I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 343 Returning to Modern Times
Gu Ci's mind went blank, and his eyes were filled with confusion.

Tang Zhao turned her head away and began to slowly tell him. From the unexpected banquet, to the wedding to bring good luck to the world, to reclaiming her birth mother's dowry and beating the drum to appeal, and then to going to the Northwest to revitalize the Protectorate General's Mansion and Wuwei City, she completed her mission step by step until she got the chance to return to her original time.

"The day when the nine stars align will be the day I return home."

Gu Ci lowered his eyes, clenched his fists, and desperately suppressed his desire to keep Tang Zhao. "When will the nine stars align?"

"tomorrow."

Gu Ci was horrified, his blood surged, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Gu Ci!" Tang Zhao reached out to help him catch his breath.

"It's alright, don't get your hands dirty," Gu Ci dodged Tang Zhao's hand and hastily wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve.

Tang Zhaoxin felt a sharp pain in her heart. "I'm sorry."

“Zhao Zhao, you don’t need to apologize. You’ve never wronged me,” Gu Ci said, her eyes stinging. “It’s my fault. I couldn’t hold onto the fate that God had given us.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Ci stood up, supporting himself on the bed railing, and said as he walked out, "You should rest early, as you need to go to the palace early tomorrow."

"Gu Ci!"

Gu Ci stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around, waiting quietly.

"After I leave, I ask you to protect the entire Protectorate General's Mansion."

"Okay," Gu Ci waited for a while, but Tang Zhao didn't speak again. He opened the door and strode out.

Tang Zhao slumped onto the bed, leaning against the bed railing, looking up at the intricately carved ceiling, but his eyes were empty and lifeless.

Gu Ci stood under the sycamore tree outside the Biyuan Courtyard, surrounded by fallen leaves, the moonlight shining on him, which added to his loneliness.

Time passes quietly.

"Girl, girl!"

Tang Zhao snapped out of her daze and saw Chunfeng looking at her with concern. "Why does Miss look so pale? Are you sick?" she asked, reaching out to touch Tang Zhao's forehead to check her temperature.

Tang Zhao brushed her hand away. "No, I was just lost in thought and didn't sleep all night."

"Young lady, you don't take good care of your health at all," Qiu Yu said, bringing in water. "Nothing is more important than your health, young lady. You still have to go to the palace for a banquet today!"

Chunfeng noticed Tang Zhao's pale face and asked, "Should I ask the young master to help the young lady ask the palace for leave?"

"No need," Tang Zhao shook his head. "I have business to attend to in the palace."

Spring Breeze and Autumn Rain couldn't dissuade Tang Zhao, so they could only carefully help him wash up and change his clothes, and coax him to eat breakfast.

"Miss, the young master stood outside the courtyard all night last night," Chunfeng whispered in her ear as they got into the carriage. "Did the young master upset you?"

Tang Zhao lifted the carriage curtain and peeked slightly at the upright figure on horseback in front of him.

"It is my fault."

It wasn't that Gu Ci upset her; it was that she hurt Gu Ci.

Chunfeng advised, "Although I don't understand love, I can see that the young master cherishes you very much. No matter what you have done wrong, as long as you apologize to the young master, he will definitely forgive you."

Qiu Yu, protective of her son, said, "The son-in-law is really something. How can a grown man be more petty than a woman?"

Even if the girl does something wrong, can't the son-in-law just pretend it never happened? Why be so petty?

The girl felt so guilty that she couldn't sleep all night and was completely listless.

The carriage traveled smoothly through the streets of Luoyang and stopped at the gate separating the outer court from the inner palace after entering the palace gate.

Gu Ci dismounted and walked to the carriage, raising his arm.

Tang Zhao habitually placed his hand on it, only realizing it after getting off the carriage, and felt a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, Wang Dajian, the chief eunuch of Fengyi Palace who had been waiting in front of Shenwu Gate, ran forward to help them out, saying, "This old servant greets Your Highness and Princess."

"You may dispense with the formalities, Grand Eunuch Wang."

"Thank you, Your Highness and Princess," Wang Dajian said with a smile as he stood up. "Her Majesty the Empress has asked me to convey her message to Your Highness and Princess: Her Majesty the Empress is tired from handling the affairs of the six palaces and will take a nap before getting up. The flowers in the Imperial Garden are in full bloom, so please come to the Imperial Garden to enjoy them."

In the Imperial Garden, the priceless black lotus could only be planted on the outermost side, while in the very center, the Yao Huang peony, the Empress's favorite flower, was planted.

Tang Zhao stared intently at the peony, as if it could transform into a female demon and devour them at any moment. Gu Ci sighed silently, "I'm going to the Imperial Study to pay my respects to Father Emperor."

Tang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, he gradually felt a sense of loss and loneliness.

"Amitabha!"

Tang Zhao turned around, "Why does the master always appear and disappear so mysteriously?"

Instead of answering, the Imperial Preceptor asked, "Why are you being hypocritical, benefactor?"

"I asked the Imperial Advisor first."

"Amitabha Buddha, if this humble monk answers your question, will you answer it in return?"

Tang Zhao shook his head decisively, "No."

"Therefore, this humble monk will not answer your question."

Why are you, a monk, so petty?

Tang Zhao was exhausted. "What does the master want with me?"

The Imperial Advisor said calmly, "Does the benefactor not wish to leave?"

I want to, but, "Isn't the alignment of the nine stars at night? It's not even noon yet!"

“Amitabha, this humble monk never said that the alignment of the nine stars would occur at night.”

Tang Zhao:. . . . . .

When was that?

"Noon, 3:45."

Tang Zhao:. . . . . .

It felt like I wasn't going home, but going to the execution ground.

“If you have already made up your mind, then come with me. Otherwise, once the time is up, there will be no more opportunities.”

The Imperial Advisor then turned and drifted away.

Tang Zhao glanced one last time in the direction of the Imperial Study, then turned and chased after the Imperial Preceptor in the direction he had left.

On the palace road, Gu Ci suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, so intense that he almost couldn't stand up.

"Your Highness!" Eunuch Wang quickly reached out to support him. "Summon the imperial physician immediately!"

The little eunuch turned and ran.

Gu Ci sat on the steps for a long time before the pain in his chest gradually subsided.

"Your Highness!" A palace maid from Fengyi Palace ran in panic. "Princess Zhaoshan went to the Temple of Protector of the Nation with the Imperial Preceptor. We dare not go in!"

Gu Ci suddenly got up and stumbled as he ran towards the Huguo Temple.

"Your Highness!" While sending someone to inform the Emperor and Empress, Wang Dajian personally led his men to catch up with them.

Inside the Temple of Protector of the Nation, Tang Zhao lay on the altar, letting the Imperial Preceptor apply cinnabar to his forehead. "Are you ready, benefactor?"

Tang Zhao nodded and slowly closed his eyes.

"Amitabha," the National Preceptor murmured, holding a string of prayer beads in his hand, sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat.

At first, Tang Zhao felt that the sound of the sutra was as low as a mosquito's buzz, but gradually it became as loud as a bell, and each verse was like a heavy iron axe striking Tang Zhao's mind.

Gradually, Tang Zhao felt his whole body become lighter.

"Tang Zhao!"

Tang Zhao suddenly opened her eyes and turned around. Even though there was a palace between them, she could see Gu Ci being stopped by the martial monks outside the temple, looking heartbroken.

Goodbye, Gu Ci.

A tear slid down the corner of her eye.

In a high-end ward in Shanghai, a nurse standing by the bedside pressed the call button and rushed out of the room shouting, "Doctor! The patient is crying!"