I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 175 Golden Butterfly Poison
Wu Yi and his companion quickly returned. "The young lady's swordsmanship is superb. She pierced through the heart with a single sword. When we pulled Old Master An out of the river, he was already dead."

"You've had a long journey," Tang Zhao said, closing the car window. "Let's keep going."

"Yes!"

This time, Doctor Zhong did not share a carriage with Tang Zhao. He needed some time alone to calm down and carefully consider why the Song family, known for its loyalty and virtue for generations, would produce such a cunning and treacherous descendant as Tang Zhao.

Ten days later, Tang Zhao and his party arrived in Wuzhong Prefecture. Seeing that it was already late, they found an inn to stay at.

After dinner, Gu Ci arranged for the people on night watch and went upstairs to return to his guest room, where he happened to run into Dr. Zhong, who was coming downstairs.

"Dr. Zhong, are you going out?"

"Hmm," Dr. Zhong straightened his clothes. "I'm getting old and can't sleep. I'll go for a walk and see if I can find any rare medicinal herbs."

Gu Ci suggested, "It's inconvenient for the old gentleman to go out alone, why not have Chao Yi accompany him?"

"Thank you for your kindness, General," said Dr. Zhong, declining the offer. "I always travel alone and am not used to having someone accompany me."

“Then I will not insist,” Gu Ci said, stepping aside. “Please take care.”

Dr. Zhong gracefully left the inn.

Gu Ci returned to his room and found the lights were off. He instinctively tiptoed and walked to the bedside by the moonlight. He picked up the woman who was sleeping soundly on the floor and placed her on the bed, carefully tucking her in.

After hesitating for a moment, Gu Ci went downstairs and asked the waiter for two quilts to make a makeshift bed on the floor.

As the wound on his chest gradually healed and the pain slowly subsided, the fatigue and exhaustion from days of travel overwhelmed him, and Gu Ci unconsciously closed his eyes and fell asleep, faintly smelling the fragrance of the epiphyllum flower at the tip of his nose.

Epiphyllum? It's already November, where can you find an epiphyllum?

Gu Ci was suddenly awakened and saw a dark figure carrying Tang Zhao leaping out of the window.

"Guards! There's an assassin!" Gu Ci shouted as he jumped out of the second-floor window without hesitation, following closely behind the dark figure.

The dark figure weaved through the city's alleyways, trying to shake off Gu Ci, who was relentlessly pursuing him, but was nearly caught several times. In a fit of anger, he ran out of the city.

Ignoring the renewed pain in his chest wound, Gu Ci used his light-footed skill to step over the tree branches and leaves, and in a few somersaults, he overtook the dark figure. His eyes were bloodshot as he reached out his hand, shouting, "Give the person back to me!"

"That depends on whether you have the ability," the dark figure said, using its hand as a claw to rip straight at Gu Ci's heart.

Gu Ci dodged to the side, then slashed the shadowy figure with his right fist, transforming it into a palm strike.

The shadowy figure chuckled and turned to reveal Tang Zhao, who was hoisted onto his shoulder.

Gu Ci quickly withdrew his palm strike.

As if he had obtained a royal sword, the shadowy figure used Tang Zhao as a scapegoat in their subsequent encounters, whenever Gu Ci was about to deliver a fatal blow.

Tang Zhao, who had been tossed around by the dark figure, finally woke up from his unconscious state and punched the figure with his limp, noodle-like arms, saying, "You're poking my stomach!"

The shadowy figure ignored them.

"Don't sway so much, it's making me dizzy," Tang Zhao warned. "If you keep doing that, I'll..."

Before he could finish speaking, Tang Zhao vomited all over the dark figure.

"Aaaaaah!" The shadowy figure screamed in despair and threw Tang Zhao away.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Tang Zhao scream uncontrollably, followed by a series of exaggerated, grating sounds.

Gu Cifei caught Tang Zhao and looked her up and down anxiously, "Are you alright?"

