Five days later, the sacrificial ceremony of the former emperor officially began.

The sacrificial ceremony was held in the ancestral temple in the palace. The sacrificial ceremony was attended by the Empress Dowager Wu Zetian, Emperor Yang Yao, King Yu Li Dan, Princess Taiping, and the real power factions of the Li Tang royal family, Li Yuanjia, Li Zhen, Li Xiaoyi and others.

As for the other children of the late emperor, Li Shangjin, Li Sujie and others were all on fiefdoms and did not recall them to Luoyang. The two married princesses Xiao Shufei were also excluded from the sacrificial ceremony.

Wu Zetian was full of confidence in the coup of the abolished emperor at the sacrificial ceremony, and even refused to involve Pei Yan and other officials in the court, which caused unexpected changes.

On the day of the sacrificial ceremony, Wu Zetian ordered Qiu Shenji to lead 10,000 garrisons in the South Yai to block the ten palace gates including Yingtian Gate, and no court officials were allowed to enter the palace.

Pei Yan is also an old fox. He had already received news that the empress dowager would have a complete showdown with the emperor at the sacrificial ceremony and a coup. Although he and the emperor had their own ulterior motives, they were still on the same front. If the emperor was defeated by the empress dowager, it would be Pei Yan's turn to fight alone next time.

In order to support the emperor in the palace, Pei Yan immediately arranged for Cheng Wuting to lead all the imperial guards of the Northern and Southern Yamen to enter the imperial city, stationed in the palace where all officials worked, confronting Qiu Shenji who blocked the palace.

Pei Yan personally led all officials outside Yingtian Gate, claiming that all officials were grateful for the kindness of the previous emperor and asked Wu Zetian to immediately let all officials enter and participate in the sacrifice together.

Of course, Pei Yan was not in a hurry to attack the city, but was watching the outcome of the coup in the palace.

If the emperor is defeated and is really deposed, he will imitate Yuan Shao and Cao Cao from that time, and directly enter the palace under the name of Qingjun, and capture the power of the Empress Dowager and the Wu family's children in one place.

If the emperor wins, Pei Yan has already arranged for the emperor to commit murder of his mother and kill his brother, forcing the emperor to abdicate. Moreover, Pei Yan also forged and cut off a secret edict from the former emperor. The content of the secret edict is to deposed the crown prince Li Xianxian and become famous. If the emperor now acts in a rebellious manner, Pei Yan can deposed the foolish monarch in the name of the minister of regent and support Li Xian ascend the throne to the throne.

Outside the palace, we are waiting for battle; inside the palace, we are even more murderous.

Wu Zetian handed over the power of commanding the imperial guards in the Northern Yai to his nephew Wu Youyi. Wu Youyi led 10,000 imperial guards and made a mess around the ancestral temple. Wu Youyi himself led 3,000 imperial guards into the ancestral temple to protect Wu Zetian's safety.

Yang Yao's side also made corresponding arrangements, and Xue Chuyu's five thousand dragon martial troops have all been stationed in the large square within the ancestral temple.

Outside, both sides had already set up their own formations, and the fire was about to break out.

In the main hall of the Ancestral Temple, Yang Yao and Wu Zetian and his son did not smell any gunpowder at all. They followed the process of the ritual system and carried out the various processes of the sacrificial ceremony in an orderly manner.

After the last procedure of the sacrificial ceremony is completed, the face-saving skills of both parties will be done well, and the next step is to fight each other!

Yang Yao and Wu Zetian sat opposite each other, while Princess Yu, Li Dan and Princess Taiping sat down at the bottom of the two. As for the other Li Yuanjia, Li Zhen, and Li Xiaoyi, they stood far away, waiting for the emperor and the queen mother's lecture.

Yang Yao was enjoying the fruit tea in the cup, and was quietly waiting for the tiger mother to attack first, and then according to the previous plan, he would deal with the moves.

