With this in mind, Zhao Xian immediately went to the village head's house to discuss improving the village's safety.
The village head was greatly surprised. The daughter of the current Fourth Prince had actually come to Narcissus Village and was going to stay there for several days. This was a big deal, and he had to be careful to prevent any mishaps to the princess.
"Does the scholar have any good suggestions to ensure the princess's safety these next few days?" Wang Lizheng asked.
“There is no problem with the safety of my home. The key is the safety of the village. Uncle Lizheng still remembers the fire that broke out in my woodpile the night before last. If the village had preventative measures, the incident could have been avoided.”
The village head nodded and said, "If we establish a patrol team in the village to monitor strangers entering the village, especially those entering at night, we should strengthen questioning and refuse entry to anyone whose intentions are unclear, to prevent them from doing bad things in the village."
This matter needs to be handled now. Having a patrol team in the village will raise the security level. The patrol team will begin patrolling tonight to ensure the princess's safety.
After the village head finished speaking, he left. At this time, he still needed to go to the fields to find people, as most of the farmers were working in the fields.
After settling into her accommodations, Li Xue rested for a while. Now that she had nothing to do, she decided to go for a walk outside the village.
The village was very quiet and should be relatively safe. Li Xue took only two guards with her and headed towards the village entrance.
It was already afternoon, and the sun was no longer so strong. Most of the villagers were working in the fields, and people were walking on the country lanes from time to time.
The appearance of several people in the field immediately attracted people's attention.
Li Xue was dressed in luxurious clothes and had a very elegant demeanor. It was obvious at a glance that she was of noble status. In particular, she was followed by two imposing female guards, which made people dare not breathe loudly and could only watch from a distance and whisper among themselves.
Li Xue didn't care about any of that. She could just watch whatever she wanted. She had been working non-stop for the past few days and could finally relax a bit.
The countryside is incredibly beautiful. The distant mountains, the nearby river, and the endless fields all around, along with the farmers working in the fields, create a beautiful picture.
The group continued on their way, and they were already some distance from the village. There was not much arable land left, and large tracts of wasteland were beginning to appear.
There aren't many people here; almost no one is walking on the road.
People were also working in the wasteland; they were reclaiming land and had already cleared out a fairly large area.
At this moment, Li Xue noticed a farmer walking towards her from a field path. He was carrying a farm tool on his shoulder and leading an ox.
The man had dark skin, wore tattered clothes, and was covered in mud. He wore a straw hat pulled low over his head, obscuring his face.
The man was walking with his head down and didn't notice her or the two guards at all.
Upon seeing this person by chance, Li Xue couldn't help but shudder. Although she couldn't see his face, she was all too familiar with his gait.
She looked around, but there was no one around, and the two guards behind her did not notice the change in her expression.
Li Xue took a deep breath and turned to look at the two guards.
"The local people here are kind and honest, the scenery is beautiful, and it's very safe. I want to walk around by myself. You two go back first and don't follow me."
The two guards exchanged glances, then looked around. They felt there was no problem. Besides, the princess was no ordinary person. Even if a few experts came, they might not be a match for her.
"Princess, please take care. We'll head back now." The two guards said before leaving.
Seeing that the two guards had already gone far away, Li Xue turned her head and looked at the farmer who had approached her.
The man was getting closer and closer to Li Xue. Although he was wearing a straw hat, parts of his face could still be seen.
Li Xue's breathing quickened. Wasn't this the Li Qing she had been searching for for a year? Li Qing hadn't died; she had finally found him.
Li Xue's vision blurred, and tears began to fall like pearls from a broken string.
"Li Qing, is that you?" Li Xue called out softly.
The man had already walked up to Li Xue's side, but he was so focused on getting on his way that he didn't notice her.
Li Xue's voice wasn't loud, but the man was clearly stunned. He stopped in his tracks, slowly raised his head, and looked at Li Xue.
This man was Li Guang, whose real name was Li Qing. He was a prince of the Northern Dynasty, and his birth mother was the current Consort Yao. Li Qing and the current eldest prince, Li Hui, were half-brothers.
The Fourth Prince and the current Emperor are brothers, while Li Xue and Li Guang are cousins. Within the Li imperial family, they are recognized as one a scholar and the other a warrior. Although they are not blood-related siblings, their relationship is extremely close, far surpassing that of blood-related siblings.
Li Guang raised his head and looked at Li Xue. He couldn't believe his eyes. Apart from his biological parents, the girl in front of him was the closest person to him.
"Oh my god, it really is Qingdi! I've been looking for you for so long..."
Li Xue stepped forward and grabbed Li Guang's hand, a thousand words welling up in her eyes as tears streamed down her face.
"Sister, I've finally seen you!" The two embraced and wept bitterly.
Li Xue cried for a while, wiped away her tears, and began to look Li Guang up and down.
"Qingdi, you've grown taller, but why are you so dark-skinned? Did you deliberately get a tan?"
Li Guang nodded, wiped away his tears, looked around again, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, looked at Li Xue.
"Sister, did you really come to see me? Don't you know I'm already dead?"
“You’re right. In the capital, almost everyone thinks you’re dead, but I always feel that you’re not dead. You must have been rescued somewhere far away from the capital.”
"How did you know that? Who told you?" Li Guang asked in surprise.
"No one told me this, and I don't dare to ask about it. This could get me into trouble and harm the person who saved me."
"So that means you believed I wasn't dead based entirely on your intuition?" Li Guang asked curiously.
"Not entirely. When the news spread from the palace that you had committed suicide out of fear of punishment, I initially believed it."
I know that the person who is even more heartbroken than I am is your mother, Consort Yao.
So I went to see Consort Yao, wanting to comfort her and not let her be too sad.
At first, Consort Yao was very sad, and it was clear that she was grieving the loss of her son. But gradually, Consort Yao's guilt replaced her grief.
As time went on, I began to believe that it wasn't you who committed suicide out of guilt, but someone else who died in your place, and that you should still be alive.
Over the past year, I've been secretly searching for you under the pretense of doing things for my father, and I never expected to actually find you.
But I don't understand why you ended up here, becoming a farmer and getting so tanned. Even your own mother wouldn't recognize you now.
Li Guang sighed and slowly began to speak.
"Don't even mention it. In the past year, I've been through countless near-death experiences. I had just escaped from the capital for a little over a month when I was captured by bandits and forced to do hard labor. Because I was too thin and weak, I couldn't do any physical work at all, and I was almost thrown into a ravine by the bandits to be fed to the wolves."
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