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

Chapter 36 The Misfortune of the Ming Dynasty

Accompanied by music, words rolled in, almost filling the entire sky: 【The Ominous Song of the Ming Dynasty】

【Our U.A., our girls, our Biao'er~】

No one will call me Chongba anymore.

The Ming Dynasty?

The Ming Dynasty founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of all time, who was mentioned on the screen before?

The song "The Great Ming Dynasty is in Misfortune" does sound a bit sad. In the later Ming Dynasty, whether it was the emperor or his ministers, they would understand as soon as they saw the words on the sky. It was about the old story of the eldest grandson of the Taizu Emperor, Empress Xiaoci Gao, and Crown Prince Yiwen.

Emperor Taizu had a miserable life; no one suffered more than him. His suffering was like that of wild grass under a cartwheel or bitter herbs in a crack in a rock.

Many officials, especially those from the later years of the Hongwu reign, were heartbroken. "Your Majesty the Empress, Your Highness the Crown Prince, we miss you!" On April 24th of the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign, smoke filled Beijing. Cries of agony and screams echoed from every corner of the city, converging into a wave of sound that reached Coal Hill. On Coal Hill, under the crooked tree, Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, hung a hemp rope on the tree and tied it in a tight knot.

As the music played on the sky, Zhu Youjian felt a pang of sorrow. The Taizu Emperor, the Chengzu Emperor, the Ming Dynasty—in the end, they all perished in my hands. Zhu Youjian took off his hat and handed it to the eunuch Wang Chengen beside him. The wind whipped his hair around, but Zhu Youjian's eyes were filled with determination. His spine was ramrod straight. Even if the country fell and he died, he would not betray the spirit of his ancestors.

As the eunuch Wang Chengen's shrill voice pierced the sky, a figure swayed precariously on a crooked tree, proclaiming, "Respectfully seeing off the Emperor of the Great Ming on his journey."

As the music played, images appeared on the screen: "Our U.A. High School, our girls!!"

"Our prize!"

As a child, Zhu Yuanzhang watched helplessly as his parents died before his eyes, and then his grandson Zhu Xiong Ying died young.

In the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign, little Zhu Xiong Ying nestled in Zhu Yuanzhang's arms, feeling the embrace tightening. "Is it raining?"

Zhu Xiong Ying looked up at the sky curiously, only to find that the sky was still clear.

"Grandpa Emperor, is the Zhu Xiong Ying mentioned on the celestial screen me?"

"Will I die in the end?"

Zhu Xiong Ying's bewildered words shattered Zhu Yuanzhang's fragile resolve. He wiped the tears from his face, hugged Zhu Xiong Ying tightly, and said in a choked voice, "Don't worry, your imperial grandfather will never let you die."

"absolute!!!"

The scene then shifts to Zhu Yuanzhang in his youth. In his prison cell, he leans against the wall, repeatedly touching his stomach.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes suddenly brightened. Through the railing, he saw Empress Ma and hurried forward. Empress Ma looked at him with heartache and took out a steaming hot flatbread from her bosom, handing it to Zhu Yuanzhang. The flatbread was still steaming hot, clearly fresh out of the oven.

"This pancake is so hot, didn't it burn you if you kept it in your clothes?"

"I'd love to!"

"Girl, don't look down on your house now. In the future, we'll definitely build you a magnificent palace."

"I'll let you live in the biggest house and live the best life."

"I don't care about Chaotian Palace. What I care about is you."

On the phoenix bed in the Qianqing Palace, Empress Ma, her hair streaked with gray, leaned against Zhu Yuanzhang. The medicine bowl in Zhu Yuanzhang's right hand trembled incessantly, his usually dignified face filled with fear, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. "Sister, you absolutely cannot die! If you die, no one will call me Chongba anymore."

A faint smile tugged at Empress Ma's sallow face. "I've had enough of being an empress in this life, but I haven't had enough of being your sister."

The scene shifts to Empress Ma lying lifelessly on her couch, clearly already deceased.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood before the bed, his voice filled with caution, "Sister, I've come to see you." He preferred to believe Empress Ma was joking. Seeing that she still didn't react, Zhu Yuanzhang's tone became urgent, "Empress, listen to my decree! I order you to open your eyes and speak to me immediately!"

"Open your eyes and talk to us right now!!!"

The voices grew louder and louder, hysterical, and incredulous. For the first time, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that imperial power was so powerless, and that birth, aging, sickness, and death would not care about your status or the power you possessed.

"Biao'er, your mother is dead," Zhu Yuanzhang said, his face filled with grief, tears streaming down his face. This emperor, who rose from humble beginnings to become a great ruler, was a man of immense talent and ambition.

"She's dead."

That night, the emperor wept bitterly and never appointed another empress.

Empress Ma, in the Hongwu era, looked helplessly at Zhu Yuanzhang and his sons surrounding her, saying, "I'm not dead yet, am I?"

"Besides, nobody can escape death."

Empress Ma was quite philosophical about life and death; she knew everyone dies eventually. "Sister, you can't die! What will we do after you're gone?" Zhu Yuanzhang, remembering his previous argument with Empress Ma, wanted to slap himself. He truly couldn't imagine how he would cope if she died. Xu Da, looking anxious, said, "Your Majesty, you should quickly issue an edict summoning capable people from the common people to treat the Empress's illness."

The civil officials echoed in agreement, saying that Empress Ma could not die. If the Empress were to die, who in the world could stop His Majesty?

Something's not right. Besides His Majesty calling the Empress "Your Majesty," something else seemed to be mentioned on the sky just now. Some people looked horrified and turned their gazes to Zhu Biao, who was standing around Empress Ma. Could it be that His Highness the Crown Prince would also die young in the future?

Although Tianmu had previously mentioned that Zhu Di would ascend the throne, the ministers all thought that something had happened to Zhu Biao after he became emperor. However, they never expected that Zhu Biao would die before His Majesty, and His Highness the Crown Prince was in the prime of his life.

As the scene shifts, Zhu Yuanzhang's hair has turned completely white. He leans on a cane, his eyes blank and empty. Behind him lies the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty—Zhu Biao. Zhu Yuanzhang no longer has the strength to cry. He lost his father in his early years, his wife in middle age, and his son in his later years. The successive blows have taken away Zhu Yuanzhang's soul and the few remaining traces of his warmth. He leans on his cane and walks down the steps step by step. When he looks at the camera, an overwhelming imperial aura is palpable. Zhu Chongba is dead, leaving behind only an empty Zhu Yuanzhang shrouded in lust for power.

The music ended as it reflected Zhu Yuanzhang's aged face.

"I only regret that my heart has plummeted a thousand feet, unable to escape the past."

"A fool is only saddened by love."

It was so tragic. Zhu Yuanzhang suffered so much. He endured all the hardships of the world. Whether it was the emperor or the common people, if they could imagine themselves in Zhu Yuanzhang's shoes, they probably wouldn't have been able to endure it at all.

In the twenty-sixth year of the Hongwu reign, the officials knelt on the ground in fear. The Zhu Yuanzhang in the final moments of the sky was exactly the same as the Zhu Yuanzhang of today, exuding the same imposing aura.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought he had accepted the reality of the deaths of Empress Ma and his eldest son Zhu Biao, but as he listened to the music on the sky, the promise he made to his sister in the hut years ago resurfaced in his mind. He remembered how Zhu Biao grew up little by little, from a tiny child to someone who could eventually support the entire country.

The passing of a loved one is like a heavy rain, leaving a lingering dampness in the heart.

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes in anguish, muttering to himself.

"Our girl, our Biao'er"

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