I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 222 Monkhood
[Host, did you kill the male protagonist of the original book?]

"Are you old and your eyesight is failing, or is it like an embryo that hasn't developed eyes yet?"

The system went berserk: [What? The male protagonist is dead? How can the story continue?]

"You only said the female lead wouldn't die, but you didn't say anything about the male lead," Tang Zhao said nonchalantly. "Besides, right now, I'm the leading lady!"

The system was shocked: Wow, that's awesome!

How many health points do I have now?

[Including contributions to preventing droughts and locust plagues, and promoting potato production to increase yields, totaling 800 life points], the system finished broadcasting before remembering to ask, "Why did you ask this?"

"Of course, it's time to deal with the original female lead. I've disliked her for a long time!"

System: There's no need to be so blunt.

When Tang Zhao and his entourage arrived at the Northwest garrison, King Xuan immediately ended his awkward conversation with the Duke of Wei and said, "Proclaim the imperial decree."

King Xuan led his people to kneel and receive his decree.

Tang Zhao knelt behind King Xuan and listened attentively. Stripping away the useless praise and commendation, the central message was: all the land conquered by the Northwest Army would be given to King Xuan as his fiefdom, his generals would be promoted according to their merits, and Gu Ci would be granted the title of Prince of Jiayu.

King Xuan accepted the imperial decree and expressed his gratitude, saying, "Today is a day of great joy, and the entire army rejoices!"

The soldiers shouted, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

At King Xuan's command, the logistics and cooking troops were busy at work, slaughtering pigs and sheep, roasting chickens and ducks, grinding tofu, and pouring spoonfuls of soybean oil into the pots as if it were free. The food was as oily as could be. In addition, Princess Zhaoshan generously donated over a thousand catties of braised food, and the entire army ate to their heart's content.

Inside the royal tent, King Xuan and the Duke of Wei were drinking and exchanging toasts, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Come, come, Your Highness, let's have another bowl!" Prince Xuan picked up the wine jar and poured a large bowl full of wine himself. "Speaking of which, since Zhaozhao married into the royal family, we in-laws have never drunk together. Today we must drink to our hearts' content!"

When this matter was brought up, the Duke of Wei felt guilty and had no choice but to drink. He tilted his head back and drank a large bowl of wine. Seeing that the Prince of Xuan was about to fill it again, the Duke of Wei quickly stopped him, "Your Highness, besides delivering the imperial edict, I have another matter to discuss with you in the Northwest."

King Xuan asked in confusion, "What is it?"

"The Turkic envoy seeks information about the whereabouts of the Eighth Prince of the Turks," the Duke of Wei sighed. "His Majesty, knowing that the Eighth Prince has gone missing in the northwest, has specially dispatched me here to search for him."

"Disappeared in the Northwest?" King Xuan feigned ignorance, asking Jiang Yiming, who was leisurely drinking and eating peanuts beside him, "Has the strategist heard of this?"

Jiang Yiming said slowly and deliberately, "Never."

"Is that so!" King Xuan slapped his thigh. "I have never heard of or seen the Eighth Prince. How could he have just disappeared in my northwest territory?"

The Duke of Wei ignored King Xuan's feigned ignorance, saying, "The Turkic envoy said that the commander of the army in the Battle of Mazong Mountain was none other than the Eighth Prince of the Turks!"

"So that's how it is!" King Xuan feigned sudden realization. "In the Battle of Mazong Mountain, all the Turkic soldiers were killed except for the one who fell off the cliff. Could that person have been the Eighth Prince of the Turks?"

"But I searched the cliffs and found no trace of him. I even sent people to post his portrait, but we still couldn't find him. Could it be that he has already returned to the Turks?"

