Ming Dynasty: A centenarian madman criticizes the Grand Secretary and brings his coffin to court!

The Zhengtong Dynasty.

Outside Deshengmen.

Gu Canghai lay in the coffin, looking at the terrifying headline "The Dead Are Back to Life" on the sky, and laughed so hard he rolled around.

Hehehe!

"Zhongba, although I was the one who made up that 'square dancing retirement plan' earlier."

"but……"

"The truth that follows is ten thousand times more outrageous than anything made up!"

Above the sky.

A magnificent display of golden light!

The originally eerie background music suddenly turned into a very rhythmic, cat-and-mouse chase song – "Tom and Jerry"!

[Ding! The joke is over! The truth is revealed!]

Unveiling the historical mystery of the 35th year of the Hongwu reign!

[Historical records state: Emperor Taizu rose from the dead and passed the throne to the Prince of Yan.]

The truth, however, is—

A timeless "filial piety" shoe sole massage event!

The images flow.

It was no longer a projection of the orthodox dynasty, but a true and tangible return to that mysterious point in time and space—

[Time and Space Coordinates: Hongwu (pseudo) Thirty-fifth Year - Fengtian Hall]

Inside the main hall, flames soared into the sky!

That was the end of the Jingnan Campaign, and the Nanjing Imperial Palace was ablaze!

Right there in the firelight.

Space suddenly warped!

A black crack appeared out of nowhere!

Followed by.

A middle-aged man dressed in a dragon robe, with a magnificent beard, and exuding an imposing aura fell out of the crack!

This is none other than the future Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di (middle-aged version), who will have been on the throne for many years and is now on his way to personally lead an expedition to the northern desert!

He looked around in complete bewilderment.

"Where is this?"

"Am I not fighting a war in the northern deserts?"

"How did we end up back at Fengtian Hall? And it's on fire?"

Before he could react...

At the other end of the main hall, on the dragon throne.

A flash of even more dazzling golden light appeared!

An old man dressed in cloth, with a pockmarked face and carrying a size 42 cloth shoe with a thousand-layer sole appeared out of thin air!

That was—Emperor Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang (in his later years)!

Eyes facing each other.

The air freezes.

The middle-aged Zhu Di stared at that familiar, terrifying figure, etched into his DNA, his pupils dilating in shock.

"Father...Father?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes as he looked at the middle-aged man in the dragon robe who looked exactly like his fourth son, but with a more arrogant demeanor:

"The fourth one?"

"What are you wearing?"

"A dragon robe?"

"You dare wear a dragon robe?!"

next second.

Zhu Yuanzhang's anger, like the fire in the hall, ignited instantly!

"The traitor!!!"

"We're not quite dead yet (actually, we're long gone), and you dare wear a dragon robe?"

"You dare call yourself 'I, the Emperor'?"

"Are you trying to reach for the heavens?!"

"Come here and die!"

Whoosh-!

The cloth shoes in Zhu Yuanzhang's hand, with a whooshing sound, flew directly towards Zhu Di's face like a precision-guided missile!

Snapped! ! !

A crisp sound!

Hit the bullseye!

A great emperor of all time was utterly defeated by his father with a single shoe sole!

"Ouch!"

Zhu Di covered his face, before he could explain.

Zhu Yuanzhang had already rushed off the dragon throne with one foot bare!

He grabbed the other shoe!

"Father! Don't hit me! I am Yongle! I am Emperor Chengzu!"

Zhu Di ran away with his head in his hands, shouting all the while.

It would have been better if they hadn't shouted.

This only made Zhu Yuanzhang angrier!

"Yongle?"

"And Emperor Chengzu?"

"Pah!"

"None of us dared to call him 'Ancestor,' and you, you brat, dare to call him 'Ancestor'?"

"Whose ancestor are you?"

"Do you want to be our ancestor?!"

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Zhu Yuanzhang chased after Zhu Di, circling the golden pillar of the Fengtian Hall, and began a brutal and inhumane battle—the Prince of Qin walked around the pillar (crossed out) while the Emperor Zhu walked around the pillar and whipped him!

The sound of the shoe sole hitting flesh was rhythmic and sent chills down your spine!

In a corner of the main hall.

There was another person squatting there.

A man dressed in a red and white Taoist robe, holding a handful of melon seeds, seemed to enjoy watching the spectacle.

Gu Canghai (Hongwu Youth Edition)!

He was also brought in by the system to be a witness (a bystander)!

Gu Canghai was seen cracking sunflower seeds, spitting out the shells, and waving his fist to cheer on Zhu Yuanzhang.

"beat!"

"Zhongba! Beat him to death!"

"Use a left hook! Kick his ass!"

"Hey! Didn't you eat? Push harder!"

"This kid's going to be really arrogant in the future, he even wants to cultivate immortality. Give him a good beating to loosen his bones!"

Zhu Di, who was fleeing for his life, was almost in tears:

"Gu the Madman! You son of a bitch!"

"If you're not going to help, fine, but you're adding fuel to the fire?!"

