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

Chapter 7 The desolate wilderness...is it haunted?

As he knelt on the ground, Lu Qing thought that once things improved, he would lead the entire Lu family to repair the ancestral hall and worship their ancestors for generations to repay this kindness.

Seeing him kneeling with injuries all over his body, Gu Xingzhao quickly went to help him up, saying, "We're all family, it's only right that I take care of you. There's no need for you to kneel like that."

[Collected gratitude from Lu Qing, a member of the Lu clan; Offering Value +20!]

Gu Xingzhao really didn't expect that just some food would make the old man kneel down. If he keeps kneeling like this, will he shorten his lifespan?

"Go and call someone to get some food. The child is better and still growing, so he can't go hungry."

Lu Qing immediately summoned Lu Xingyao, and this time Lu Xingyan also came along. Both of them were stunned when they saw the item.

Lu Xingyao was stunned. His grandfather was incredibly capable!

Looking at the two people in front of him, Gu Xingzhao thought of the twenty-six members of the Lu family and instructed Lu Qing, "Remember to have them divide it quietly and not make a fuss about it."

The moment the voice rang out, Lu Xingyan's hand holding the item tightened suddenly. Who... was speaking?

Lu Qing naturally knew that people were treacherous, especially in such a harsh environment, but sometimes oversights were inevitable.

Upon hearing Gu Xingzhao's words, he immediately instructed his grandson and son, who were holding food, "Be careful when sharing food, eat quietly away from crowds, and don't make a fuss."

Lu Xingyao understood the implications, and said, "Grandson understands."

Lu Xingyan was shocked, his pupils contracted. There was indeed someone speaking; it wasn't his imagination. Moreover, that person was probably still talking to his father...

The desolate wilderness...is it haunted?

The two men hid the items and walked back, distributing them to more than twenty people one by one, repeating the instructions more than twenty times.

Looking at the unfamiliar food in his hand, Lu Zhou pulled his son aside and asked, "Where did this come from?"

"My son doesn't know either. They were all given by his grandfather. Perhaps some noble person arranged for them to be given to him."

Lu Zhou looked at him suspiciously, "A distinguished person?"

If the Lu family had such a capable benefactor, how could they have ended up in exile? The food they were given was truly strange.

Lu Xingyao couldn't explain it either, since he hadn't seen any important person, not even a shadow of them. It was all just his guess. He carried the things and hurried to deliver them to other people.

Lu Youtang was young and loved sweets. When she saw the Snickers bar, her eyes lit up. She proudly held it up to Xu Shi and exclaimed, "Mommy, it's delicious!"

Looking at her daughter, Madam Xu had already made up her mind. With tears in her eyes, she reached out and hugged her daughter.

We are all parents, and we can all understand the reluctance and suffering in our parents' hearts.

She felt sorry for her daughter, who was so young and had to suffer so much, so she gave her daughter her share of the food.

Lu Yang ate a piece, and seeing that his wife had given her portion to their daughter, he stuffed his own portion into his wife's hand.

Knowing he didn't like her, he didn't touch her hand, afraid she would reject him. He turned to his brother and said, "This stuff tastes better than coarse cakes. It looks novel; I've never seen it before."

Madam Song was surprised. Second Master loved to eat. When he was young, he traveled all over the country and tried all kinds of new things. There was actually something he hadn't tried before.

Lu Zhou wondered if there really was someone in the court helping the Lu family.
Seeing her husband's furrowed brow, Madam Song smiled and said, "Could it really be that the ancestors of the Lu family have appeared and brought us food?"

Lu Xingyan, standing to the side, keenly grasped the key point: "An ancestor manifesting?"

Lu Yang interrupted him, saying, "Third brother, you weren't here just now. To appease You Tang, Father said that our Lu family's ancestors had appeared to him, and he's been sending him food, drink, and medicine from the prison!"

