The two younger sisters were taking an afternoon nap in Lizheng Palace, while Li Lizhi had also returned to Fengyang Pavilion, her own palace.
Li Lizhi went straight to her study.
“Yushu, bring me ink and a brush!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Her personal palace maid, Yushu, turned around to prepare everything.
She spread the xuan paper across the medical table before Li Lizhi and began grinding the ink for her.
Li Lizhi picked up the chinese brush, and Xiao Ran's image, along with the scene of fishing beside the water pool, surfaced in her mind.
What had happened before had left a deep impression on Li Lizhi, and not merely because of a meal.
Li Lizhi wanted to paint it.
After their nap ended, the two little princesses had regained their energy.
Li Lizhi had not come to Lizheng Palace, so Empress Zhangsun simply took the two little princesses to Fengyang Pavilion to see what Li Lizhi was doing and, incidentally, visit the other princesses in Fengyang Pavilion.
Little Princess Chengyang and Little Princess Jinyang were in Lizheng Palace. Because they were young, Empress Zhangsun kept them by her side, while the other unmarried princesses were all in Fengyang Pavilion.
“Elder sister~”
Knowing that they had arrived before Li Lizhi's palace, the little princess called out.
Empress Zhangsun took the two little princesses directly to the study.
At this time, Li Lizhi was most likely in the study reading and practicing calligraphy.
“Mother, Sizi, Fanyin.” Li Lizhi hurriedly rose to her feet as Empress Zhangsun and the others entered the study.
Empress Zhangsun also saw Li Lizhi's painting.
The two little princesses curiously crowded around.
The little princess said delightedly, “It's the Little Gentleman~ and the big doggy~”
Xiao Ran's short hair and short sleeves were unmistakable, and Li Lizhi had painted him very realistically.
She had already said that Xiao Ran was very different, but Empress Zhangsun had not expected Li Lizhi to paint him.
“Is this dog really that big?”
Li Lizhi nodded. She had painted it to approximately the correct proportions.
In the painting, Xiao Ran sat on a folding chair, holding a fishing rod.
There were also two boxes beside him, along with a Samoyed keeping him company.
Before Li Shimin and the Others had gone over, that was more or less what Xiao Ran's Place looked like.
“Mother~ the doggy is really, really big~” The little princess spread her arms to demonstrate. She became very excited whenever she talked about Xiao Ran and the Samoyed.
Xiao Ran planned to stroll around nearby. From his previous conversation with Li Shimin and the Others, he knew that Chang'an City was not far away, but he had no intention of going there for the time being.
To this era, Xiao Ran was an unregistered person and an outlaw.
If he were caught by the government office, he would have no way to explain himself.
There was a village nearby, so he would go take a look and ask about the situation.
Although Xiao Ran had prepared quite a lot of food in the motorhome, it would not last very long. Sooner or later, he would have to find a way to obtain food nearby.
He casually grabbed two apples and brought along a fish he had kept earlier.
It was never wrong to give someone something.
After Xiao Ran got out of the motorhome, he noticed that the boxes containing the fishing gear and cooking utensils had not been placed in the trunk and were still on the ground.
“I’ll deal with it later!” Xiao Ran held the fish and did not feel like making the effort.
Eating an apple, he led the Samoyed toward the nearest thatched hut.
The road was not very good, being nothing but dirt, but riding a bicycle posed no problem.
Fortunately, Xiao Ran had a bicycle, which would come in handy later.
The autumn fields stretched empty, like a cloth sack hollowed out by the wind. Fine millet husks lay scattered along the dirt road, gleaming pale beneath the afternoon sun.
Between the field ridges, a little girl’s figure was as small as a grain of millet seed left behind.
The coarse Ruqun Skirt she wore had long since lost its original color. The cuffs had worn into uneven frayed edges, and although her knees had been patched several times, holes had appeared again.
Xiao Ran happened to notice someone and stopped. The little girl had been crouching, and she was so small that he had not noticed her at all before.
He changed direction, intending to take a look.
