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

Prince Yan, Wei Ye, tacitly approved of Wu Zetian's actions. Xue Rengui, the most important pillar of the court, was ordered to commit suicide by Li Xian. Wang Xuance, the regent, had already defected and seized military power by taking advantage of Xue Rengui's death.

The powerful clans in the imperial court were suppressed to the point of being unable to raise their heads, and the clans' strength was completely suppressed. The emperor's reputation was ruined because of the matter of Prefect Xue Rengui.

This was the best time for Wu Zetian.

The obstacles to her ascension to the throne were almost completely swept away.

In this favorable situation, Wu Zetian chose to exonerate Xue Rengui in order to further enhance her prestige.

She uncovered evidence that Xue Rengui had been wronged, and announced it in court, thus exonerating Xue Rengui.

"Grand Tutor Xue is a pillar of the nation, and he died without committing a crime. Your Majesty believed the rumors and persecuted loyal officials. This is not the behavior of a wise ruler."

Wu Zetian shifted all the blame onto Li Xian, thus creating a positive image for herself as someone who had pleaded for Xue Rengui's exoneration.

At this moment, Wang Xuance, the trusted minister entrusted with the care of the young emperor, stepped forward from the court. Li Xian thought that Wang Xuance was going to speak up for him and was greatly moved.

True friendship is revealed in times of adversity; it turns out that Wang Xuance was his most loyal subject.

But Wang Xuance disappointed him.

Upon hearing Wang Xuance's words, Li Xian's face turned ashen.

"His Majesty is still young and does not know how to govern, which led to the Grand Tutor's wrongful death."

"We implore the Empress Dowager to participate in court discussions, rule from behind the curtain, and wield supreme military and political power to ensure the stability of the nation!"

Li Xian looked at Wang Xuance in disbelief, unable to believe that Wang Xuance would say such a thing!

He is already twenty-eight years old this year!

Wang Xuance actually said that he was still young and did not understand politics, and asked Wu Zetian to rule from behind the curtain!

This is a blatant insult!

Li Xian angrily retorted, "I am already twenty-eight years old this year, how can I be considered young!"

"How can there be a claim that the Empress Dowager continues to rule from behind a screen after the emperor has come of age?"

"A thorough review of historical records reveals no such thing!!"

Wang Xuance looked up and stared directly at Li Xian. This mere puppet emperor was not worthy of Wang Xuance's awe.

"Then may I ask Your Majesty, why did you unjustly kill a loyal minister?"

"Then, Your Majesty, would you dare ask the officials of this court whether they believe Your Majesty is capable of ruling alone?!"

Li Xian couldn't help but look at the Imperial Clan Head, hoping that the head could speak up for him.

Dai was the head of the imperial clan, acting on behalf of the emperor to manage the Li imperial family. Faced with Li Xian's pleading gaze, he chose to bow his head.

Li Xian then looked at Pei Yan, the Prime Minister of the Imperial Court.

Prime Minister Pei Yan also looked down at his tablet, concentrating intently, as if it described the supreme secrets of heaven!

The three highest officials of the court, the ministers of the six ministries, and the censors of the Censorate all lowered their heads, staring at the tips of their shoes, without uttering a word.

Li Xian looked at the assembled civil and military officials, and to his astonishment, not a single one spoke up for him.

He looked at King Wei Ye of Yan as if grasping at a last straw.

Huh? Nobody here?

Li Xian discovered that the white-haired figure he used to dislike was not there!

"Where is the Prince of Yan?"

Li Xian asked, "Why doesn't the Prince of Yan attend court?"

Immediately, someone stepped forward from the imperial procession and reported, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Yan fell seriously ill a few days ago and has been bedridden."

Seriously ill and bedridden?

Li Xian immediately suspected that Wei Ye was also on Wu Zetian's side.

But he quickly dismissed the idea, as the Wei family had been loyal to the royal family for thousands of years, and such a thing was absolutely impossible!

If you calculate the time, Wei Ye is more than ten years older than his father, the emperor, and is already over seventy years old.

Moreover, it seems that no one in the Wei family lives long; Wei Ye is already considered old.

Based on the ages of the Wei family's past heads, it seems reasonable that Wei Ye is now nearing the end of his life.

But now is precisely the time when Li Xian needs the Wei family, how can Wei Ye be allowed to get into trouble now?!

