Great Tang: A Seventh-Rank County Magistrate Rebukes Wu Zetian's Court

[No System]

The officials kneel in welcome as Empress Wu watches from behind the curtain. Clad in a green robe, he stands at the very end of the line.

Transmigrated to the eve of Wu Zetian’s ascension to the throne, Fan Xin only wants to coast along as a low-ranking seventh-grade official. But the Li royal clan pressures him to rebel, secret police set their sights on his head, and even when he falls ill and takes to his bed, people are eager to seize power and usurp the throne.

He feigns illness, spits up black blood, crawls through dog holes, and kills assassins. Every step is fraught with danger, all so he can live to see tomorrow’s sun.

Then one day, the decree announcing Wu Zetian’s ascension in Luoyang spreads across the land.

The entire court kneels, crying out, “The Holy Mother has descended upon us! May her reign endure forever!”

Only Fan Xin remains standing.

He rises, straightens his green robe, and, in front of Shangguan Wan’er, Princess Taiping, and Di Renjie, smashes the imperial seal to the ground.

“Empress Wu wants to be emperor? I have no objection.”

“But you lot, kneeling there, what kind of Tang officials are you?”

The hall falls deathly silent.

Empress Wu’s phoenix eyes narrow slightly.

Fan Xin smiles. “Today, I speak on behalf of the people of this realm and ask: does this empire belong to the Li family, or to you sycophants?”