My spirit appeared on the road to exile, and I was treated as an ancestor.

Chapter 5: Demoted to a commoner by His Majesty

Xu looked shocked, shook her head repeatedly, her expression full of disapproval of her parents, yet she seemed to have been persuaded, falling into a brief silence.

Gu Xingzhao overheard their conversation. The Xu family were merchants who had spent a lot of money to establish connections and wanted to secretly remove their daughter from the list of exiles. With such a large sum of money as an incentive, they managed to get the job done without anyone noticing, even though she was just a woman and not an important person.

Once they left the city, at night, someone would take Xu away from the exile group and quietly send her off.

After all, Madam Xu was the only daughter in the family and had been pampered since childhood. She had six maids to take care of her every day and always traveled by carriage. How could the couple bear to let her suffer with the Lu family? Besides, Madam Xu had always disliked her husband, Lu Yang, complaining that he ate too much and was fat.

Gu Xingzhao couldn't help but sigh, "Indeed, no matter which dynasty it is, money is the most useful thing."

After saying goodbye to her family, Xu returned to the group without telling the Lu family about it. Gu Xingzhao thought that this was actually a good thing, as one less person would be exiled and suffer less.

Unlike the eldest daughter-in-law Song, who was weak, Xu was usually strong-willed and managed the Lu family's inner quarters. Now that she was asked to abandon her family and run away, she didn't know how to bring it up and probably needed to think about how to say it.

Song secretly wiped away her tears and noticed that her usually talkative second sister-in-law, Xu, was silent. She assumed that Xu was heartbroken because she couldn't bear being separated from her parents, so she comforted her with a few words, "Second sister-in-law, it's good that we're all together, and the whole family is still together."

Seeing his wife in distress, Lu Yang came over to comfort her, but as soon as he reached out his hand, his wife subtly avoided it. He felt a little embarrassed, but didn't take it to heart.

Xu felt a little guilty and didn't dare to look up at them, only nodding.

Soon, the prisoners were checked against the roster, and the escorting officials began urging them to set off, preventing the people who came to see them off from having any contact with them.

Of the hundred or so people, except for the elderly over sixty-five and children under nine, all had to wear shackles on their hands and feet and take heavy steps as they left this city gate. They feared they would never see their relatives and friends again in their lifetime.

Tears welled up in her eyes, a sight that tugged at the heartstrings.

At this moment, a carriage slowly followed the exile procession out of the city.

Some people wondered, "Why is there a carriage following behind?"

"They look like they came from the palace!"

Amidst the murmurs, inside the carriage, a young palace maid looked at her mistress with worry in her eyes, blaming herself in her heart... If she had known things would turn out this way, she shouldn't have told her mistress about Grand Secretary Lu that day.

Your Majesty is so cruel.

Someone lowered their voice, "Haven't you heard? Princess Shunyu went to visit the Lu family in prison and angered the Emperor. He demoted her to a commoner and ordered her to be exiled to the north..."

Shunyu's face turned pale and her eyes were red. She never expected that just because she glanced at Grand Secretary Lu, her brother would issue an imperial decree without even giving her a chance to explain.

Over the years, she had never seen her other brothers and sisters. There were vague rumors in the palace that her elder brother had harmed his brothers and sisters, but she didn't take them seriously. After all, when her father was still alive, her elder brother would coax her and share sweet cakes with her.

Meanwhile, the people outside were still discussing, "Heavens...this is His Majesty's own sister! Will she even come back alive?!"

Shunyu nearly tore her sleeves to shreds. Even now, she still couldn't believe that her beloved elder brother from childhood could be so heartless.

Gu Xingzhao followed the gaze of those people and saw the carriage at the back of the exile procession. The carriage was pulled by a eunuch. A breeze blew, and the curtain fluttered slightly. Soon, a hand tightly grabbed it from the inside.

She thought to herself, if the old man knew that this little princess had been demoted to a commoner and exiled just for visiting him once, he would probably be very upset.

The onlookers were greatly disappointed, as they couldn't see anyone inside the carriage; they had hoped to catch a glimpse of what a princess from the palace looked like. Gu Xingzhao didn't watch any longer, tidied up, and prepared to go downstairs to open for business.

As she passed the sofa, she vaguely felt as if she had bumped into something. When she turned around, she saw Lu Xingyao, the eldest grandson of the Lu family, and Lu Xingyan, the youngest son of the Lu family, walking side by side. One had a calm and indifferent expression, while the other looked sickly and coughed occasionally.

Gu Xingzhao muttered, "The old man's genes are quite good."

She hurried downstairs.

Lu Xingyan was slightly taken aback. Who was speaking?
He looked around. The people around him were complaining, and officials were whipping people to drive them away. He didn't see any young women speaking, but he had clearly heard something about the old man's genes...

Lu Xingyao helped him up, "What are you looking at, Third Uncle?"

Lu Xingyan shook his head, thinking it was probably just his imagination.

...

Once the exiled group left the city, they had to travel north on foot to their place of exile—Huaibei.

Some of the prisoners' families accompanied them northward. The officials, holding long whips and carrying broadswords, urged the prisoners to hurry along, as time was limited and could not be wasted.

If they encountered someone who stopped or caused trouble, their whips showed no mercy. After a few lashes, the skin was torn and the screams of agony continued, and the person eventually became obedient.

The Lu family, more than twenty people, walked together, with the women in the middle, looking after each other.

The grandchildren, led by Lu Xingyao, walked behind, occasionally checking on Lu Xingyan, while the brothers Lu Zhou and Lu Yang supported Lu Qing on either side.

As the sun set, the escorting officials stopped. Some offered to help gather firewood and fetch water, while others secretly gave the officials their hidden valuables.

All of this is clearly to make the rest of the journey easier.

Seeing that the prisoners were so sensible, the officers' expressions softened considerably, and they allowed them to light a fire to keep warm.

As night fell, the wind picked up, causing many people to sneeze.

Those who had built good relationships with the officials could catch one or two fish in the icy river, giving some to the officials and roasting the rest for themselves. The rest were not so fortunate, and could only chew on the cold, hard flatbreads that were distributed to them, barely enough to stave off hunger.

Many elderly and frail prisoners had their flatbreads snatched away by stronger prisoners as soon as they got them. They dared not utter a sound for fear of being beaten and could only go hungry.

No one dared to go and help; at times like this, everyone could only look out for themselves.

The officials escorting the prisoners turned a blind eye to these things, too lazy to care. After all, it was common for prisoners to starve or freeze to death on the way to exile, and fewer people made things easier for them.

The Lu family split into several groups and huddled around the fire for warmth. Upon learning that Princess Shunyu was also in the exile procession, in the carriage at the back, Lu Qing, who had dedicated his life to public service, finally couldn't hold back. His old face flushed with anger, and he spat out a curse.

"You dog emperor!"

Updated! Updated!
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(End of this chapter)