Now, the entire court is no longer under his control. Without the Wei family as his support, he, the emperor, will soon be sidelined by his mother and become a true puppet.

"The Empress Dowager's regency is of paramount importance. Go immediately and summon the Prince of Yan; bring him here even if you have to carry him!"

Li Xian roared, but no one in the court, including the imperial guards at the gate, obeyed his orders.

"Your Majesty, how can you be so insensible?! You've already ascended the throne, yet you still act like a child!"

Wu Zetian reprimanded him in front of many court officials, showing him no respect whatsoever as the emperor.

"The Prince of Yan is over seventy years old and lies ill in bed like a candle flickering in the wind. He cannot see, hear, or speak."

"Even now, you still want to bother the Prince of Yan?!"

"Where has His Majesty gone all the morals and etiquette he's learned?!"

"Minister Wang is right. His Majesty is indeed still an immature child, acting on impulse without considering the consequences, and behaving recklessly!"

Li Xian was so angry that his face turned red. He, the emperor of the great Tang Dynasty, was being scolded like a child in front of important court officials. He lost all face!

This is an utter disgrace!

Li Xian got angry and lashed out.

Looking at the furious Wu Zetian, the fear that had been lurking in his heart in the past took over.

Li Xian became timid and dared not refute.

"From now on, Your Majesty need not handle court affairs. Just stay by my side and learn properly."

"Let's wait until His Majesty has matured before he gets involved in politics."

Wu Zetian said "helplessly".

As soon as Wu Zetian finished speaking, someone carried the phoenix throne that she had used when she and Li Zhi ruled together to the high platform.

When this phoenix throne is placed next to the dragon throne, it becomes very clear that the throne has been artificially raised.

Wu Zetian's phoenix throne was clearly a head higher than Li Xian's dragon throne, making the difference in status immediately apparent.

Wu Zetian completely stripped Li Xian of all personnel, military, and financial power, leaving him with only a nominal emperorship. All major and minor political affairs had to be decided by the Empress Dowager's decree.

Taking advantage of the collapse of morale caused by Xue Rengui's death, Wu Zetian publicly posthumously honored Xue Rengui, treated the Xue family well, and comforted the former White Robe soldiers, thus winning over the hearts of the army and completely seizing control of military power.

With the help of those who were willing to help, white stones appeared on the Luo River, auspicious clouds of five colors appeared, a unicorn was born, the Yellow River became clear, and all kinds of auspicious omens appeared one after another, which were reported to the imperial court in Luoyang.

Wang Xuance had a high reputation abroad. He used this reputation to organize a delegation of 13 countries. The delegation came to Luoyang in a grand procession, but did not pay homage to the emperor. They only defeated Empress Wu!

In the second year of the reign of Emperor Sisheng, Li Xian, in order to regain power, tried every means to collude with and promote his maternal relatives, and wanted to appoint his father-in-law as prime minister and bestow various high-ranking official titles and honors in order to resist the power of the empress dowager.

However, all of these proposals were rejected by the court. Wu Zetian seized upon Li Xian's crimes of privately granting official titles, disrupting the court, and being incompetent and misleading the country, and deposed the emperor on the spot!

"An emperor who lacks the virtues of a ruler, disregards meritorious officials, and disrupts the established order is unfit to govern the state."

Li Xian was deposed and made Prince of Luling, exiled to Fangzhou, and his young son Li Dan was installed as emperor.

That year, imperial power became completely hollow, and the whole world knew only Empress Wu and not the emperor.

The power of the court was transferred to the scholar of the Northern Gate, military power was directly transferred to Empress Wu, and all foreign affairs were handled by Wang Xuance. The imperial family was closely watched by the Wu family, and Wu Zetian's power as empress completely surpassed that of the emperor.

Wu Zetian officially issued an edict of amnesty, stipulating that the Empress Dowager resides in the inner palace and makes decisions for the country, while the Emperor resides in a separate palace and is not allowed to interfere in politics!

Legally, the emperor's power to govern was stripped away, and power was transferred to the empress dowager.

It was also stipulated that the Empress Dowager's clothing, ceremonial guards, and etiquette should be entirely the same as those of the Emperor.

Except for the title of emperor, Wu Zetian wielded all the same power as an emperor, even surpassing it!