Lu Xingyao’s hand was firmly gripped by Lu Xingyan, and he couldn’t break free. He was stunned; he hadn’t expected his seemingly frail third uncle to have such strength.

“Third Uncle, weren’t you not going to eat?”

Lu Xingyao pouted, casting a complaining look at Lu Xingyan: You don’t want to eat, but you can’t stop me from eating, can you? That just doesn’t make sense.

Lu Xingyan coughed lightly but didn’t say anything, his gaze fixed on the cup of instant noodles, trying to subtly hint to his nephew not to compete with the ancestor for food, even though the odds weren’t in his favor.

Lu Xingyao was completely confused. He followed his third uncle’s gaze to the cup of instant noodles, now almost empty, with just a few stray noodles left.

“???” His eyes widened in shock—what on earth just happened?

Gu Xingzhao had just finished the last few strands of noodles, feeling fully satisfied. When she looked up, she saw two faces: one filled with astonishment and the other composed, both staring at the now-empty cup of noodles.

Lu Xingyao finally realized what had happened, and his face flushed with excitement. There was no supernatural occurrence—it was his charming and powerful ancestor who had eaten the noodles!

It took him a moment to grasp the situation fully: he had personally made the noodles that his ancestor had just eaten. There was nothing more exhilarating than this!

Gu Xingzhao patted her stomach and then patted Lu Xingyao’s shoulder. “Good job, kid. You have a talent for making instant noodles.”

Though making instant noodles didn’t really require much skill.

Lu Xingyao kept a calm facade, but inside, he was overjoyed. “!!!”

He couldn’t hear Gu Xingzhao’s words, but he could feel the two pats on his shoulder. With his third uncle standing right in front of him, the only one who could have patted his shoulder was the ancestor.

He felt like crying; no one could possibly understand his emotions right now.

Meanwhile, Lu Xingyan couldn’t share in Lu Xingyao’s joy because his heartbeat was accelerating rapidly, and he was starting to struggle for breath.

He could no longer bear the discomfort and, using the bamboo basket for support, stood up with difficulty, trying to walk away. Lu Xingyao, snapping out of his excitement, noticed and asked, puzzled, “Third Uncle, where are you going?”

Lu Xingyao frantically signaled with his eyes: The ancestor is still here! Staying a bit longer might just allow you to absorb some divine energy—it could do wonders for your health!

Suppressing his discomfort, Lu Xingyan gently replied, “It’s windy here. I’m going back to the tent.”

With that, he quickly walked away.

Lu Xingyao shook his head in dismay. His third uncle was really missing out; the ancestor was right here, yet he chose to leave so quickly.

Gu Xingzhao watched Lu Xingyan walk away, noticing how he seemed to be fleeing from some terrifying beast.

She was acutely aware that she was probably that terrifying beast.

Just then, her system dashboard popped up an alert indicating that her ward’s health was deteriorating. This made Gu Xingzhao realize that the previous cleansing elixir had been ineffective—and she had spent 199 of her hard-earned contribution points on it!

It pained her. If she had known, she would have just taken a loan to buy the cleansing pill. Who would have thought that what she lacked now wasn’t money but those darned contribution points?

Gu Xingzhao even wanted to smack herself. How could she have thought the contribution points were useless? This was the consequence of not reading the manual carefully—how annoying!

She did some quick calculations: after buying the car, she still had forty thousand yuan left, which was enough to buy the cleansing pill she couldn’t afford last time.

Looking at the familiar number on the system panel, she couldn’t help but sigh. Money really did make things easier. The divine medicine she once didn’t dare to consider was now just a simple purchase away.

Nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine yuan? Bah, Gu Xingzhao didn’t even bat an eye.

But, would the cleansing pill really improve Lu Xingyan’s constitution?

She noticed that the system’s description of the cleansing pill was vague; its primary function seemed to be reshaping the meridians of martial artists. Asking the system only resulted in the same brief description, which wasn’t very helpful. She had no choice but to take a gamble.

Gu Xingzhao immediately exchanged her points for the cleansing pill. Worried that her presence might worsen Lu Xingyan’s condition, she decided to find Lu Qing instead.

At this moment, Lu Qing was standing beside his granddaughter, watching her struggle to practice her calligraphy.

His granddaughter was sitting properly, with a serious expression, gripping the brush with determination. But the characters she wrote were honestly quite terrible—it was clear she hadn’t practiced much while at the mansion.

He remembered that his eldest grandson, Xingyao, could write beautifully by the time he was ten.

But his granddaughter was different from his grandson, and seeing how earnest she was now, Lu Qing couldn’t bring himself to criticize her.

Princess Shunyu was engrossed in reading, using the reading device given to her by Gu Xingzhao. She found the gadget fascinating—words that glowed on a small screen, and so many different books that could be accessed with just a touch of a finger.

It worked like a book, yet it wasn’t a book. It was just a small device, barely bigger than her palm, and incredibly light.

As a princess, born and raised in the palace, Shunyu had seen countless rare and precious items and considered herself quite knowledgeable. But a divine tool like this…she was encountering it for the first time.

She realized that only a divine being could possess such an artifact. Given their current circumstances, being able to witness such a divine object left her uncertain whether to sigh in despair or rejoice.

In her childhood, she would always rush to her father when she received something rare. After her father passed, she would go to that person, and later, only Cai He would speak with her.

Thinking about this, Shunyu couldn’t help but recall the night of the assassination attempt and Cai He’s tragic death. She gripped the device tightly, forcing herself to focus on the text to distract her mind. When she came across something she didn’t understand, she would ask Lu Qing, who patiently explained.

When Gu Xingzhao approached, she stood beside Lu Qing for a while, observing. She noticed that Lu Youtang’s posture was very proper—definitely “professional.” But when she got closer and saw the messy characters on the page, the words of praise stuck in her throat. Well, it was normal for a beginner.

“Lu Qing, it’s been cold recently, and I suspect that Lu Xingyan’s health is declining. I’ve found a new medicine for him. When you have the chance, make sure he takes it.”

Lu Qing froze in his tracks. Was his youngest son unwell?

Instinctively, he turned to look for his son, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Gu Xingzhao added, “He said it was windy and went back to the tent.”

Lu Qing felt a pang of guilt. Recently, he had been so preoccupied with other matters that he hadn’t paid attention to his youngest son’s health—something even the ancestor had noticed.

“Thank you, ancestor,” Lu Qing said gratefully.

Gu Xingzhao handed him the medicine, cautioning him again, “This medicine is precious. Make sure he takes it.”

She wanted to emphasize that this tiny pill cost nearly two hundred thousand yuan, and even if it fell on the ground, it should be picked up and swallowed.

Knowing that a medicine described as “precious” by the ancestor must be extraordinarily valuable, Lu Qing dared not delay. He immediately instructed his granddaughter to keep practicing while he hurried off to find his son, carefully guarding the medicine.

Gu Xingzhao stayed behind to check on Princess Shunyu, who was now intently reading a different book, her focus unwavering.

Curious, Gu Xingzhao leaned in to see the title and nearly choked on her own saliva. Wu Zetian???