A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

He contacted Chu Suiliang, Lai Ji, and others who also belonged to the Guanlong Group, and together they divided the power that belonged to the prime minister. The appointment and removal of court officials and the decision-making of important political affairs all required Changsun Wuji's approval.

To eliminate potential threats, he used various pretexts to suppress and exile princes of the royal family and meritorious officials of different surnames, weakening any forces that might take away power.

At the same time, they joined forces with Empress Wang, who came from the Wang family of Taiyuan, to curb Consort Xiao, who had a background in a prominent family in the Central Plains.

In his early years, Li Zhi was essentially a "puppet," completely suppressed by Changsun Wuji using his three identities as uncle, trusted minister, and Grand Commandant, making it almost impossible for him to make independent decisions.

Li Zhi was extremely dissatisfied that he had to consult with Changsun Wuji when encountering problems.

At this point, Li Zhi actually had another card to play, and it was a royal flush.

Once this card is played, Changsun Wuji will have no choice but to surrender and relinquish all his power.

This trump card was the Wei family, Li Zhi's senior brother, and the contemporary Prince of Yan, Wei Ye.

However, emperors throughout history have tacitly agreed not to use this trump card unless absolutely necessary.

Court infighting has its own rules, and they generally operate within those rules.

By relying on the power of the Wei family, we are using forces outside the rules; it is an underhanded tactic that will provoke resistance from all factions.

In addition, emperors throughout history were somewhat wary of the Wei family and did not want them to expand their prestige and power further.

No matter how arrogant and domineering a powerful minister may be, or how much power he wields over the court, he is insignificant compared to the strength and prestige of the Wei family.

Li Zhi has only recently ascended the throne, and his power base is unstable. Compared to the Guanlong Group, which has been established for many years, Li Zhi has no choice but to lie low, endure in secret, and accumulate strength in the shadows.

The veteran officials of Li Shimin's reign were still active in the court. Although Changsun Wuji had more power and prestige than them, he did not dare to go too far and always gave Li Zhi face. The conflict between the two was hidden in the shadows and not made public.

In the imperial harem, as Li Zhi's favor increased, Wu Zetian's power gradually grew stronger.

However, Empress Wang felt that Wu Zetian came from a humble background and was only a concubine of Emperor Taizong. She had no official title and no power base in the outer court. Even with Li Zhi's favor, she posed no threat to Wu Zetian.

On the contrary, because of Wu Zetian's presence, Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) favored her nemesis, Consort Xiao, less, which led Empress Wang to tacitly approve of Wu Zetian's rise to power.

As Wu Zetian's power grew, some people in the harem began to side with her, but Empress Wang still didn't care.

It wasn't until the third year of the Yonghui era that Wu Meiniang was promoted to Zhaoyi, the head of the Nine Concubines, who had her own palace and officials, officially breaking away from the Empress's control and rising in status.

Although he had no foundation in the outer court, he had a title and status in the inner palace, thus establishing a foothold there.

After becoming a Zhaoyi, Wu Meiniang no longer tried to please the Empress. She acted independently, secretly winning over palace servants, collecting intelligence about the harem, cultivating her own people, and building her own power.

Empress Wang and Consort Xiao finally felt threatened by Wu Zetian. That year, Emperor Gaozong hardly favored her, which was an extremely dangerous sign in the harem.

The two then realized that their greatest rival was not each other, but Wu Zetian, the former emperor's concubine whom they had underestimated.

Realizing this, the two quickly reconciled. Under the threat of falling out of favor, their past hatreds no longer mattered, and they began to work together to curb Wu Zetian's growing power.

In the fifth year of the Yonghui era, Empress Wang finally realized what kind of opponent she had found for herself, and also began to realize that Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) had been behind her welcoming Wu Zetian into the palace.

In the fifth year of the Yonghui era, Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) wanted to establish a new imperial concubine title, named Consort Chen, which would rank above the Nine Concubines and second only to the Empress.

This signal made Empress Wang extremely alert; she realized that the Emperor and Wu Zetian were about to harm her.

Positioned above the Nine Concubines, isn't this just another Empress?

Could it be that even Consort Zhao couldn't satisfy Wu Zetian's ambition?

She's Consort Chen now, next time she'll be Empress, right?!

Empress Wang completely abandoned her illusions and decided to try every possible way to save herself.

He contacted Changsun Wuji and other powerful figures in the Guanlong Group in the outer court, and had them directly reject Li Zhi's decree to establish the Consort Chen.

Changsun Wuji and the others agreed. As an empress from the Guanlong Group, Empress Wang's presence was a great help to Changsun Wuji and the others.

They couldn't possibly stand by and watch Empress Wang, who belonged to their own people, be deposed, and Wu Zetian, who had no connection to them and whose interests differed from theirs, rise to power.

The setting of Consort Chen was originally a matter of the inner palace. As long as it did not involve the deposition or establishment of the empress, it was Li Zhi's family matter.

Logically, the outer court should not have interfered too much, but at Empress Wang's request, Changsun Wuji contacted the entire Guanlong Group and rejected Li Shimin's decree to confer the title of Consort Chen on Wu Meiniang on the pretext of "transgressing the rules of etiquette".

The Guanlong Group, led by Changsun Wuji, and the imperial power represented by Li Zhi clashed head-on for the first time in the outer court. The political struggle between the two sides began to be brought into the open, and their contradictions became public.

This clash ended with Li Zhi's compromise, as he gave up on bestowing the title of Consort Chen upon Wu Meiniang.

The obstruction by Changsun Wuji and others made Wu Meiniang remember them and feel extremely resentful.

Li Zhi knew of Wu Zetian's political abilities and wanted her to develop her influence in the outer court so that they could join forces to counterbalance Changsun Wuji's Guanlong Group.

Wu Zetian readily agreed, and with Li Zhi's tacit approval and assistance, she began to continuously expand her own power, extending it to the outer court.

In the winter of the fifth year of the Yonghui reign, a major event occurred in the imperial harem, which completely ignited the struggle between Empress Wang and Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian, the eldest daughter of Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi), died mysteriously in the palace. Prince An of the time went deep into Kunlun to collect medicinal herbs, but no one could find out the cause of the princess's death.

Li Zhi and Wu Zetian abandoned their search for the murderer in that direction and instead considered who would benefit most from their eldest daughter's death.

Without a doubt, their eyes were all on Empress Wang.

The marital relationship between Empress Wang and Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) thus came to a complete end.

Empress Wang saw this from Li Zhi's cold gaze, and he put aside his last bit of affection, actively contacting his relatives and the Guanlong Group to protect himself.

Li Zhi also began to win over the neutral forces led by Li Shiji and the Li clan, while Wu Meiniang used her background to win over the people from humble backgrounds in the court.

Changsun Wuji's arrogance and domineering behavior over the years has aroused dissatisfaction among neutral forces, clan forces, and people from humble backgrounds.

The cake is only so big; if Guanlong Group takes a bigger bite, other groups will take a smaller bite.

If Guanlong Group is kicked out, the pie it leaves behind will be enough for the others to eat their fill.

Having won over neutral forces, clan members, commoners, and the military, Li Zhi was fully confident in overthrowing Changsun Wuji.

He formally proposed in court to depose the emperor and establish Wu Meiniang as empress.