Sky Curtain: The Overlord Charges into Battle, Shocking Emperors of All Dynasties

During the Yongle era,

Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, and the others were dumbfounded, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, unable to believe what Zhang Shi had said on the celestial screen.

However, Zhu Di also felt that Tianmu's words made sense, especially the part about the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

That kid is a fucking genius.

The meaning behind the words is clearly not that, but somehow it still fits together.

Wouldn't it be a waste of such talent to have it in later generations? Wouldn't it be wonderful for it to come to my Yongle era and be in charge of revising the history books?

"Brother, is this really how your sister-in-law is at home?"

Zhu Gaosui moved closer to Zhu Gaochi and poked at the soft flesh protruding from Zhu Gaochi's waist, causing Zhu Gaochi to shrink back.

He is most afraid of being tickled.

"Stop fooling around, Third Brother,"

Zhu Gaochi rubbed the soft flesh around his waist to dispel the itching, then leaned over and whispered to Zhu Gaosui:

"More than that, your sister-in-law's mouth is even more sharp than the one on the sky, it's like pricking you with tiny needles."

"Brother, do you find sister-in-law annoying?"

Zhu Gaosui placed his right hand on Zhu Gaochi's shoulder, blocking Zhu Gaochi's view, and asked a question with a hint of anticipation, as if he were enjoying the drama.

Zhu Gaochi rolled his eyes at him, and without thinking, blurted out:

"Ugh!! How can I not be annoyed?! She's nagging me to death every single day!"

"However, I quite enjoy this feeling. Sometimes I even feel uncomfortable when I can't hear you."

Zhu Gaochi was incredibly astute; he could tell something was amiss the moment his true thoughts were spoken. His third son was full of malice; there was definitely something wrong with him.

Besides, he also felt a chill down his spine; this was a unique skill he had honed over more than a decade.

As expected, Zhu Gaochi shook off Zhu Gaosui's shoulder, turned his head, and found that Zhang Shi had silently appeared behind him at some point. Then she smiled sweetly.

After more than a decade of marriage, Zhu Gaochi could easily tell that there wasn't a trace of a smile in his eyes; it was a completely forced one.

"Oh no, I'm doomed when I get home."

In the drama "Ming Dynasty", Zhang Shi is portrayed as a very charming and witty character, but the drama does a lot of negative portrayals of her.

In real history, after Empress Xu passed away, Lady Zhang acted as Empress, managing Zhu Di's harem. Unlike in the drama, where even a concubine dared to talk back to Lady Zhang.

"Hmph, that's the one we chose ourselves, it's even more legitimate than the fourth prince's throne!"

"A concubine dares to talk back to our granddaughter-in-law? If it were us, we'd chop her up!"

"What do you think, Fourth Brother?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely displeased with Tianmu's statement that the concubines dared to talk back to Zhang. Even if she was the emperor's concubine, she was still a concubine. How dare she talk back to the crown princess!

"That's right. If it really exists, I would definitely depose that concubine, or even behead her!"

Zhu Di nodded in agreement, then righteously corrected the errors in Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

"But if you say that Zhang's status is higher than her son's, then her son will not agree."

"My throne in the future will be a perfectly legitimate succession!"

He, Zhu Di, will never admit to being a traitor!

During the Yongle reign, Lady Zhang served Zhu Di and Empress Xu with utmost filial piety, helping Zhu Gaochi solidify his position as crown prince.

After Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne, she was made empress. She set an example by strictly prohibiting extravagance and persuaded Emperor Renzong to overturn wrongful convictions. Ten months later, Zhu Gaochi died, and she became the first empress dowager of the Ming Dynasty.

As for Empress Lü, the mother of Emperor Jianwen (Zhu Yunwen), there is no record of the reign title Jianwen in historical texts.

In the early years of the Xuande reign, she supported Emperor Xuanzong in suppressing the rebellion of Zhu Gaochi. Whenever Zhu Zhanji inquired about important military and national affairs, she only offered advice on essential matters and did not interfere in politics.

[In the tenth year of the Xuande reign, Zhu Zhanji died young, and the nine-year-old Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne as Emperor Yingzong of Ming, changing the reign title to Zhengtong. Zhang became the first Grand Empress Dowager of the Ming Dynasty.]