"Something's wrong," Tang Zhao said, breaking free from Gu Ci and getting down from the ground. Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, he leaned against a tree trunk and vomited violently.

The nausea in her chest subsided considerably, and Tang Zhao collapsed weakly into Gu Ci's arms. Gu Ci carefully wiped the filth from Tang Zhao's mouth with a handkerchief. "You have an adverse reaction to the drug."

"Drug? What drug?" Tang Zhao asked, still dazed. "I was poked in the stomach by that thief's fishbone-like shoulder."

Gu Ci glanced at the furious, jumping figure beside him, picked up Tang Zhao, and left.

"Stop!" The dark figure angrily blocked Gu Ci's path. "Pay up!"

"Put me down," Tang Zhao said weakly, but his domineering aura remained undiminished. "Go and kill him!"

They kidnapped her and dared to ask her for money?! Is there no justice in this world?!

Gu Ci looked up at the shadowy figure, who shrank back under her gaze and started shouting again, "I don't care, do you know how much this outfit cost? Do you know how long it took me to get this look done?"

"Your vomiting has ruined everything, you have to compensate me!"

Tang Zhao wished she could draw her sword and kill the old man herself, but perhaps because she was too dizzy, she felt as if she had heard the old man's voice somewhere before.

Ugh, what bad luck.

Seeing that Tang Zhao was in great pain, Gu Ci did not want to get entangled with the shadowy figure, so he turned around and returned to the city.

Suddenly, Gu Ci felt a sharp pain in his heart and knelt down on one knee with a thud.

"Kid, how's it going? Not a pleasant experience with the Thousand Machine Poison, is it?"

The shadowy figure, no longer behaving like a rogue, laughed sinisterly, "I have already sprinkled Golden Butterfly Gu Powder on my body. Once the Golden Butterfly Gu poison comes into contact with the powder, it will inevitably take effect within half a cup of tea. Just wait to die in excruciating pain."

Damn it, the old man's voice sounded even more familiar when he got sinister, but Tang Zhao didn't have time to think about it. He sat on the ground, holding Gu Ci's convulsing body and calling his name repeatedly.

"Gu Ci, Gu Ci," Tang Zhao wiped the cold sweat from Gu Ci's forehead with her sleeve, "Gu Ci, pull yourself together."

Tang Zhao glared at the old man, "What exactly do you want?"

"I've never had any children in my life, and I feel lonely around them," the old man said as he walked over, giving Tang Zhao a sly once-over. "If you're willing to give me..."

"Dream on!" Gu Ci interrupted the old man's daydreaming.

Tang Zhao also felt disgusted. She was about to feign politeness with the old man when she suddenly noticed the chin hidden under his messy braids.

In a flash, Tang Zhao realized that he and Gu Ci had been tricked. He was about to burst into a tirade of curses when the old man flicked his finger, freezing Tang Zhao in place.

Damn it! Another pressure point attack! You old geezer, I hope you get impotence soon!

The brat cursed him in her heart again, and the old man, unable to contain his anger, reached out to grab her.

Gu Ci slapped the old man's dirty hand away, "Don't touch her!"

The old man chuckled sinisterly, "How do you know she won't agree to my conditions? What if she loves you so much that she's willing to sacrifice herself?"

Gu Ci looked up at Tang Zhao and said, word by word, "Tang Zhao, remember this: our marriage was arranged by His Majesty. We had never met before our marriage, and we have been separated for most of the time since. I have no feelings for you, and you have no feelings for me either."

“We’ll keep to ourselves. I don’t need you to sacrifice for me, much less demean yourself for me. Don’t agree to him, do you understand?”

Tang Zhao looked back at Gu Ci speechlessly. Did you think this was an idol drama?

"Speak," Gu Ci said, gripping Tang Zhao's wrist tightly.

Tang Zhao rolled her eyes. "I'd like to say something!"

The old man was stunned, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two. He flicked a pebble to release Tang Zhao's pressure points, "Girl, you two have nothing going on?"

(End of this chapter)