“According to the Turkic envoy, the Eighth Prince has not returned to the Turkic Khaganate,” the Duke of Wei stared intently at Prince Xuan, not missing a single detail. “Your Highness, please consider this carefully. Finding the Eighth Prince of the Turks is extremely beneficial to our peace talks. Conversely, if something were to happen to the Eighth Prince, our peace talks would be at a disadvantage.” “Father, your words are unreasonable. Our Great Yu is a victorious nation. How could an unfavored prince from a defeated nation affect the peace talks?” Tang Zhaoli glared at the Duke of Wei. “Is it the Eighth Prince who is involved in the peace talks, or is it Father’s personal motives?”

The Duke of Wei was startled. "Nonsense! Is this how you speak to your father? Absolutely!"

“Hey, hey, Duke of Wei, don’t be angry,” King Xuan quickly intervened to defend Zhao Zhao. “Zhao Zhao braved wind, frost, rain and snow to deliver grain thousands of miles for the war. Duke of Wei should know better than anyone how difficult and arduous the journey was. Now that we have finally won the war, we are going to lose our advantage in the peace talks because of a prince from an enemy country. Naturally, Zhao Zhao is not happy.”

The Duke of Wei suppressed his anger and said, "I am not a good drinker, so I will take my leave now."

The other officials from the capital who had come with the Duke of Wei also took their leave.

"Please take your time, everyone." After only the Xuan family (including the three members of the Xuan family) and Jiang Yiming remained in the royal tent, the Xuan King asked, "Zhao Zhao, how is the Eighth Prince?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Zhao Zhao released the man, but unfortunately the Eighth Prince was unlucky. He encountered wolves and tigers on his way back to the Turks and died young."

King Xuan remained silent for a long time, then said, "Make it as clean as possible."

"Zhao Zhao understands."

The following day, the Duke of Wei, citing the imperial decree, ordered his men to search for the eighth prince of the Turks. The Northwest Army and the Duke of Wei's men searched almost every inch of land in the Northwest, and finally found an uneaten half-arm and a wolf-patterned stone carving symbolizing the identity of the Turkic prince in a cave in the Qilian Mountains.

The Duke of Wei, with a somber expression, ordered his men to properly collect the remains and belongings of the Eighth Prince of the Turks and personally escort them back to the capital.

Half a month later, Dolan, deep within the Turkic inner palace, learned of her son's death.

“Your Highness, if you feel uncomfortable, just cry it out,” the nanny advised tearfully. “Keeping it inside will make you sick.”

"I'm not sad, I just hate!" Consort Dolan crumpled the letter into a ball. "I hate Ashide, I hate the Northwest Army, I hate Tang Zhao, I hate everyone who killed my son!"

"I will torture them to death, one by one!"

"Your Highness!" The old woman felt a surge of fear as she looked at the distorted face of Consort Duolan.

"Go, fetch water. I need to bathe and change."

"Yes!" The nanny dared not ask any more questions and quickly fetched water to help Consort Duolan bathe and change her clothes.

Dressed in her finest attire, Consort Dolan transformed from her usual haggard and sorrowful appearance into her most radiant self. She personally carried the most renowned plum blossom wine and headed towards the new Khan, who was watching a play on the back flower terrace.

The guards stopped them, saying, "The Khan is enjoying a performance; no one else is allowed to disturb him!"

"I've heard that the Khan loves plum blossom wine the most. By chance, I obtained a pot of it and have come to present it to the Khan," Consort Dolan said, raising her chin slightly. The nanny quickly stuffed a gold ingot into the guard's hand. "Please inform him."

Out of respect for the gold, the guard's expression softened considerably. He left a message saying "Wait" and went inside to report. A moment later, he came out and said, "The Khan invites you in."

Dolan left her nanny behind and went into the stage alone. It is unknown what they said, but a moment later all the guards and maids were sent out.

The nanny waited all night, and the next morning, Consort Dolan finally came out of the stage. After returning to the palace and resting for three days, an imperial edict shocked the Turkic royal palace: Consort Dolan was ordered to become a nun to pray for the Khan's blessing.