Sky Curtain: The opening scene explains the four major cases of the Ming Dynasty plus the early Ming

A hellish start.

When those four words, along with those shocking charges, fell from the sky once again.

Zhu Zhanji, in the first year of the Xuande reign, smiled.

The laughter started low, like a suppressed sob in the throat, then grew louder and louder, finally turning into a wild laugh that echoed throughout the entire hall, making people laugh until tears streamed down their faces and their whole bodies trembled.

"Haha...hahahaha..."

He finally understood.

I understand completely now.

Why has he always felt like a puppet since he ascended the throne, with every decision he makes being rejected by the three Yangs using various "ancestral rules" and "benevolent governance" as justifications?

Why did he, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, live like a high-ranking prisoner, ultimately numbing himself and escaping reality by fighting crickets?

It turns out that from the moment he ascended the throne, he stepped into a trap tailor-made for him.

A trap dug by his own father and buried by his own mother and wife!

He is not governing the country!

He's paying the price for his father's stupidity!

He was engaged in a life-or-death struggle with a group of his closest people, a struggle in which he would never know the truth until his death!

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Zhu Zhanji slowly stood up from the ground.

The back, which had been somewhat hunched due to exhaustion, straightened inch by inch at this moment! Like a peerless spear that had been polished anew!

His eyes, red with grief and indignation, swept across the hall.

Everyone who met his gaze, whether eunuchs, palace maids, or guards, felt as if they were being stared at by a primordial beast that had returned from hell, their bodies stiff and unable to move!

His gaze finally settled on the two women who were limp and lifeless.

His mother, Empress Dowager Zhang.

His wife, Sun Ruowei.

"Mother Empress."

Zhu Zhanji spoke slowly, his voice hoarse, yet carrying an unprecedented calm, a deathly calm.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

Zhang was trembling violently. She looked up at her son's familiar yet unfamiliar face, her lips trembling, but she couldn't utter a single word.

quibble?

Faced with the ironclad chain of evidence in the sky, any sophistry would seem pale and powerless.

beg for mercy?

She could see not a trace of pity in her son's eyes, which were like a dead heart.

"And you?"

Zhu Zhanji's gaze then turned to Sun Ruowei.

"Empress, haven't I treated you well?"

"In order to make you empress, I did not hesitate to depose Lady Hu and argue with my court officials."

"Is this how you repay me?"

Sun Ruowei was already terrified. She frantically kowtowed, screaming incoherently, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare me! I didn't! I'm innocent! It's Tianmu... it's that descendant of the future talking nonsense!"

"Nonsense?"

Zhu Zhanji laughed, but the laugh was more painful than a cry.

"Yes, I also hope that all of this is nonsense."

"I hope that my father is not a fool who hands the butcher's knife to outsiders."

"I hope that my mother is not a wicked woman who murders her husband and steals the country."

"I hope that my wife will not be a wicked empress who murders her husband and only seeks personal gain for her family!"

"I wish that my son... would still be my own son!"

With each word he spoke, his voice rose a notch, until finally it was a thunderous roar!

He suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Sun Ruowei by the neck, and lifted her off the ground!

Tell me!

"Whose child is Qi Zhen?!"

Sun Ruowei's face turned purple from his choking, her legs kicking wildly, her eyes filled with extreme fear. Looking at Zhu Zhanji's face, twisted with rage, she finally broke down.

"It's...it's from...Sister Hu..."

With her last ounce of strength, she managed to squeeze out a few words from her throat.

boom!

Having received the answer, Zhu Zhanji's last remaining thought snapped.

He casually tossed Sun Ruowei to the ground like trash, then turned around and faced the outside of the hall, where the world was clear and bright.

He knew he had no time for grief, no time for anger.

The live broadcast gave him a chance to see the truth.

It also gave him his only chance to break the deadlock!

He must clean house as quickly and ruthlessly as possible!

"Someone come here!"

Zhu Zhanji's voice was icy cold and devoid of any emotion.

