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

On this day, the weather was terribly gloomy, with lightning flashing through the dark clouds, illuminating the entire sky.

A suffocating atmosphere filled the air as large raindrops pounded against the palace, gathering on the tiles and flowing down.

The grand court assembly is currently underway at Weiyang Palace.

Wei Zhong brought him out.

"I have something to report."

Wei Zhong's serious expression added even more pressure to the already oppressive environment.

"speak."

Emperor Wu of Han felt a little uneasy. The last time the head of the Wei family had shown such a solemn expression was the last time.

Emperor Wu of Han suddenly felt a surge of excitement. He had been emperor for 36 years, and now very few things could stir his emotions.

"Your Majesty, I impeach Li Ji, the Commandant of the City Gates, for abusing his power, bullying men and women, and oppressing the people."

"At the same time, the sale of official positions led to the corruption of local politics, causing widespread suffering among the people, and many were even forced to sell themselves into slavery."

Wei Zhong impeached Li Ji.

This seems to be a very unusual signal.

Li Ji was the Fifth Prince's maternal uncle and Lady Li's younger brother.

A legitimate power of maternal relatives.

The Crown Prince was Wei Zhong's disciple, but because the Wei family was only loyal to the emperor and never took sides, they were not considered part of the Crown Prince's faction.

Wei Lu was the Fifth Prince's tutor, but he wasn't considered part of the Fifth Prince's faction.

Given the current political situation in the court, is taking action against him a sign that the Wei family is officially betting on the crown prince and trying to interfere in the struggle for the throne?

If that's really the case, then the imperial court will be in for a major upheaval.

Even Emperor Wu of Han's pupils contracted; he hadn't expected Wei Zhong to step forward for this very reason.

Apart from the Wei family, including Emperor Wu of Han, no one would think that Wei Zhong's actions were for the benefit of the common people.

This must be Wei Zhong deliberately targeting the Fifth Prince's power.

With the entire loyalist faction in power, there's almost no doubt about the succession, unless Marquis Wu'an steps down and personally supports the Fifth Prince.

Will the contemporary Marquis Wu Ai step forward?

All eyes turned to the elderly Wei Lu, who sat there, occasionally stroking his long beard, seemingly unaware of the gazes directed at him.

"What do you think should be done with Li Ji, my esteemed minister?"

Emperor Wu of Han stared intently at Wei Zhong, as if trying to see through Wei Zhong's thoughts.

Compared to the fate of the Wei family, the life or death of a mere Li Ji was no longer of great importance.

"According to the law, he should be executed."

The Legalist disciples' eyes lit up, and they stepped forward to support the execution of the emperor's most beloved concubine's younger brother, which was quite tempting for the Legalists.

"I am innocent!"

"Your Majesty, please see the truth. This is a deliberate act of retaliation. The Crown Prince is Wei Zhong's disciple; he is eliminating dissidents on the Crown Prince's behalf!"

"Your Majesty, please consider this carefully!"

Li Ji looked at Wei Zhong with eyes full of hatred, feeling extremely resentful towards him.

Originally, the Wei family was not dealt with in order to prevent them from siding with the Crown Prince.

It seems that this fear has come true.

The Wei family must not be allowed to live.

Otherwise, how could the Fifth Prince have had the opportunity to ascend to the throne?

He was already secretly plotting how to wipe out the Wei family, unaware that disaster was imminent and whether he could survive was uncertain.

"Is there any evidence?" Emperor Wu of Han didn't even glance at Li Ji; he, the person involved, was no longer important.

"Of course there are."

Wei Zhong took out several stacks of memorials and read them aloud to the public.

This document contains evidence of Li Ji's collusion with local officials, using various methods to plunder land from ordinary people.

There were also the tyrannical and despicable things Li Ji did in Chang'an.

Wei Zhong revealed the aggrieved parties behind every single incident.

"They are just lowly commoners; it is their honor to contribute to the Fifth Prince!"

Some commoners, if they die, they die; if they become slaves, they become slaves.

If he could handle such a trivial matter, would he, as a member of the royal family, be any better?

"Untouchables!"

Wei Zhong roared, "Isn't your Li family also from an ordinary family?"

"Your parents are just like them, ordinary people, the kind of lowly people you talk about."

"How can that be the same? My sister is now an imperial concubine and has given birth to a prince. We are no longer like those lowly commoners!"

Li Ji felt that being compared to those lowly people was the greatest insult to him.

He has extricated himself from that quagmire and become a noble aristocrat.

How can he demonstrate his nobility without ruthlessly exploiting those lowly people?

"Did he do all these evil deeds?"

Emperor Wu of Han was somewhat incredulous.

He knew that Li Ji was no good, but he never imagined that he could be so shameless.

They took pleasure in oppressing the people, causing Chang'an to commit numerous bloody crimes, seizing the people's land, and forcing them to sell themselves into slavery.

One incident after another caused Emperor Wu of Han to develop a great aversion to him.

In the past, we might have let it go out of consideration for Madam Li.

But now he is an emperor determined to achieve a peaceful world, how can he tolerate such maggots ruining his grand plan?

"Official of Zhongdu, how should this crime be punished?"

Emperor Wu of Han asked.

"Your Majesty, he should be sentenced to death."

Because of the influx of various schools of thought into Chang'an, the newly appointed governor-general is Zhang Tang, one of the leading figures of the Legalist school.

This was a notoriously cruel official in history.

What he liked most was executing these princes and nobles.

"I beg Your Majesty to spare him this time for the sake of my sister."

Li Guangli brought his younger brother out to plead for leniency, as this was his own brother, and he had to plead for him both morally and logically.

Otherwise, the team's morale will drop, and once the team is scattered, it will be difficult to lead.

"Spare him? Spare him? Then why doesn't he spare the people he oppressed?!"

Wei Zhong said sternly.

"Go and ask the tens of thousands of wronged souls in Chang'an and the surrounding areas if they are willing to spare your brother!"

Li Guangli was furious. "They're all dead. How can we ask them?"

"So all I'm responsible for is taking your brother to see them. Whether he can get forgiveness depends on your brother."

Wei Zhong said.

On one side is Lady Li, and on the other is Wei Zhonghe and the peaceful world.

Emperor Wu of Han hesitated.

Seeing this as a good opportunity, the princelings all stood up and asked Emperor Wu of Han to execute Li Ji.

The Fifth Prince's faction, on the other hand, requested that Emperor Wu of Han forgive Li Ji, putting all the pressure on Emperor Wu of Han.

A struggle flashed in Emperor Wu's eyes, but in the end, his desire for hegemony outweighed his feelings for his children. He opened his mouth and slowly spoke.

"Official of Zhongdu, then act in accordance with the law."

After Emperor Wu of Han made his decision, the Crown Prince's faction celebrated their succession.

Looking at the Crown Prince's faction, which controlled most of the power in the court, and Wei Zhong and Wei Lu, who stood there motionless, Emperor Wu of Han felt an even stronger desire to weaken the Crown Prince's faction.

Before the princelings could even celebrate, Wei Lu stepped forward as well.

"I want to impeach Gongsun Jingsheng, the son of Chancellor Gongsun He, for arbitrarily buying and selling official positions in the provinces, accepting bribes on a large scale, implying local officials to increase taxes privately, forcing local people to sell themselves into slavery, forcibly abducting women in the capital, and wantonly killing people."