It was truly unbelievable that their father, a man who had never believed in ghosts or spirits and was always so serious and upright, would say such things just to appease You Tang. Lu Zhou's expression was displeased. "Second brother, Father escaped death. Don't talk nonsense."

Lu Yang didn't say anything more, but just winked at his younger brother.

Lu Xingyan pursed his thin lips and pondered for a long time. Was that voice actually from his ancestor?

...

[Collected gratitude from Lu Xingyan, a member of the Lu clan; Offering Value +10!]

Gu Xingzhao was about to leave when the message popped up in front of her, and she was stunned for a while. It was the first time she had received offerings from someone other than Lu Qing.

"System, how can I obtain their offerings without their knowledge?"

The system immediately explained: "Host, Lu Xingyan has likely already sensed your presence."

Gu Xingzhao was surprised. She remembered Lu Xingyan, but he hadn't appeared on TV much in the past two years, so she didn't have much of an impression of him. She just remembered that he was the son of the old man when he was nearly fifty, and that his colleagues had teased him about it back then.

Curiosity welled up in her heart, and she strolled toward where the others were resting. Lu Xingyan, with his pale face and sickly appearance, was actually quite eye-catching.

Gu Xingzhao stood in front of him and saw that he was asleep with his eyes closed. He simply squatted down to observe him up close and found that he was actually the one who looked most like Lu Qing among the three sons.

His refined and gentle appearance was made to look frail and delicate by his illness.

"He was actually suffering from a serious illness..."

The voice rang out again, as if right beside his ear. Lu Xingyan immediately felt a little nervous. His ancestor had arrived. Just as he was about to open his eyes, he noticed a faint fragrance wafting towards him.

It turned out that Gu Xingzhao had noticed that Lu Xingyan had a mole under his eye, covered by long eyelashes. She leaned closer to look and wondered if Lu Xingyan was having a nightmare, as his eyelashes were trembling incessantly.

What a beautiful but pitiful little thing, this child is so endearing.

Lu Xingyan, who was just pretending to sleep with his eyes closed, didn't dare to open them. This ancestor seemed to be too close. He vaguely felt the "pressure" from the ancestor, which made it hard for him to breathe.

Just then, several officials rushed to the carriages at the back, causing a commotion. They returned shortly after, their faces grim, and some even swore, "Do they really think they're still some precious princess? Don't they realize they've been exiled..."

"Never mind her, it's none of our business if she starves to death anyway."

"You really don't care?"

"His Majesty has already been crippled, what's there to be afraid of?"

Not far away, Lu Qing was talking to the palace maid next to the little princess. After a while, the palace maid left.

Gu Xingzhao got up and walked towards Lu Qing.

Realizing that his ancestors had gone far away, Lu Xingyan felt a great sense of relief.

Gu Xingzhao approached and learned that Princess Shunyu had been traveling all day and couldn't eat the coarse bread and drink the cold water. She had even vomited earlier and wanted some hot food. The officials thought she was too delicate and were unwilling to serve her, so they grumbled and complained.

The young palace maid had no choice but to seek help from Lu Qing, probably because she felt that the princess's demotion and exile were due to Lu Qing's involvement.

It's normal that she couldn't eat the coarse bread. After all, before today, she was a precious princess in the palace, with the best of everything. The contrast is just too great now.

There's a reason why Lu Xingyan and Lu Xingyao both have the character "Xing" in their names.

Lu Xingyan nearly died at birth. Lu Qing listened to the words of a wise man, who said that he should have only had two sons in his destiny. However, due to some changes, Lu Xingyan should not have been born. Although Lu Qing was not superstitious, he still recorded Lu Xingyan as a grandson because his son was constantly ill, in order to prolong Lu Xingyan's life.

This will be explained in later episodes (and why Lu Xingyan could hear the female lead's voice even when they weren't bound together is related to his background). Since everyone's been talking about the name, I'll explain it here first.
As for the "行" in the female lead's name, it's just a coincidence.