"Don't move." Chu Yi's fingers lightly untied the knot on the hairband. Even with such a simple movement, his slender fingers were quite pleasing to the eye, giving people a gentle and powerful feeling.

Soon, Chu Yi untied the knot on the hairband, casually put the hairband behind Gu Yanfei's fair ears, and smiled slightly: "Okay."

In the morning light, the handsome and tall young man has black hair like ink, eyes like bright stars, and an elegant posture. Against the backdrop of his temperament as gentle as the spring breeze, even the brilliance of the rising sun is eclipsed.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Gu Yanfei's heartbeat was a little faster, and the index finger of his right hand was casually twisting the hairband.

"Let's go." She walked forward briskly, and the smile between her eyebrows became brighter.

Chu Yi walked side by side with her, staring down at her well-defined profile and the shallow dimples on her lips, and said, "Father likes to raise birds and has a parrot. Recently, he encouraged An Le to raise a parrot as well, saying that two parrots would be good companions."

"A few days ago, a small country in the Western Regions just paid tribute to several peacocks. Father was worried that the peacocks would not adapt to the local climate, so he temporarily raised them in the peacock forest and will send them to the palace after a month."

Peacock? Gu Yanfei's eyes lit up immediately, and he said with great energy, "I have never seen a peacock before."

The middle-aged eunuch smiled and raised his hand, pointing in a direction. "Your Highness, Miss Gu, Quelin is in the northwest."

"The bird forest not only raises peacocks, but also other birds, including starlings, golden pheasants, parrots, sparrows, magpies, great tits, swifts, pigeons...all of them."

This farm was neither big nor small. After walking for about half a cup of tea, they entered a garden through a small door. In the early spring garden, hundreds of flowers were in full bloom, and the fragrance of peach, forsythia, magnolia and other flowers were mixed together.

The middle-aged eunuch led the two to an octagonal pavilion, where several plates of fruits and tea had been placed on the stone table.

He was about to say something when he heard a high-pitched, strange cry suddenly coming from behind some half-height flowers: "Wow-Wow!"

"Little ancestor, don't run..." another eunuch shouted in a shrill voice, looking a little helpless.

The next moment, a colorful blue peacock with an emerald crown on its head jumped out from the flowers, flew up with its strong and powerful claws, occasionally spread its wings and flew low over the flowers, then rushed towards Gu Yanfei and Chu Yi, its gorgeous feathers dazzling.

It made a "wa wa" sound from its sharp beak, like a crow, which was not very pleasant.

"Little ancestor." Behind, a young eunuch in blue clothes bent over and quickly chased after the blue peacock. His steps were a little unsteady, and there were a few pieces of dead leaves and flowers on his body, looking a little embarrassed.

The young eunuch was about to fly over and grab the blue peacock, but he saw Chu Yi and Gu Yanfei beside the pavilion. His whole body froze, fearing that he had offended the nobles.

This is the peacock! Gu Yanfei looked at the blue peacock in front of him without blinking, and couldn't help but think of the favorite mount of the eldest sister in Yaolingjie.

It was a divine bird called the Royal Bird. It was more beautiful and more agile than the blue peacock, especially its long tail feathers that were full of brilliance.

"Meow~"

The calico cat curiously poked its head out from the hood of the cloak that was originally behind Gu Yanfei, its eyes wide open, and its emerald green pupils sparkled in the sun.

Royal Bird! It looks like a Royal Bird! The cat also recognized it and was very excited.

When he was in the Yaoling Realm, Qingguang liked the tail feathers of the Imperial Bird and kept chasing after it. However, the Imperial Bird was arrogant and ignored Qingguang, and even pecked it several times.

“Meow!”

Qingguang jumped nimbly onto Gu Yanfei's shoulder, then kicked off her hind legs and flew excitedly towards the blue peacock.

Its series of movements were as smooth as flowing water. It leaped through the air and landed lightly on the peacock's back.

Gu Yanfei was caught off guard by the kick of the crazy cat and staggered back half a step.

"Be careful." Chu Yi held her slender waist with his arm, his voice as gentle and elegant as always.

He looks thin, but his arms hidden in the wide sleeves are very strong, and you can feel the smooth lines of his arms even through the sleeves.

The faint scent of incense like snow falling on green bamboo floated in the air vaguely. It was very familiar and pleasant to the touch.

When did she become familiar with this scent? This thought suddenly emerged in Gu Yanfei's mind, and then he heard Chu Yi say again: "Sit down."

She subconsciously followed Chu Yi's words and sat down on the stone bench beside the stone table, and grabbed a green date from the fruit plate to eat.

“Crack.”

The green dates have a crisp texture, and the sweet taste fills the mouth, and the sweet taste goes straight to the heart.

“Wow!”

Outside the pavilion, the frightened blue peacock kept calling excitedly, spread its wings and flew up, passing low in the air, its wings occasionally brushing against the treetops and flowers, causing the branches to shake constantly, and leaves and flowers fell "rustling" one after another, fluttering...

The peacock flew back and forth, and the cat still sat steadily on the peacock's back, as steady as a rock.

