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

Xu Meiren's rationality collapsed instantly. Her son, who was all smiles this morning, was gone just like that?!

"Your Majesty, where is my son!"

"It was you, not you, who killed my son!"

Xu Meiren glared fiercely at the Zhao sisters.

"I demand that you pay for my son's life!"

Consort Xu lunged forward, but was pulled away by the palace maids of Jiaofang Palace.

Xu Meiren roared like a demon, her eyes fixed on the Zhao sisters.

"Your Majesty, what exactly is going on?!"

Empress Dowager Wang looked at her son with disappointment, desperately hoping to get a different truth from Emperor Huang of Han.

As for sudden, serious illnesses, they can't fool even a three-year-old.

Emperor Huang of Han lowered his head and dared not utter a sound.

"Empress Dowager, didn't His Majesty say that the young prince suddenly died of a serious illness? Would His Majesty lie to you?!"

Zhao Feiyan stepped forward and said, "He's just a mere prince; he's not the first one I've killed."

"I'm addressing the Emperor! You have no right to speak!"

Empress Dowager Wang waved her hand, and immediately palace maids led Zhao Feiyan aside.

The palace maids of Jiaofang Palace wanted to stop them, but they were no match for them in terms of either numbers or strength.

"Mother, Your Majesty, your son has truly fallen seriously ill."

"That's my only son! How could this possibly be detrimental to him?"

Emperor Huang of Han dared not admit that even the most infamous tyrants in history could not bring themselves to kill their own sons.

If he were to actually admit it, he would be forever condemned to the pillory of history.

"Where is the body?"

"The body was buried on the spot to prevent the spread of a sudden and serious illness."

Emperor Huang of Han quickly tried to find an excuse, but dared not look the Empress Dowager in the eye.

The Empress Dowager gave this unfamiliar son a deep look; she already knew the truth in her heart.

But she couldn't just expose him like that, after all, he was her own son and the current emperor.

She recalled what her nephew Wang Mang had mentioned a couple of days ago, and perhaps that suggestion was indeed appropriate.

Liu Ao was indeed unfit to be emperor, and the matter of deposing him must be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

We must discuss this with the Wei family as soon as possible to gain their support, or at least ensure they do not object.

Seeing Empress Dowager Wang leave, Emperor Huang of Han breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon seeing Consort Xu, the culprit who had led to his discovery, and faced with the truth he was unwilling to confront, Emperor Huang of Han directly ordered her to be banished to the Cold Palace.

From then on, the palace had another madwoman.

Wang Mang and Wei Lun learned of everything that had happened in the palace almost immediately.

Everyone believed that the young prince was killed by the Zhao sisters. Even the most extreme people did not believe that the young prince was strangled to death by the emperor himself.

However, the reason why the young prince fell into the hands of the Zhao sisters was definitely partly due to Emperor Huang of Han.

Even Wang Mang, a well-traveled time traveler, was shocked by what happened in the palace that night.

He had seen emperors who were executed for their sons' rebellions, and emperors who were also forced to commit suicide for losing the struggle for the crown prince position.

The fact that the emperor would take a baby less than a month old to the empress and have it killed was such an outrageous thing that even he had never heard of it.

Wei Lun was so excited that he broke the cane in his hand. Counting back through the dynasties of the Han Dynasty, the most incompetent emperor was the late emperor.

But the late emperor merely favored eunuchs; he didn't actually commit many truly evil deeds. He simply destroyed some of the achievements of the previous emperors and implemented some bad policies.

He eventually received a posthumous title.

But the current emperor actually strangled his own son with his own hands.

The Wei family's network of connections in the palace was far superior to that of Wang Mang and the Empress Dowager, so the information he received was the whole truth.

This includes the fact that Emperor Huang of Han personally strangled his own son.

Wei An stared blankly at his father, still finding it hard to believe even though it was delivered by their own intelligence agents.

Is this really something a carbon-based life form could do?

A short while later, another man in black came in and handed Wei Lun a letter.

Wei Lun quickly opened the letter and skimmed through its contents.

He was rendered silent.

He handed the letter to Wei An.

This was something he had another undercover agent investigate; it clearly detailed everything that happened that day.

The news from another source was exactly the same: under the threat of suicide by the Zhao sisters, Emperor Huang of Han personally strangled his own child, who was less than a month old.

"What a heroic figure Emperor Gaozu of Han was!"

"How could such an unfilial descendant be born into the family!"

"Go secretly and pass this message on to Wang Mang, and then we should both resign from our official posts."

"Send word to the other branches: the patriarch and all the direct descendants have resigned from their official posts!"

"My son understands."

Serving under such an emperor was destined to be recorded in history.

His father is now inescapable; historical records will always implicate his father when describing an emperor as incompetent.

This greatly tarnished his father's reputation in historical records.

The Wei family also needs to cut their losses in time.

"Could it be that Wang Mang was truly destined for power? Otherwise, why would such a thing happen before he usurped the throne?"

"Isn't this divine intervention on his part?"

Wang Mang was gathering his advisors and discussing the events of the day with Wang Gen, the current head of the Wang family and Grand Marshal.

Suddenly, a trusted confidant brought news that they had obtained some intelligence.

The young prince was killed by Emperor Huang of Han himself.

His first reaction was disbelief.

However, the intelligence report described everything clearly and in great detail.

Many of them match the messages he received.

According to his estimate, this is very likely true.

Who sent this letter?

Wang Mang didn't even need to think about it; only one family could have such detailed information.

The Wei family.

Wang Mang was torn: should he release this information or not?

Releasing the message would greatly damage the emperor's sanctity, but how do we explain the source of the information?

Will this make people suspect the Wei family, thus causing him to offend them?

After some thought, Wang Mang's lingering sense of justice from later generations compelled him to reveal the truth of the matter.

We must face the facts and confront history.

He had no right to forgive the emperor on behalf of the child; all he could do was send the emperor to see the child as soon as possible.

"The Empress Dowager's palace is very strictly controlled. I just received information about an informant in the Empress Dowager's palace."

"His Majesty strangled the young prince to death with his own hands!"

Wang Mang burned the letter and addressed the crowd.

"hiss!"

"That can't be!"

"That's His Majesty's own son!"

Disbelief rose and fell; if they hadn't trusted Wang Mang's character enough, they would never have believed it was true.

Even so, they still suspected that the palace's intelligence personnel had made a mistake and were unwilling to believe it was true.

"I've already had someone else confirm it, it's absolutely true."

Silence filled the entire Grand Marshal's mansion; they never imagined that the current emperor was such a tyrannical ruler.

"Tomorrow I want this news to spread throughout the entire city of Chang'an!"

"I will go to the palace immediately to see the Empress Dowager and prepare for the plan to be launched."

"Yes."

Everyone now felt that the future was bright and that their plan was sacred.

To allow such a person to become emperor would be irresponsible to the entire world.

As scholar-officials, they had a duty to set things right.