In the early years of the Zhengtong reign, he strictly adhered to ancestral rules, refused ministers' requests to rule from behind the curtain, suppressed eunuchs, strictly controlled relatives of the empress, and even summoned the three Yangs to discuss unfinished state affairs before his death.

Throughout Zhang's life, she lived through the reigns of six emperors from the Hongwu to the Zhengtong eras, and met seven of the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, almost reaching the pinnacle of a woman's status in ancient times.

However, each leap in status meant the passing of a family member of the Zhang family.

She climbed step by step to the highest point, but when she looked back, she found herself all alone. Finally, the long-suffering Zhang slowly closed her eyes, her soul returning to the underworld to search for her long-missed husband and son.

In the seventh year of the Zhengtong reign (1444), Empress Chengxiao Zhao, née Zhang, passed away in the Forbidden City in Beijing at the age of sixty-three.

Hongwu 30th year

"What a good granddaughter-in-law! What a good granddaughter-in-law!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes reddened, his eyes moistened slightly, and his aged body trembled slightly.

He understood that feeling all too well; one by one, his loved ones passed away, leaving him all alone in the world.

Thinking of these things, it was as if that moving yet heartbreaking melody was echoing in his ears again.

"Father, please don't do this. Mother and elder brother wouldn't want to see you like this in the afterlife."

"What?! Now that you're the crown prince, you're starting to lecture your old man?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, his face immediately turning sour, and he became displeased, launching into a tirade against Zhu Di.

"Grandpa, Dad is only thinking about your health. If Grandma and my older brother could see this from the afterlife, they might worry about you again."

Zhang immediately stepped forward, speaking well of Zhu Di while massaging Zhu Yuanzhang's shoulders to help him relax.

Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer angry, and looked at his granddaughter-in-law with a smile.

"Okay, I'll listen to my good granddaughter-in-law."

Zhu Di breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing completely, and inwardly praised him endlessly:

What a wonderful daughter-in-law!

The significance of being called a "female Yao and Shun" is self-evident.

Follow-up comment: To manage the harem for twenty years as the Crown Princess is unprecedented in history.

Follow-up comment: Empress Ma set a good precedent.

It's a pity that Zhu Zhanji made a foolish decision and insisted on deposing Hu Shanxiang.

Follow-up comment: Hu Shanxiang was also a virtuous empress, it's just a pity she had no children.

Follow-up comment: So Zhu Zhanji used this reason to depose Empress Hu and establish Empress Sun as the new empress.

Follow-up comment: What a wicked empress!!!

Follow-up comment: Zhu Zhanji himself regretted it in his later years, saying, "This was something I did when I was young." Doesn't that mean he was ignorant and blinded by beauty when he was young?

The drama "Ming Dynasty" has smeared too many characters, such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Lady Zhang, and Hu Shanxiang, but it tries to whitewash the wicked empress.

Follow-up comment: What more could you ask for in a female-centric drama? Removing the female lead wouldn't affect it at all.

Follow-up comment: I stopped watching after Zhu Zhanji died.

Follow-up comment: Isn't this drama about Zhu Di's family?

[The key point is that it was also adapted. It's one thing that she survives until the eighth year of the Jingtai reign in the drama, but the real problem is that during the Tumu Crisis, soldiers actually dared to point guns at her, which is simply outrageous.]

Follow-up comment: If that's really the case, then Prince Xiang, Zhu Zhanxian, would have to "command the pacification of the country" (or "suppress rebellion").

Follow-up comment: At that time, his biological son Zhu Zhanxian was still alive, so the reasons for the Jingnan Campaign were even more legitimate than those for Zhu Di.

Follow-up comment: Zhu Zhanshan: You wicked nephew, your fifth uncle is here to see you!

In the third year of Xuande,

Silence fell over the court; no one disturbed Zhu Zhanji's thoughts.

Zhu Zhanji looked at the poignant words displayed on the sky.

"The Demon Queen"

"This happened when I was young."

He didn't know whether he should depose the empress.

Opposition came from both the court and the public, including from his mother. Only a handful of people supported him, and even he himself later opposed deposing the empress.

Yang Rong and Jian Yi, who supported the deposition of the empress, remained silent with their heads bowed, their attitude clearly saying: Your Majesty, you decide what to do.

After careful consideration, Zhu Zhanji spoke with difficulty.

"I have decided to drop the matter of deposing the empress."