"Issue my decree!"

"Empress Dowager Zhang is unworthy of her position, harbors treacherous intentions, frames loyal officials, and plots to murder the late Emperor. Her crimes are unforgivable! She is hereby granted... a white silk ribbon, to depart immediately, with her body preserved intact!"

"Empress Sun, with a heart of stone, attempted to assassinate the emperor but failed, then murdered her mother and seized her son, defiling the palace! She is hereby deposed as a commoner, banished to the Cold Palace, and placed under strict guard!"

"Marquis Sun Zhong of Huichang, Earl Zhang Chang of Pengcheng, and Earl Zhang Sheng of Huian, along with their three clans, have colluded with the inner palace in a plot to rebel. The evidence is irrefutable! The Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is hereby ordered to personally lead the elite cavalry to seal off the residences of the three clans and arrest them immediately. Anyone who resists will be executed without exception! Leave no one alive!"

One decree after another was issued from his mouth, like the sharpest knife, slashing at those who were once closest to him and also hurt him the most!

The entire hall was deathly silent!

Everyone was stunned by the young emperor's ruthless methods!

"besides!"

Zhu Zhanji's gaze fell toward the palace where Hu Shanxiang, the empress he had deposed, was located.

A hint of guilt and a touch of resolve flashed in his eyes.

"By imperial decree, the former Empress Hu, virtuous and kind, who suffered injustice, is now greatly comforted by the truth. She is hereby reinstated as Empress, to rule over the six palaces!"

"From this day forward, the eldest son of the Emperor, Zhu Qizhen, and the second son, Zhu Qiyu, will be personally raised by Empress Hu!"

After he finished doing all this, it was as if all the strength in his body had been drained.

He knew that he had killed his mother, his former lover.

But what he saved was the Zhu family's empire!

The live broadcast by SkyPower, showing Zhu Zhanji's performance in the first year of the Xuande reign, caused an uproar among those who watched the scene!

"Holy crap! Decisive and ruthless! This is the Xuande Emperor! This is the Yongle Emperor's good grandson!"

"That was ruthless! But it was also incredibly satisfying! This kind of swift and decisive action is exactly what you need to deal with a traitor like this!"

"I'm so happy! Hu Shanxiang has finally been exonerated! The good grandson has finally done something right!"

"This is a true emperor! He severed his own emotional ties for the sake of the country! The difficulty of being a Ming Dynasty emperor was indeed the greatest in history!"

Yongle reign,

As Zhu Di looked at the image of his grandson, who had stood up again despite being covered in blood, in the first year of the Xuande reign, two streams of hot tears flowed from his bloodshot eyes for the first time.

"Good...good holy grandson!"

"My...good grandson!"

Not only in the first year of the Xuande reign, but throughout all the Xuande reigns, even Zhu Zhanji on his deathbed issued the same order.

On his sickbed, Zhu Gaochi, whose life force was nearly exhausted, listened to the words on the sky and tears of regret streamed down his cloudy eyes.

He finally realized how wrong he had been. His so-called benevolent rule had resulted in the betrayal of his wife and children and the turmoil of the country.

"Come...come someone..." he roared with his last breath.

"Seize that wicked woman Zhang! And those bastards from the Imperial Hospital! Don't let a single one of them escape!"

On his deathbed, this fat emperor finally made the most correct, and also the bloodiest, decision of his life.

Zhu Zhanji, during the Xuande reign, did not stop after issuing all his decrees.

He stood in the hall, listening to the roar of the Imperial Guards outside the palace as they set out, but his gaze pierced through the palace walls and looked toward the Wenyuan Pavilion.

The evil spirits in the harem have been eliminated.

But those wolves in sheep's clothing still sat there in the imperial court.

The Three Yangs...

A cold smile crept across Zhu Zhanji's lips.

My dear teachers, it's your turn now.

This show has only just begun!

I think about how many hidden sins your third uncle's descendants will expose.