The late emperor passed away, the young emperor ascended the throne, and Empress Dowager Xiao listened to the government behind the curtain. The ministers of the court bullied her orphans and widowed mother, and secretly colluded with the vassal king to rebel. Empress Dowager Xiao remained calm and held a Hongmen Banquet. At the banquet, in front of everyone, she personally killed the old minister who was the leader of the trouble. Then she wiped the blood on her hands and said to everyone with a smile: "My dear friends, keep eating." From then on, no one in the civil and military officials in the court dared to look up at her. She stabilized the country with an iron fist, but she also shed tears alone in front of the late emperor's memorial tablet late at night: "The country you left me, I guarded for you with my blood."
