Proof of Allegiance

"She's testing your sincerity!"

In Weiyang Palace, the empress dowager spoke softly to the new emperor, trying to persuade him.

Even though the new emperor had followed the advice of the honored elder and was willing to be an obedient grandson before the grand empress dowager, he had not expected it to be so difficult.

In the space of just two days, Grand Princess Dou had followed the grand empress dowager's wishes and launched a furious attack on the Confucian faction at court. She had even directly rebuked Zhao Wan, Wang Zang, and others, scouring for evidence so the new emperor could move against these two leading Confucian scholars.

Rather than personally suppressing and arresting Zhao Wan and Wang Zang, the grand empress dowager had left the matter to the new emperor.

She was forcing the new emperor to strike hard at the Confucian School, and this was also his proof of allegiance.

The new emperor needed to make a final choice: the gravely ill grand empress dowager, whose days were waning, or the Confucian School, which was continually placing its scholars within the imperial court.

"Think it over carefully," the empress dowager said. "But don't think about dragging it out. The longer you delay, the worse it will be for you!"

"I understand!"

"Your uncle said you could either take her life while she's ill and bear the name of a rebel from then on, or gamble with your life and see whether the grand empress dowager clips your wings and cuts away the sects and schools you rely on, one by one, until she finally makes you abdicate and replaces you!"

The empress dowager had touched on why the new emperor's choice was so difficult.

It was not that the new emperor was reluctant to abandon the Confucian