Wu Zetian said in a deep voice, "Master, the mystery of the release of the deposed prince, Suo Yuanli and Zhou Xing, have been found to be found. Will the Master hear it?"

Sure enough, it came! The first move of the tiger mom was to give Yang Yaoan a charge of releasing Li Xian privately and detonating the rebellion in Yangzhou, and a legitimate deposed emperor!

Yang Yao smiled happily and angry, "Empress Dowager, I have two questions. First, such major cases should be tried by the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and the Censorate! What are Suo Yuanli and Zhou Xing? They are neither part of the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, nor the officials of the Censorate. They do not even have the power to interrogate ordinary people, let alone interrogate dignified court officials?"

After his father passed away, in order to crack down on dissidents, Hu Mom established a trial institution in Luoyang that was not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and Censorate, and only obeyed the orders of Hu Mom. Any political prisoners who need to be interrogated will be sent to the prison and handed over to the cruel officials of Hu Mom's confidant, Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing and others for torture and interrogation.

Yang Yao was idle anyway. Before the main dish took the table, he quarreled with the tiger mom. He knew that he questioned the legality of the prison set up by the tiger mom, seized the commanding heights of morality, and directly denied the rationality of the case trial by Suo Yuanli and Zhou Xing from the process.

Wu Zetian said coldly, "Master, the rebellion has been born. There must be thieves who are traitors in the palace and court. In order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, the Ai family must capture thieves who are hiding in the palace and in the court who collude with the deposed prince. The trial process of the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and the Censorate are too delayed. If you go to the prison for interrogation, you can catch the thieves faster and quell the rebellion."

Tiger Mom's explanation is reasonable. Yang Yao did not take advantage of the verbal words, but instead was charged with a crime of being accused of being abducted by Tiger Mom, which was considered a small loss.

Yang Yao hit a soft nail, but his smile became brighter, "Empress Dowager, I still have a question. I have heard that Suo Yuanli and Zhou Xing are all known cruel officials! These two are good at torture and confession, and they have been scolded. They have handled countless unjust cases and have committed countless crimes. I was about to punish these two cruel officials, but the empress dowager did the opposite and insisted on using these two people to investigate the case. I dare to ask, how true can the result of these two interrogation be? Is the empress dowager so against the will of the people, really want to find out a truth or the answer the empress dowager wants? Hey!"

He did not leave any face for Wu Zetian anymore, and questioned the results of the cruel officials who were so cruel that Suo Yuanli had torture and forced confessions to interrogate him. There was no credibility and was not worthy of acceptance at all.

Wu Zetian looked at Yang Yao, and I remembered that this was the first time the emperor embarked on her face. It seemed that the emperor had prepared for the war today. His old face showed a gloomy smile, "Master, are these two men just arguing, or are there any evidence to examine? You will know when Xuan and the others came to the palace and asked. Is the emperor deliberately blocking the two of them from entering the palace, and is he also involved in this case? Are you guilty?"

Yang Yao smiled and said, "Empress Dowager, I am the emperor. Is there any saying that the emperor himself will rebel? What are you guilty about? I kindly remind the empress dowager not to value this group of cruel officials who have no moral integrity and only know how to deal with unjust cases and seek self-promotion. In the future, I will shoot myself in the foot and cause a big disaster. Even though I am the empress dowager's son, I can't protect the empress dowager!"

"Okay! Since the Empress Dowager insists on not believing in my son, nor the officials with upright conduct in the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and Censorate, must trust these cruel officials who are successful in their villains. Out of my filial piety to the Empress Dowager, I should summon them to the palace! Hey!"

Yang Yao used all the wind and completely occupied the commanding heights of morality. Since the tiger mom believed that sending two cruel officials could convict the emperor, let Suo Yuanli and Zhou Xing come up and give it a try!

Suo Yuanli, who was trying the case, had not yet appeared, and the emperor and the empress dowager had already confronted each other, full of gunpowder, and everyone present remained silent.
Chapter completed!