This scene stunned the young eunuch.

At first, the young eunuch was thinking whether he should get the cat down, but when his eyes met the cat's charming green eyes, he was stunned, staring blankly at the calico cat on the peacock's back.

So beautiful!

So cute!

Gu Yanfei burst out laughing and called out, "Qingguang!"

Qingguang jumped off the peacock's back in boredom, landed gently on a peach tree not far away, squatted on the treetop, and licked his paws slowly.

It stopped only seven or eight steps away from the other bird, and instantly spread out its colorful tail feathers, which looked like a huge folding fan. It was as gorgeous as the most gorgeous and exquisite silk, shining in the sunlight and beautiful as a dream.

The green peacock looked at it with disdain and walked to the other side. The blue peacock immediately chased after it, rushed to the front of the green peacock in two or three steps, then shook its body again and spread its tail feathers again.

The green peacock ran and the blue peacock chased, opening their screens repeatedly.

Gu Yanfei couldn't help laughing so hard that he fell forward and backward, unable to control himself.

"Is it showing off?" Gu Yanfei's eyes welled up with tears, and he took a green date from the fruit plate.

As she leaned forward, a few strands of black hair cascaded down and fell in front of her chest. The ink-black hair was thick and dense, like the finest silk.

Chu Yi's slender fingers moved, and he raised them slightly, but finally pressed them down again, and said softly: "No."

As he spoke, he made a gesture and the eunuchs around him retreated silently.

Gu Yanfei raised his eyebrows and looked at Chu Yi.

Chu Yi was sitting beside a few peach trees covered with fallen petals. His brows were free and his smile was bright and clear. A few peach petals happened to fall on his shoulders.

"It's courting." He stared into her eyes without blinking and said slowly.

The young man has a voice more gentle than the spring breeze, which flows gently and slowly into people's hearts.

Gu Yanfei opened her eyes slightly, and her ears rang with the words he said to her on the day of the love feast: "I have a lover."

Recalling these few simple words now, every word seemed to fall on the tip of her heart.

It was not until this moment that Gu Yanfei noticed that he was dressed very formally today. He was wearing a lotus-colored gown with a dark bamboo leaf pattern. The collar revealed a frosty white undershirt with a small vertical collar embroidered with silver cloud patterns. He had a white jade belt tied around his waist with a small seal of a green cicada lying on a bamboo node and a snow-blue purse.

The same snow-blue color as her clothes.

So, he was also... courting? Chu Yi kept staring at her, watching her every reaction.

Last time on the pleasure boat, she looked at him without shyness and was frank and straightforward, but this time it seemed a little different.

His heart was slightly shaken, and he was weighing in his mind whether he should give up and continue to work slowly, or make a decisive move and pursue the victory.

He made up his mind in an instant, and took out a white jade hairpin from his sleeve, handed it to her, and said in a calm tone: "I carved this hairpin, do you like it?"

The "Qingmei Hairpin" was carved by Emperor Taizu himself and presented to Empress Taizu. It has been passed down from generation to generation since then.

This jade hairpin was carved by him for her and belonged only to him and her.

Chu Yi's eyes were deep, and he moved the jade hairpin in his hand half a foot towards Gu Yanfei.

The head of the white jade hairpin was prominently carved with a pair of lotus flowers that were half-blooming and half-emerging. The overlapping petals were carved so lifelike that even the fine lines on the petals were clearly visible.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Gu Yanfei's heartbeat quickened again, and there were signs of it getting out of control.

Under his warm gaze, my ears felt slightly warm.

She couldn't help but touch her chest.

Is this heartbeat? Gu Yanfei remembered what the ninth senior sister of the sect once said to her: heartbeat is like the stars in the sky are all bright...

She still seemed unable to understand this feeling.

She was immersed in her own world and didn't notice Xiao Shi running hurriedly from outside the garden.

"Your Highness, guests are coming." Xiao Shi clasped his fists and reported to Chu Yi in the pavilion. When he said the word "guest", his tone was a little strange.

"Bring the person over here." Chu Yi ordered lightly, unconsciously clenching the jade hairpin in his hand.

After Xiao Shi responded, he ran away like a gust of wind, curling his lips in disdain.

He really didn't like this guest! Seeing that Gu Yanfei didn't speak for a long time, Chu Yi sighed in his heart, half-closed his eyes, and slightly turned the lotus hairpin in his hand, thinking: He is still too impatient.

We must keep working hard! He was just about to put the jade hairpin away when he heard the girl's clear voice like spring water: "I like it."

Chu Yi was stunned, then he opened his eyelids and looked at the girl beside him.

The girl's pupils were as bright as cold stars.

She raised her hand and took the jade hairpin with twin lotus flowers from Chu Yi's hand. There was a bright smile on the corner of her lips and her eyes were as clear as autumn water.

She still didn't know what it felt like to see the stars in the sky become brighter, but she felt that he was brighter than the rising sun.

This is certainly heart-warming.

The first time my heart beat in more than two hundred years.

(End of this chapter)