Here's a reverse theory. How about him actually being the one responsible for giving the blueprints of the plans to the Tsaritsa instead of just riding along with it? He is older, thus, might have the details already in his head for a while now. He is unaffected by Irminsul, but who knows what else he has access to in there that we do not know about: such secrets perhaps as well?
And lastly, the reason why he chose to give it to her is he just 1.) needs someone else to complete the plans because he is doubtful himself of its success, or he's tried to but the experiment called for something else he could not give; 2.) he didn't want to try it in Liyue until it was certainly tested, and wouldn't it be nice if, say, another nation was going to do that for him? 3.) he wanted a scapegoat if things ever go south; the Contract to End All Contracts being such a convenient excuse to shift blame - "I had a contract with her" seems to fly as a well-accepted excuse for him in many instances.
Sadly, the Fatuus nation is already seemingly being used by everyone else. They had incurred the most loss of manpower for things related to this cause (Capitano, Signora, their helpless men abandoned or forgotten in corners of Teyvat), and there's a theory afloat that Ajax, or Childe, might be next on that sacrificial block that is reserved for the Harbingers (why he's being kept closer to home unlike Arle and the others who are roaming elsewhere).
Zhongli is brilliant at many things. Having such an intricate plan woven for years to achieve such a goal would not be past him. And to think that the terms of this contract Morax had with the Cryo Archon would be as simple as just her making sure that she succeeds?
Think about it...when exchanging for a priceless piece he himself made, all Yun Jin needed to do was write him an opera, something doable and Yun Jin herself considers waaaayyy below the price of that masterpiece he owns. And isn't it also a habit of his to have others pay for what he wants? And these prices are often steep, even Hu Tao acknowledges the level of ridiculousness of it, yet is fine with it to a degree.
The fact he always gets away with it is also a seeming feature of his schemes. Surely, even in this scenario, that will apply.
(Zhongli main btw. 😅 Been following his complicated lore for years. And I think his role in this might not be as cut and dry simple as some people say it is.)

Guizhong is my favourite Character from before the games events, I'd love for her to return

it’s actually really interesting that among the old archons, it’s Zhongli — the god of contracts who’s supposed to respect and follow rules — who’s cooperating with Tsaritsa, but not Venti, the god of freedom.
Venti seems to have some kind of conflict with her. He said she cut off all ties with him 500 years ago, even though they used to be friends before

Zhongli is always sus too ! No one is so suspicious as him ! His face is always hiddenin flashbacks

After watching this, i have another take on this topic. What if, like the name implies, Memory of Dust is actually a catalyst that triggerss the Irminsul (the memory hivemind) to somehow conjure up or make something like a vessel for Guizong, based on the memories about her that are stored in the Irminsul, but the catch is, once the vessel or body is made, it will have no memory of Guizong, as if it uses up all the memory to create the body and that the body is a new entity or being. Maybe it's not that Zhong Li didn't know how to open the thing, but the knowledge of how to open it was extracted out of him by Guizhong herself, but maybe Tsaritsa knew about this and persuaded Zhong Li by telling him that she might know of a way to unlock the dumbbell. Or maybe, Tsaritsa knows of a way to bypass the system to revive Guizhong with all her memories intact.

I really hope Zhongli's not enabling the Tsaritsa's plan to overthrow Celestia just so that he can make out with Guizhong again, like come on he's better than that. Besides "reviving one's lost loved one from death" plots rarely end up having the most favorable results to the reviver or revived one or even both.

More Guizhing lore content? I’m in 🤤

I have a bad feeling our Ice nation will be Khaenri'ah 2.0 and make the Traveler make a choice similar to their twin. Maybe a different choice where we can prevent another calamity due to the Tsaritsa making HP mega mad.

I miss my wife Traveler, I miss her a lot

It's interesting that we have another version of Saarelainen's story in the lunar wings. That one seems to focus more on the tsar.

iv been thinking the same thing for years now

Zhongli is collecting his harens back i gues

I love this theory sm. I hope it comes true.

Consider that after the main quest, Zhongli usually mentions everyone except Gui directly (only written records or objects tell what he would have said). He must really miss that little voice that liked to be mischievous.

One of the reasons that you can't revive characters and have made it clear not only in GI but also in other worlds is that souls enter a cycle of death and rebirth.

This makes it impossible to revive someone who is already alive but reborn in another person.

But following what was stated in GI, it would not be uncommon for Gingzhon to have already been reborn, But have the destiny of dying young is where the Zhongli traveler enters and the memories kept in the catalyst of the padlock,  We would change that destiny avoided a premature death, returning that memories of the past and above all, she heading to be the new archon Geo since she would be someone who did not give up not even before the same death, Persevering as the Geo indicates, I'm still Zhognli must look for his replacement and there is still no ideal candidate.

For awhile, I've had a theory that Zhongli's name is a mix of Guizhong and whatever he was calling himself during the Guili assembly. He wants his final name to be a nod to the person he cared the most about.

I will say, whenever I started the game last year, I was really interested in her after exploring that area. I wondered when I would get more info. The Liyue Archon quests came and went, and nothing. Both of Zhongli's story quests, and not a peep about her. (still a great time) Then I was finally disappointed to learn that her lore was tucked behind old content that I missed.

I don't think so, we literally saw a cutscene 5 years ago about him throwing the rest of Havria (God of Salt) into the river, the Yaskhas works really hard on retain Guizhong curse away of Liyue and they succeed, so... yeah.

Hi Goatliffy, I hope you're doing fine.  I was wondering if you noticed how many ZZZ EPs are getting copyrighted. Not by Hoyo but other companies representing cover singers and talents.

If you were to do a reaction video (with another account) you'd be fighting with unknown people over claims.

I know you are really good picking these topics. See if it's worth the effort. Thank you.

"I miss my wife, Traveler. I miss her a lot"
-Zhongli

It's hard to not consider guizhong to have reincarnated already in teyvat especially as ninguang since most of the playable characters in genshin are reincarnated gods without their past memories, like barbara being the reincarnation of god of salt due to her circumstances being similar and her constellation is literally the same as the god of salt treasure, alhaitham and the sumeru cast are reincarnations of previous gods and their followers, nahida is basically rukedevata clone but without her memories, i noticed that playable characters goes into 2 categories
One : descendants of previous known strong entities and are just new people to the world
Two : reincarnation of past god who perished and got lucky to be absorbed and purified by the ley lines (not all gods were able to make it some perished in places or in ways that ley lines can't reach or absorb)