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

Compared to the frequently changing royal family, they are the perfect prey for the "possession" tactic!

A large and prosperous family with hundreds of collateral branches and illegitimate offspring.

Who can guarantee that every member of the clan is of pure blood?

Who can guarantee that a certain son who was sent to run a business in another place will not be quietly "replaced" at some unknown moment?

Who can guarantee that the suddenly enlightened, exceptionally talented distant nephew isn't a "ghost" who's been carefully cultivated for over a decade?!

In a short time, from the Cui clan of Qinghe and the Lu clan of Fanyang in the north, to the Wang clan of Langya and the Xie clan of Chenjun in the south...

Across the land of China, all the renowned ancient families with a history spanning thousands of years have been swept up in a silent yet bloody storm of self-examination!

The Wang family mansion in Taiyuan during the Tang Dynasty.

An elderly clansman with white hair pointed tremblingly to the memorial tablet of a young man in the ancestral hall.

"Investigate thoroughly!"

"Investigate all traces of his studies abroad back then!"

"After a serious illness, his personality changed drastically, and he became exceptionally talented in writing. At the time, I thought it was the spirit of my ancestors, but now I think... he was possessed by an evil spirit!"

During the Song Dynasty, the Su family of Sichuan.

A steward is reporting to the master of the house.

"Master, we've found out about that son-in-law from the third branch of the family. Everything he did before marrying into the family was a lie! He... he's not from a poor, scholarly family at all!"

The patriarch's face turned ashen, and the teacup in his hand was crushed to pieces.

"Get rid of it."

"Make him and everyone he has ever come into contact with disappear from this world."

Countless long-forgotten cases were unearthed.

Countless clansmen of dubious identities were secretly interrogated, emitting mournful screams under the harsh family rules.

Trust, the cornerstone that holds a family together, is now crumbling and shattered under the impact of the "ghost hypothesis"!

They are afraid!

They were really scared!

They were not afraid of dynastic changes or war.

Because they always managed to survive in new dynasties, or even thrive, thanks to their profound knowledge and experience.

But they are afraid of being "possessed"!

Because that would mean that everything their family had accumulated over a hundred or even a thousand years would be used to benefit others!

They will be drained of their last drop of blood, just like that family of an only daughter who was married into the family by an Indian man, and then ruthlessly abandoned, with even the trace of their existence erased!

Moreover, they use their names, live under their skin, and cause trouble, throwing the blame onto them.

This terrified them even more than having their entire family executed!

And this fear that swept across all worlds, like rivers flowing into the sea, ultimately converged on the very person who started it all.

The Ming Dynasty, the second year of the Jianwen Emperor's reign.

The atmosphere inside the Hanlin Academy was frozen.

The young Yang Shiqi held his newly written policy essay, ready to present it to his superior, but found the surrounding air as cold as ice.

His colleagues, who were calling him brother and chatting and laughing with him yesterday, are now three steps away from him.

Their eyes no longer held admiration and praise.

It was a gaze that mixed with inquiry, alienation, fear, and even... disgust.

They looked at him as if he were a walking corpse, dressed in human skin, that had just crawled out of his grave.

"Editor Yang..."

One of the colleagues finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke in a dry voice.

"you……"

"Who exactly are you...?"

He didn't finish his sentence, but the unspoken meaning lingered in Yang Shiqi's heart like a venomous snake.

The Ming Dynasty, the fifteenth year of the Yongle reign.

cabinet.

Yang Shiqi had just proposed a brilliant plan for reforming the canal transport system, but found that no one agreed with it.

Yang Rong held his teacup, his gaze wandering, avoiding eye contact.

Yang Pu, however, was busy organizing documents and seemed not to have heard him speak.

Zhu Di's cold, scrutinizing gaze seemed to linger in the air of the duty room, sending chills down Yang Shiqi's spine.

He felt like a prisoner who had been stripped naked and thrown into the snow.

Everyone around him was scrutinizing him and doubting him.

The first year of the Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty.

On the throne room.

The gaze of the new emperor, Zhu Zhanji, was like the sharpest knife, repeatedly cutting into him.

Below the court, his former allies and protégés, whom he had personally promoted, now looked at him with unfamiliar eyes.

It was as if it were asking, "Teacher, is what's being said on the sky true?"

Are you really a ghost who stole someone else's life?

The fifth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming Dynasty.

On his sickbed, the elderly Yang Shiqi was suddenly awakened from a nightmare.

He dreamt that he was being dragged by countless hands toward a bottomless abyss.

The owners of those hands included the Jianwen Emperor, the Yongle Emperor, the Renzong Emperor, and the Xuanzong Emperor…

They were all asking him the same question.

"you!"

"Who is it?!"

This question, which transcends time and space and embodies the fear and suspicion of billions of living beings, finally erupts simultaneously across all times and spaces at this moment!

In countless parallel universes, Yang Shiqi, whether young, middle-aged, or old, is judged by the entire world at the same time!

"I...I am Yang Shiqi! I'm from Taihe, Jiangxi!"

Yang Shiqi of the Jianwen Dynasty, pale-faced, tried to explain, his voice weak without even realizing it.

"Absurd! Utter nonsense!"

Yang Shiqi, during the Yongle reign, angrily rebuked his colleagues, attempting to use anger to mask the turmoil within him.

"This is a slander by future generations! A vicious scheme to sow discord between the ruler and his ministers! Your Majesty, please see the truth, this old minister is innocent!"

Yang Shiqi, during the Xuande reign, knelt before Zhu Zhanji, tears streaming down his face, his voice hoarse and strained.

They struggled, argued, and tried to use the reputation of "wise ministers" they had built up throughout their lives to withstand this overwhelming flood.

However, at that moment...

Above the sky, Judy Jun's cold and mocking voice, like a final verdict, slowly resounded.

"Injustice? Some might say I'm smearing a loyal minister for the sake of my royal ancestors. Well then, family, let's present the evidence!"

"Let's speak with facts, and with filial piety, which was most valued by scholars in ancient times."