeting, but only understood after being called aside by her grandmother for instructions.

Old Madam Yun had done it deliberately.

Her reason for doing so was to use their conflicts to see clearly their characters and conduct. After all, these daughters of prestigious families all presented either gentle or cheerful facades in public, and only in certain moments would they reveal their true natures.

It had to be said that regarding Yun Wenfang’s marriage, Old Madam Yun was putting in great effort.

Thinking this way, despite knowing Guo Yujiao was displeased, Yun Qiuchen still smiled and said, “I promised to take all three of you to see the peacocks together. If A Hong is missing, my grandmother will scold me. Yinzhu, go find Miss Qiu. If you find her, bring her to Qizhen Garden.”

Jiang Yuanniang hurriedly said, “Go check the courtyard where she’s staying. I heard her say earlier that she needed to go back.”

Guo Yujiao glared at Jiang Yuanniang, who seemed somewhat confused but still smiled good-naturedly.

Yun Qiuchen’s maid, Yinzhu, immediately responded and left.

Guo Yujiao complained with some dissatisfaction: “Sister Qiuchen, you call her A Hong but call me Miss Guo.”

Hearing this, Yun Qiuchen smiled, wondering whether she should follow her grandmother’s intentions and let the conflict between Guo Yujiao and Qiu Hong escalate further.

However, Jiang Yuanniang said softly, “Sister Yujiao, counting relationships, A Hong is still Sister Qiuchen’s cousin. They should have known each other for a long time. Besides, didn’t Sister Qiuchen also call you Yujiao?”

Only then did Guo Yujiao remember that Old Madam Yun was also from the Qiu family, making her feel even more stifled.

Yun Qiuchen glanced at Jiang Yuanniang, who smiled at her with pursed lips and nodded, still appearing gentle and obedient. Yun Qiuchen also smiled and turned her gaze away.

Ren Yaoqi stood to the side, calmly observing the undercurrents among them, pondering in her heart for a while.

Qizhen Garden at the hot spring manor wasn’t far from Riyao Spring, but because the garden’s main gate opened in the opposite direction from Riyao Spring, it took some time to walk there.

Qizhen Garden housed some rare and exotic animals. On the way, Yun Qiuchen introduced to everyone that besides peacocks, the garden also had other small animals, all rare to see in Yanbei and with gentle temperaments.