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

First, there's the ceremonial procession. During the Fengshan ceremony, how many carriages and how many people were in the emperor's procession? How many attendants did the empress have? The number of attendants for each rank of minister was also fixed.

Wu Zetian elevated her ceremonial guard to a new level, making it comparable to that of Emperor Li Zhi.

He even secretly ordered Xu Jingzong to arrange for the people to first pay homage to the emperor and then to the empress, thus setting a precedent for the empress and emperor to jointly receive the people's worship on such an occasion.

In the eighteenth year of the Yonghui era, he participated in the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, which greatly enhanced Wu Zetian's prestige. Wu Zetian then promoted many officials from humble backgrounds who had participated in the Fengshan ceremony, citing their merits.

More than half of the civil and military officials in the court were loyal to Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian's rule over the court was initially established.

In the nineteenth year of the Yonghui era, Wu Zetian felt that the time was ripe and began to formally intervene in the government. This time, she did not rely on her subordinates, but personally made her voice heard in the court and issued decrees.

Her first public address in the court was to issue the "Twelve Suggestions".

This was a test by her, a test of Wei Ye, the current head of the Wei family, and also a test of Li Zhi.

Even though she now controls most of the court, Li Zhi still has the decisive factor to decide the outcome.

That's the Wei family.

If Li Zhi were willing to set aside his pride and ask the Wei family for help, Wu Zetian's favorable situation would vanish in an instant.

This is the power of the Wei family, a terrifying foundation that has ruled the court for over a thousand years, enough to make anyone fear them.

The Wei family is like an ancient crocodile lurking in the imperial court. They are usually calm and collected, but once they make a move, it will be earth-shattering.

This was what Wu Zetian feared most; she didn't know if she could gain the support of the Wei family.

Taking a direct approach and issuing the "Twelve Suggestions" was a test to see how the Wei family and Li Zhi would react.

If she can accept it, or if it is better than she expected, she will try to get closer to the Wei family and try to gain their support.

If she could truly gain the Wei family's overt support, what difference would it make if she were a woman? Even if she, as a woman, wanted to sit on the throne, who in the world would dare to say no?

Contrary to Wu Zetian's expectations, neither Li Zhi nor the Wei family showed any reaction in the face of her formal intervention in politics.

It was as if she had not appeared in the court.

The Wei family is one thing, given their power they wouldn't care about her petty tricks, but why didn't Li Zhi take any action?

Her actions clearly violated Li Zhi's dignity as an emperor and infringed upon his authority.

Why?!

Wu Zetian was completely baffled. This was supposed to be the most ideal scenario, but when it actually happened, it sent chills down her spine.

At this very moment, in the Prince of Yan's residence.

The two people Wu Zetian feared most, Li Zhi and Wei Ye, were sitting together fishing.

Wei Ye looked at Li Zhi with a mixture of surprise and understanding.

As expected of Emperor Taizong, how could he be as foolish as he appears?

Li Zhi's ability to seize the throne from a ruthless figure like Emperor Taizong demonstrates a depth of cunning rarely seen in the world.

Wei Ye had guessed that Li Zhi was not simple, but he did not expect Li Zhi to be so ruthless, to the point that Wei Ye was speechless.

Li Zhi's identity and status determined that he could not be so decisive and ruthless when facing powerful families, so he chose a role that could replace him.

This person must be able to stand on the opposite side of powerful families and clans, and must be capable, shrewd, and skillful, and also easy for him to monitor and control, so as to prevent him from escaping his grasp.

Just in case someone becomes too powerful to control, Li Zhi made another preparation: he chose a woman so that no matter how powerful she became, she would not be able to threaten his throne.

Clearly, the person he chose was Wu Zetian.

She was capable, shrewd, and skillful. After being promoted to empress, she stayed in the palace and naturally remained under his control.

Moreover, Wu Zetian was a woman, his empress. At most, she had some power, but she wouldn't threaten his rule. It's impossible for a woman to ascend the throne and become empress. More importantly, Wu Zetian's son was also her son, the crown prince.

What a perfect candidate! Li Zhi secretly laid out his plans, step by step, luring out Wu Zetian's ambitions and creating the current situation.

Wu Zetian had already established her power and held a large number of important civil and military officials in her hands. Even he had to temporarily avoid her sharp edge.

Moreover, Wu Zetian and those so-called aristocratic families were like oil and water. Those people would never want to see such a woman climb over them, as it would be a great humiliation for them.

Wu Zetian, on the other hand, won over scholars from humble backgrounds, who formed her core support base. As long as Wu Zetian wasn't foolish, she would definitely stand firmly on the side of her core support base.

When the powerful clans and aristocratic families of the land have been weakened to the point that they can no longer threaten the imperial power, he will step forward to reap all the fruits of victory, giving these clans and aristocratic families that have reached the end one last kick, and sending them into the abyss of history.

Then, in his own rightful name, with the help of the Wei family, he would eliminate the wicked Empress Wu Zetian and restore peace and order to the world.

In his hands, the rule of powerful clans came to an end, and the wicked empress was executed. Everything that happened in between was the empress's fault; he was merely deceived. In the end, he realized the truth, and the world was at peace.

In this way, all of Li Zhi's ideas could be perfectly realized, which couldn't be better.

This is why Wu Zetian was puzzled that Li Zhi, holding such a trump card as the Wei family, had been ignoring her actions.

Since all of this was guided by Li Zhi, how could he voluntarily give up such a good piece?

As for the feelings between them, there were certainly some, but how could those meager feelings compare to their grand ambitions?

Li Zhi saw through Wei Ye's gaze, a gentle smile playing on his lips, as warm and refined as jade, showing no trace of the emperor's domineering aura.

Yet this very person orchestrated a grand scheme, keeping the entire world in the dark.

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you, senior brother."

Li Zhi smiled, unconcerned that Wei Ye had seen through his plan. His aim was to strike at the powerful clans, and the Wei family would certainly not stand in his way.

"If Your Majesty's plan succeeds in the end and completely eliminates the powerful clans in the world, Your Majesty will definitely be recorded in history as a wise and virtuous ruler, no less than the late emperor."

Wei Ye sighed.

Li Zhi smiled, his eyes filled with longing. The person he admired most in his life was his father, the late Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.

Before he ascended the throne, he was always thinking about how he could match his father’s achievements in history after he became emperor.

Ultimately, when he saw the ambition in Wu Zetian's eyes, this idea came to him.

"Your Majesty, the Empress has a fiery temper. Aren't you afraid that if she learns the truth, she will stop at nothing to perish together with Your Majesty?"

Wei Ye asked curiously.