The little girl held something in her hands, but it was too far away to make out clearly.
She kept her head lowered, seemingly searching for something.
When Xiao Ran and the Samoyed drew near, the little girl sensed them and raised her head.
Upon seeing Xiao Ran and the Samoyed, she picked up her kaolao and turned to run.
“Huh?” Xiao Ran was startled and hurried after her. “Little sister, don’t run. I mean you no harm.”
The little girl did not listen at all.
She ran too hurriedly and suddenly fell onto the dirt road.
Xiao Ran and the Samoyed caught up, and only then could he see what the little girl looked like.
She appeared to be about four or five years old. She should have been at the age of tying her hair in a twin-bun hairstyle and acting spoiled in her mother’s arms, but her hair was a tangled mess like snarled hemp, with several strands of dry, yellow hair clinging to her sweaty temples.
Xiao Ran’s impression was that she was malnourished, with a sallow, emaciated face.
The little girl said nothing. Fear filled her eyes, and she was terrified of Xiao Ran and the Samoyed.
Xiao Ran crouched down and smiled, doing his best to appear kind. “Little sister, I mean you no harm. Don’t be afraid!”
“Are you hurt from the fall?”
The little girl said nothing and clutched her kaolao tightly.
It was woven from bamboo, like a small wicker basket.
Inside were millet ears. Only then did Xiao Ran realize that the little girl had been gathering millet ears from someone else’s fields.
Xiao Ran was fairly amiable, but the Samoyed’s size was indeed frightening.
“There’s no need to be afraid. It won’t bite.”
The little girl still did not make a sound.
Xiao Ran held the fish in one hand and an apple in the other. “Young lady, would you like to eat?”
She did not speak upon seeing the apple, but she swallowed.
“Third Lady!” a voice called from nearby.
The little girl rose, hugged the kaolao, and ran toward the voice.
Xiao Ran saw that someone else had arrived: a girl in her teens.
The little girl said nothing, but she was clearly old enough to be considered a little older.
The little girl immediately hid behind the young woman.
Xiao Ran led the Samoyed over. Judging by the look of things, they should be sisters.
“Madam, I mean you no harm. I’m just passing by and wanted to ask, what village is this?”
The young woman shielded her sister behind her. “Young master, this is Kaolao Village.”
After a brief introduction, he learned that they were villagers. The elder sister was Zhang Erya, while the younger sister had no name. By the customs of this era, she was therefore called Third Lady.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I made Third Lady fall.” Xiao Ran held out the fish.
Zhang Erya hesitated. She wanted it but felt embarrassed, and her family was not well-off either.
If they had to gather millet ears, then having a fish would certainly be even better.
“Young master, there’s no need to do this.”
“It’s fine, take it.” Xiao Ran even stuffed the apple into the little girl’s hands.
Only when the two sisters were leaving did Xiao Ran notice that neither of them was wearing shoes. The little girl hugged the apple and turned around to look at Xiao Ran.
Xiao Ran smiled and waved. In his heart, he murmured, “Are ordinary people’s lives in this era really this difficult?”
The zhang sisters’ clothing and appearance were worlds apart from those of Li Lizhi and the Little Princesses earlier.
Their mental states were also vastly different. Li Lizhi had an elegant bearing, and the little princess was lively and adorable. The zhang sisters gave Xiao Ran a stronger impression of restraint, inferiority, and fear.
Xiao Ran turned and walked back. It seemed that aside from learning that the village was called Kaolao Village, he knew nothing else.
“Forget it. There’s plenty of time. I’ll take it slowly.” Xiao Ran was afraid of arousing the villagers’ hostility.
That was not the outcome Xiao Ran wanted. He hoped to obtain a suitable identity through the connections within the village.
He returned to the mountain cave in the mountain ravine and went straight into the motorhome.
After lying down that night, he suddenly remembered through his drowsiness that the two boxes were still on the ground and had not been put into the motorhome’s trunk.
He simply did not feel like getting up anymore!