"Dad! Look at him! He's the one who corrupted me!"

"You dare talk back?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang caught up with Zhu Di and kicked him in the butt.

"Thump—!"

Zhu Di stumbled and then executed an incredibly smooth—divine sliding knee!

His knees slid five meters across the gold bricks, stopping right at Zhu Yuanzhang's feet.

He grabbed Zhu Yuanzhang's leg and cried like a two-hundred-pound child:

"Father!"

"Stop hitting him!"

"Your subject knows he was wrong!"

"My bottom is about to burst!"

"Your shoe soles... are harder than the Great Wall!"

This scene.

The historian (also a time traveler), hiding behind a pillar, meticulously recorded everything with trembling hands:

[In the thirty-fifth year of the Hongwu reign, the spirit of the Taizu Emperor manifested.]

When the Emperor (Zhu Di) met with Emperor Taizu, he performed the grand kneeling ceremony, weeping uncontrollably.

[The Emperor Taizu used the sole of this shoe to affectionately stroke the Emperor's buttocks, a gesture he termed—"deep love, strict discipline!"]

Zhu Yuanzhang, panting heavily, finally stopped fighting.

He looked at Zhu Di, who was kneeling on the ground with his dragon robe covered in footprints, and then at Gu Canghai, who was foul-mouthed but had clear eyes.

He sighed.

"Alright."

"Stop howling."

"Now that we've put on the dragon robe and started calling him 'Emperor Chengzu'..."

"It seems..."

"It is fate."

Zhu Yuanzhang plopped down on the ground and put his shoes on.

"Fourth brother."

"Although your throne was obtained through illegitimate means."

"But Crazy Gu just told us (through his inner voice)."

"You did a good job."

"Better than that good-for-nothing Yunwen."

"They didn't embarrass us!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di abruptly raised his head, tears streaming down his face:

"father……"

"My son... my son has had a tough time!"

"Alright, alright, stop getting sentimental."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and took out a scroll that had been prepared beforehand—a bright yellow imperial edict!

Or perhaps... a piece of scrap paper?

Anyway, there were a few lines of text written on it in a flamboyant style.

"Take it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang threw the imperial edict in Zhu Di's face.

"What is this?" Zhu Di hurriedly caught it.

"The imperial edict!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stared wide-eyed and said:

"From now on, if anyone dares to say that your ascension to the throne was illegitimate, or that you have usurped it!"

"Just slap this thing in his face!"

"Tell the whole world!"

"This throne—"

"I gave it to you myself!"

"We begged you to take it!"

"Did you understand?!"

boom!!!

Zhu Di unfolded the imperial edict and looked at the familiar, uniquely ugly handwriting on it.

It reads:

By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

[Crown Prince Biao died young, and that little brat, Crown Prince Yunwen, is dim-witted and weak, unable to take care of himself!]

[I fear we'll be misled by treacherous officials (corrupt scholars) and ruin our great Ming Dynasty!]

[King Di of Yan looks like me, has the same temperament as me, and fights like me!]

Now, the succession is made between the elder and younger brothers, in accordance with Heaven's will and the people's wishes!

The throne belongs to the fourth prince!

[Who dares to disagree? Let Crazy Gu bring a coffin and have a word with him!]

[So be it!]

puff--!

Zhu Di almost burst out laughing when he saw this "most powerful patch in history," but his tears flowed even more fiercely.

"father……"

"Are you... trying to clear your son's name?"

What a profound fatherly love!

Even if it's a system effect, I'll crawl out even after I'm dead to endorse my rebellious son! To vindicate my son!

"What's there to whiten?"

Zhu Yuanzhang gave a haughty snort:

"We're worried that people will talk behind your back and it will tarnish our reputation!"

"Alright!"

"The business is done, we should go now!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and dusted off his bottom.

He glanced at Gu Canghai, who was still eating sunflower seeds.

"Gu the Madman."

"From now on, I'll leave the Ming Dynasty to you and Fourth Prince."

"Watch closely!"

"What if another spendthrift like Yunwen comes along..."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved the shoe in his hand:

"We'll be back in the middle of the night!"

Done.

A flash of golden light!

Zhu Yuanzhang's figure gradually disappeared.

All that remained was the Yongle Emperor, kneeling on the ground, clutching the imperial edict and weeping bitterly.

And then there's Gu Canghai, who spits sunflower seed shells all over the ground.

The image on the celestial backdrop freezes in time.

Subtitles appear:

This is the truth about the thirty-fifth year of the Hongwu reign.

[It's not a zombie.]

[It was a final act of protection from an elderly father!]

The Zhengtong Dynasty.

Outside Deshengmen.

Gu Canghai looked at the sky and sighed softly.

"Zhongba..."

"You're destined to worry your whole life."

"but……"

Gu Canghai looked at the loaded musket in his hand, his eyes sharpening once more.

"Don't worry."

"As long as I'm still alive."

"The sky over this Ming Dynasty will never fall down!"

"Now……"

"It's my turn to teach that grandson of Esen a lesson!"