Yun Qiuchen glanced at Xiao Jinglin's expression and, seeing no sign of impatience, continued to address Miss Guo and Miss Jiang, "This is the Commandery Princess."
Miss Guo and Miss Jiang were startled and quickly curtsied in greeting.
Xiao Jinglin nodded. Though she remained silent, her expression was relatively gentle, which eased the tension the two young ladies had felt over the past few days after hearing certain rumors about the Commandery Princess.
Yun Qiuchen then introduced Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaoyin to Miss Guo and Miss Jiang.
Miss Guo had a lively temperament. Hearing Yun Qiuchen repeatedly refer to her as "Miss Guo," she said, "We're all around the same age. You can just call me Yujiao. As for Miss Jiang, you can call her Yuan Niang."
Guo Yujiao took the liberty of speaking for Jiang Yuan Niang, who showed no displeasure and nodded with a smile.
The others present also shared their given names. With everyone eager to befriend one another, the atmosphere grew quite harmonious.
Guo Yujiao stepped forward, linked arms with Yun Qiuchen, and said affectionately, "Sister Qiuchen, will you take us to see the peacocks? I've never seen one before."
Yun Qiuchen looked toward Xiao Jinglin. Although the Thousand Gold Banquet was hosted by the Yun Family, the Yanbei Prince's Mansion was ultimately in charge here. With Xiao Jinglin present, Yun Qiuchen could not overstep her authority.
Guo Yujiao and Jiang Yuan Niang also glanced at Xiao Jinglin, both feeling somewhat uneasy.
Xiao Jinglin nodded and said, "You may take them."
Yun Qiuchen smiled and added, "Would the Commandery Princess care to join us? It wouldn't do to return so soon after just stepping out."
Xiao Jinglin glanced at Ren Yaoqi and, seeing no objection from her, agreed.
Yun Qiuchen breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The Princess Consort had instructed her to invite the Commandery Princess out, but if Xiao Jinglin had refused in front of so many people, it would have embarrassed Yun Qiuchen and made her a laughingstock.
Sure enough, seeing that Yun Qiuchen had persuaded Xiao Jinglin, Miss Guo of the Guo Family grew even more affectionate toward her.
"Where is Miss Qiu? Weren't you all together earlier?" After walking a few steps, Yun Qiuchen seemed to remember something and glanced around as she asked.
Old Madam Yun had instructed Yun Qiuchen to spend more time with Guo Yujiao, Jiang Yuan Niang, and Miss Qiu Hong of the Qiu Family—all of whom had paid their respects to the old lady earlier—to better understand their true temperaments in private. Based on subsequent conversations between Old Madam Yun and Madam Yun, Yun Qiuchen vaguely understood that Old Madam Yun was considering potential candidates for her second brother's principal wife. Yun Qiuchen took this task seriously, as the character of Yun Wenfang's future wife would directly impact the inner quarters of the Yun Family.
Guo Yujiao pursed her lips, a hint of displeasure in her tone. "I don't know. She said she had something to attend to and left, then never returned. I suppose she didn't want to stay with Yuan Niang and me."
Yun Qiuchen looked at Guo Yujiao, then glanced at Jiang Yuan Niang, understanding dawning on her.
Earlier that day, in Old Madam Yun's presence, the old lady had been very gracious to the three young ladies, speaking with them at length. When Guo Yujiao mentioned jadeite, Old Madam Yun even had some of her collected jadeite ornaments and accessories brought out for the three to admire.
All three young ladies came from wealthy and noble families, so they could each offer some commentary on jadeite appreciation. Old Madam Yun was particularly fond of a jadeite thumb ring among the pieces and joked that she would give it to whoever could guess its origin.Guo Yujiao, who had shown great expertise in jadeite, failed to guess correctly, while Qiu Hong succeeded. In the end, Old Madam Yun gave the jadeite thumb ring to Qiu Hong as a meeting gift. Although the other two young ladies did not guess correctly, Old Madam Yun also gave each of them a gold hairpin. While still quite respectable, it was considerably less impressive than the jadeite thumb ring.
Yun Qiuchen noticed at the time that Guo Yujiao’s expression had turned somewhat unpleasant.
All three young ladies came from good families, with Guo Yujiao and Jiang Yuan Niang perhaps being slightly more distinguished. However, in terms of appearance, Guo Yujiao and Qiu Hong were more outstanding, and both were clever and favored by their elders at home. Usually, there was no issue when they were together, but once competition and comparison arose, conflicts were inevitable.
As for Jiang Yuan Niang, perhaps because her appearance was more ordinary, she remained low-key, and Guo Yujiao also enjoyed her company.
Yun Qiuchen had initially been puzzled as to why her grandmother had stirred up conflict among these young ladies as soon as they met. It was only after her grandmother called her over and gave her instructions that she suddenly understood.
Old Madam Yun had done it intentionally.
Her reason for doing so was to use their conflicts to observe their true character and conduct. After all, these young ladies of noble families typically presented themselves as gentle or cheerful in public, and only in certain moments would their true nature reveal itself.
It must be said that Old Madam Yun had put considerable thought into Yun Wenfang’s marriage.
With this in mind, despite knowing Guo Yujiao was displeased, Yun Qiuchen smiled and said, “I promised to take all three of you to see the peacocks. If A’Hong is missing, Grandmother will scold me. Silver Pearl, go find Miss Qiu. If you find her, bring her to the Rare Treasures Garden.”
Jiang Yuan Niang quickly added, “Check the courtyard where she’s staying. I heard her say earlier that she needed to go back for a moment.”
Guo Yujiao shot Jiang Yuan Niang a glare. Jiang Yuan Niang seemed somewhat confused but still smiled good-naturedly.
Yun Qiuchen’s maid, Silver Pearl, immediately responded and left.
Guo Yujiao complained somewhat discontentedly, “Sister Qiuchen, you call her A’Hong but address me as Miss Guo.”
Yun Qiuchen smiled upon hearing this, wondering whether she should follow her grandmother’s intention to further escalate the conflict between Guo Yujiao and Qiu Hong.
Jiang Yuan Niang, however, said softly, “Sister Yujiao, if we consider it, A’Hong is actually Sister Qiuchen’s cousin. They must have known each other for a long time. Besides, Sister Qiuchen also calls you Yujiao, doesn’t she?”
Only then did Guo Yujiao remember that Old Madam Yun’s maiden family was the Qiu Family of Jizhou, which made her feel even more frustrated.
Yun Qiuchen glanced at Jiang Yuan Niang.
Jiang Yuan Niang gave her a slight smile and nodded, still appearing gentle and obedient. Yun Qiuchen also smiled and turned her gaze away.
Ren Yaoqi watched the undercurrents among them with a calm expression, silently pondering what exactly was being played out here.
The Rare Treasures Garden of the Hot Spring Villa was not far from the Sun Glory Spring, but because the garden’s main gate faced the opposite direction of the spring, it took some time to walk there.
The Rare Treasures Garden housed some exotic animals. Along the way, Yun Qiuchen introduced to everyone that besides peacocks, there were also other small animals in the garden, all of them rare in Yanbei and gentle in temperament.
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