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

"How about the Left Valiant Guard General?"

Wu Zetian suggested.

"Can."

Li Zhi was in a good mood and readily agreed to Wu Zetian's suggestion.

The Left Valiant Guard General is the commander of one of the Twelve Imperial Guards, one of the highest-ranking military officers in the Tang Dynasty's Imperial Guards, holding the rank of third grade. He is in charge of guarding the capital and leading troops in foreign affairs, making it a core high-ranking position with real power that military officers can obtain.

Many prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty held the rank of third grade, which shows how prestigious the position of General of the Left Valiant Guard was.

In the military, the only ones who could overpower him were Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji, who had followed Li Shimin in conquering the country.

"And Liu Rengui and Xue Rengui mentioned above, they should also be richly rewarded!"

"This Xue Rengui is exceptionally skilled in martial arts. He was appointed Left General of the Martial Guard and allowed to study at the Imperial Academy to learn military strategy and further his studies."

When Li Zhi saw Xue Rengui's achievements, he was immediately impressed and felt that Xue Rengui had the talent of a great general. He then decided to train him well.

"On their behalf, Your Majesty thanks you."

Li Zhi didn't take Wu Zetian's request for rewards on their behalf seriously. In his view, Wu Zetian was someone he had personally helped to rise to power, and her subordinates were also his subordinates, just one level apart, with little difference between them.

After Su Dingfang and the others returned to the capital, they were each given a title and reward.

Thanks to this military achievement, the forces from humble backgrounds have firmly established themselves in the imperial court, and the power of aristocratic families has once again been dealt a blow, especially the Guanlong Group.

By the tenth year of the Yonghui era, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian had gained absolute dominance in the court, and the entire Guanlong Group was left with only Changsun Wuji to support it. They decided to take action against Changsun Wuji.

At Wu Zetian's instigation, Xu Jingzong falsely accused Changsun Wuji of plotting a rebellion.

In Luoyang, someone accused Wei Jifang, the tutor of the crown prince, and Li Chao, the censor, of forming a clique for personal gain. Emperor Li Zhi ordered Xu Jingzong to preside over the trial.

Fearing implication under severe torture, Wei Jifang attempted suicide but failed.

Xu Jingzong had already received a hint from Wu Zetian to gather evidence to take action against Changsun Wuji.

He saw this as a good opportunity, so he seized on this flaw and deliberately reported that Wei Jifang committed suicide out of fear of punishment because he had conspired with Changsun Wuji to rebel, and the plot had been exposed, which caused him to panic and seek death.

What was originally a simple case of forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices was directly implicated by Xu Jingzong in a major case of treason, which also involved the emperor's brother-in-law, Grand Commandant, and regent Changsun Wuji.

Xu Jingzong drafted an impeachment memorial overnight, fabricating a detailed account of Changsun Wuji's rebellion according to his own ideas.

For many years, Wei Jifang had been dependent on Changsun Wuji, and they had frequent secret dealings.

After deposing the emperor and establishing Empress Wu, Changsun Wuji harbored resentment towards the emperor and empress, feeling that he had been neglected.

Using his position as Grand Commandant, he colluded with former officials such as Han Yuan, Liu Shi, and Lai Ji, secretly accumulating power and planning to launch a coup to reinstate the deposed Crown Prince Li Zhong.

Wei Jifang was the liaison, responsible for connecting everyone. Now that the matter was about to be exposed, he committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

The memorial was written in great detail, transforming an ordinary case into a rebellious plot against the emperor led by the Grand Commandant.

When Li Zhi received the memorial, his first reaction was shock and reluctance. Looking at the memorial in his hand, Li Zhi said in disbelief.

"Uncle must have been misled by a villain. If things were explained clearly, he would not have done this."

"Besides, he is still my maternal uncle, a minister entrusted with the care of the young emperor by the late emperor. How could I possibly execute him? Wouldn't future historical records portray me as someone who killed his own uncle?"

Xu Jingzong immediately seized the opportunity and used rhetoric to force Li Zhi to make a decision. He had already broken ties with Changsun Wuji and pinned the charge of treason on Changsun Wuji.

This time, it's either Changsun Wuji who dies or him; there's no turning back.

"In the past, Bo Zhao, the maternal uncle of Emperor Wen of Han, committed the heinous crime of murder. Emperor Wen reluctantly executed him, and later generations did not find it wrong. Now, Changsun Wuji is shaking the state, and the situation is urgent and disaster is imminent. Your Majesty must not hesitate!"

Torn between family ties and the stability of imperial power, Li Zhi ultimately chose to acquiesce to the charge of treason, but did not immediately carry out the execution. Instead, he stripped Changsun Wuji of his position as Grand Commandant, demoted him to Governor of Yangzhou, and exiled him to the far north.

Li Zhi did not issue a death order, but Xu Jingzong understood that he had to eliminate the threat completely.

Changsun Wuji had deep roots in the court. He was a strategist who helped Emperor Taizong of Tang rise to power. He followed Li Shimin in his campaigns and made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty's annexation of the Xia Dynasty. He was a man of great merit.

Furthermore, his sister was the empress, and with the help of her status as a maternal relative, he wielded immense power in the court.

Xu Jingzong had no doubt that as long as Changsun Wuji was given some breathing room, he could at least kill him, if not return to the court.

He wrote another letter, requesting that someone be sent to the far north to conduct a retrial, ostensibly for verification, but in reality for coercion.

Li Zhi granted permission, citing his desire to prove his uncle's innocence.

After the imperial envoy arrived, he tortured and coerced Changsun Wuji's entourage to fabricate confessions and solidify the evidence of treason.

Knowing there was no way out, Changsun Wuji hanged himself in exile to protect his clan.

Taking advantage of this treason case, Wu Zetian and Xu Jingzong purged members of the Guanlong Group.

Han Yuan and Liu Shi were dismissed from their posts and posthumously demoted until their deaths; Lai Jiyuan was exiled to another place and died in depression.

A large number of officials who were loyal to Changsun Wuji were exiled, demoted, or executed.

The Guanlong aristocratic group, which had dominated the early Tang Dynasty for decades, completely withdrew from the political stage at this point.

The powerful clans were also severely weakened in this purge, and a large number of scholars from humble backgrounds and those who had made military achievements rose to high positions and became the core backbone of the Tang Dynasty court. Li Zhi and Wu Zetian completely controlled the entire court.

Wu Zetian's influence shifted from affecting the outer court by winning over some officials to directly influencing the imperial court.

Now Wu Zetian was able to directly interfere in court affairs and express her political ideas. She had a large following in the court and was able to rival Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi), making her almost a de facto half-emperor.

Especially after this, Li Zhi's illness worsened, and the government almost entirely fell into the hands of Wu Zetian.

Seeing Li Zhi lying ill in bed, Wu Zetian's ambition continued to grow.

A wild ambition began to rise in his heart: if Emperor Li Zhi could do it, why couldn't she?

Is it simply because she is a woman?!

She is not reconciled!

She climbed so hard to rise in the ranks, yet in the end, she still needed Li Zhi's favor to seize power. Why?!

She too wanted to experience the taste of supreme power; she too wanted to rule the world!

Wu Zetian walked almost uncontrollably to Li Zhi's dragon throne and sat down.

Is this what it feels like to sit on the dragon throne?

Wu Zetian was intoxicated by the feeling of wielding supreme power.

With immense perseverance, Wu Zetian slowly rose from the dragon throne and returned to the opposite side to continue reviewing memorials.

When reviewing memorials, she consciously promoted officials who were truly and completely dependent on her, suppressed dissidents, and consolidated her own position.