The emperor was surprised by this answer. His starry eyes lit up, and his emotions stirred within him.

Gu Jiangli felt the emperor tighten his grip on her, and she found herself completely encircled in his arms.

Gu Jiangli had expected that he would become so easily moved.

Only now has she truly seen the emperor's previously unknown side.

Therefore, she knew better what the emperor wanted and understood better what words would move him more.

This was both a scheme and a subtle expression of her true feelings.

The emperor slowly lowered his head, exhaling a few wisps of warm air near her ear.

"Consort Yun, I have heard your words. I will protect you and the child. This will never happen again. This is my promise to you."

Gu Jiangli was finally relieved.

Even if the emperor doesn't believe everything she says for the time being, as long as a seed of doubt about Prince An is planted in his heart, he will eventually find evidence to prove what she said.

"It's not enough for Qi Jin to guard you alone. I will send several people to your side. No matter who wants to harm you, you will never fall into the same dangerous situation as today again."

At this point, Gu Jiangli's brow suddenly twitched.

She almost instinctively rejected the emperor's suggestion, "No, Your Majesty, Qi Jin alone is enough."

The emperor replied, "Before, you were alone, so you only had one bodyguard. But now you are heavier and carrying a child, so what's wrong with having more bodyguards to protect you?"

Gu Jiangli shook his head again, "Your Majesty, the secret guards are ultimately your people, they are protecting your safety. Compared to my safety, I think the malice of those people in the shadows is greater."

"Really don't want it?"

"Yes, really no."

Gu Jiangli made a solemn vow.

Prince An has been working against the emperor for years, and his sudden attack on her shows that he is getting anxious.

This may also indicate that he might do something even more serious to the emperor.

Therefore, it's best for the emperor's secret guards to protect themselves.

After hearing her refuse twice, the emperor stopped mentioning the matter and instead said, "Since you are unwilling, then so be it. I will stay by your side more often in the future and will not let anything happen to you."

"Okay, I won't refuse."

The two lingered together for a while before finally separating from each other.

A gold object clattered to the ground, catching Gu Jiangli's attention once again.

She looked down at the ground, where a glittering gold hairpin lay—the very tool the emperor had just used to mutilate himself.

Originally lying on the emperor's robe, the hairpin only fell to the ground after the two moved.

She had been so focused on the emperor's actions that she hadn't noticed the hairpin at all. Now, upon closer inspection, she realized that the pattern on the hairpin was quite eye-catching.

It was a three-tailed bird that looked very familiar.

"This is……"

The emperor nimbly picked up the hairpin and then awkwardly hid it in his sleeve, as if he didn't want Gu Jiangli to find out.

"nothing."

His actions were so suspicious that Gu Jiangli had no choice but to ask, "Why did Your Majesty hide it? Can't I see that hairpin?"

"It's just a half-finished product," he said, hiding the hairpin even deeper.

"A semi-finished product?" This piqued Gu Jiangli's curiosity even more.

A hairpin that is only half-made will not be delivered to the emperor by his subordinates.

The emperor held an unfinished hairpin in his hand, which she could only interpret as the hairpin being made by the emperor himself and not yet finished.

Gu Jiangli couldn't suppress the smile on her lips. "His Majesty has been returning to Jing'an Palace later than usual these past few days. I thought it was because important matters of state were delayed, but now it seems that His Majesty is secretly making hairpins in Changxin Hall."

Thinking back to the appearance of that hairpin, it was at least half finished. I wonder when the emperor started doing this.

Perhaps because the teasing in her eyes was too obvious, the emperor could tell that she had guessed everything, so he stopped hiding it.

He took the gold hairpin out of his sleeve and handed it to Gu Jiangli.

Gu Jiangli looked closely and immediately understood where the familiarity of the three-tailed bird on the hairpin came from.

"Is that a three-tailed red jay?"

"Yes, I have heard that this bird is only found in Yunjiang. In Yunjiang, it is also known as the Divine Bird, which symbolizes health and happiness. Many families have embroidered this three-tailed red bird on their quilts."

“I thought that since you came from Yunjiang, and the customs of Tianyuan Kingdom are completely different from those of Yunjiang, you must be homesick here. If you are homesick, it would be good to see the things that are unique to Yunjiang.”

"So His Majesty himself crafted this golden hairpin with the three-tailed red sparrow for me?"

The emperor chuckled self-deprecatingly: "My skills are still inferior to those of the master craftsmen. Although gold is soft, it still requires skill to hammer it. I had intended to use red agate to adorn the eyes of the red sparrow, but unfortunately my embellishment skills are still lacking. Perhaps in the end I will have to leave it to those craftsmen."

Gu Jiangli reached out and slowly stroked the gold hairpin.

The patterns on it vary in depth, all traces carved out by the emperor himself.

He must have put in a lot of effort to make this three-tailed red sparrow hairpin so lifelike and vivid.

She couldn't help but soften at such thoughtfulness.

Gu Jiangli stroked it for a while and said with a smile, "If Your Majesty were not the emperor, you might be able to be a craftsman. At least in the area of ​​making gold hairpins, you have quite a talent."

"This is my first time doing this, so I'm a bit clumsy."

"More importantly, it reflects His Majesty's intentions. The Three-Tailed Redbird is a bird unique to Yunjiang. If His Majesty hadn't deliberately inquired, how would he have known about it?"

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