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

Cining Palace.

The once solemn and majestic palace was now deathly silent.

The palace maids and eunuchs knelt on the ground, not daring to lift their heads. The atmosphere in the entire palace was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Sun Ruowei, the once all-powerful Empress Dowager, sat upright in the main seat.

She wore the most magnificent phoenix robe and a crown with nine dragons and four phoenixes, striving to maintain her last shred of dignity.

But her slightly trembling hands and pale lips betrayed her inner fear.

The palace doors were pushed open silently.

A tall figure walked in, backlit.

It was Zhu Qizhen.

He wasn't wearing a dragon robe, just a black casual outfit, yet he exuded a more imposing aura than a general in armor.

His footsteps were very light, stepping on the smooth, mirror-like gold bricks without making a sound, like a vengeful ghost from the underworld.

"Mother Empress."

Zhu Qizhen spoke, his voice flat, revealing neither joy nor anger.

He even performed a standard court etiquette between a ruler and his subject towards Sun Ruowei.

Sun Ruowei clenched her fists so tightly that her nails almost dug into her flesh. She forced herself to remain calm and said, "It's good that the Emperor... is back. It's good that he's back."

"Yes, I'm back."

Zhu Qi-zhen stood up, looked around the magnificent palace, and a playful smile appeared on his face.

"Thanks to Mother Empress, I slept very well in the Oirat tent."

"Thanks to the Empress Dowager, I am living a very comfortable life within the high walls of the Southern Palace."

With each word he spoke, Sun Ruowei's face grew paler.

"What...what do you want?"

Sun Ruowei's voice finally trembled slightly.

"I don't want anything."

Zhu Qizhen walked up to her, slowly squatted down, and looked her in the eye.

This action made Sun Ruowei feel unprecedented humiliation and fear.

"I just wanted to ask the Empress Dowager a few questions."

Zhu Qizhen's gaze was like two poisoned daggers, piercing straight into the depths of Sun Ruowei's heart.

"Wang Zhen certainly deserved to die in the Tumu Crisis. But if it weren't for your backing and tacit approval of the civil service group purging the powerful nobles within the palace, would Wang Zhen have dared to lure me out of the capital?"

Sun Ruowei's breath hitched!

"After I was captured, why were you in such a hurry to trade my throne with those traitors who murdered the emperor? Was it all for your position as Empress Dowager, ruling from behind the curtain?"

"And my younger brother, Zhu Qiyu!"

Zhu Qizhen's voice suddenly turned chilling!

"His ascension to the throne was your conspiracy! His puppet status was your masterpiece! But he is, after all, my own brother, your son in name only!"

"Why won't you even spare his only bloodline?!"

Zhu Qizhen suddenly reached out and grabbed Sun Ruowei by the throat!

He didn't use force, he just gently gripped it.

But those icy fingers made Sun Ruowei stiffen all over, as if she had fallen into an ice cave!

Tell me!

Zhu Qi-zhen's face was almost touching hers as he asked, word by word.

"My nephew, Zhu Jianji!"

"That child is only five years old!"

"Yes! No! It wasn't you! Who! Killed! Me!"

boom!

It felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in Sun Ruowei's head!

Her pupils contracted sharply, and all the color drained from her face, leaving only a deathly pallor!

She wanted to scream, to deny, to struggle.

But under Zhu Qizhen's all-knowing, icy gaze, all her pretense was instantly torn apart!

"!!! He asked! He asked! Baozong finally got the answer!"

"That vicious woman! Look at her expression! It was definitely her! There's no one else but her!"

"What does killing a 'grandson' with whom she has no blood relation mean to a woman who would sell her own son for the throne? That child was blocking her path to ruling from behind the curtain!"

"Kill her! Fortress! Kill this viper! Avenge the young prince!"

Before the celestial screen, spectators from all times and spaces were filled with anger!

They wished they could pass through the sky and strangle this woman with their own hands!

Zhu Qizhen looked at her terrified expression and slowly released his grip.

He smiled.

That smile was cruel yet triumphant.

"It seems I guessed right."

He stood up and took two steps back, as if afraid of getting his hands dirty.

"Kill you? No."

Zhu Qizhen shook his head.

"Killing you directly would be too easy for you."

"I will let you live."

"I want you to see with your own eyes how you lose everything."

He clapped his hands.

Outside the hall, several eunuchs carried in a huge box.

The box was opened, and inside were countless memorial tablets.

Those are the memorial tablets of generals and nobles who died in the Battle of Tumu, as well as innocent civilians from the southeastern coast who were harmed by Japanese pirates due to the turmoil in the court!

"Mother, don't you like power?"

"From this day forward, these are your only 'subjects'."

"I will issue an edict to strip you of all your titles and imprison you in this Cining Palace for life!"

"Every day, you must kowtow and repent before these memorial tablets!"

"Until you die!"

Zhu Qizhen's tone was frighteningly calm.

"You...you dare!"

Sun Ruowei finally broke down. She screamed, "I am the Empress Dowager! I am the late Emperor's Empress! You can't do this to me!"

"The Empress Dowager?"

Zhu Qizhen gave a cold laugh.

"Soon, you won't be anymore."

He turned around and walked out of the hall.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you something."

As he reached the door, he stopped, turned around, and wore a strange smile.

"My younger brother, Prince Cheng, Zhu Qiyu, passed away yesterday."

"Grateful for the brotherly bond, I have specially posthumously honored him with the title 'Li'."

"As for the mausoleum he built, I felt it was too extravagant and inconsistent with his status, so I have ordered it to be completely destroyed."

"And his concubines, I thought he was too lonely in the underworld, so I let them go down to keep him company."

After finishing his speech, Zhu Qizhen walked out of Cining Palace without looking back.

Sun Ruowei was left alone, slumped on the ground.

As she listened to Zhu Qizhen's nonchalant words, each one felt like a heavy hammer blow to her heart.

The Empress Dowager was deposed, imprisoned, and forced to repent daily...

My younger brother died, and his posthumous title was "Li," which is the most vicious posthumous title!

Their tombs were destroyed, and even in death they could not find peace!

All the concubines were to be buried alive with him!

ruthless!

Too bad!

This is no longer revenge; it is the most cruel way to completely erase all traces of the Jingtai Dynasty from this world!

And all of this is just the beginning!

She, the once high and mighty Empress Dowager, will rot away in this cold palace, under the "gaze" of countless wronged souls, amidst endless fear and regret!

"ah--!"

A heart-wrenching, desperate scream emanated from the Cining Palace, echoing throughout the Forbidden City.

But nobody paid any attention.

A pawn that has lost its value, her wails are more meaningless than the sound of the wind.

Zhu Qizhen stood outside the palace, listening to the screams, his face expressionless.

He raised his head and looked up at the gloomy sky.

Blood debts must be repaid in blood.

The capital was just the beginning. There were also the provinces of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian, and the large merchants and landlords of the Jiangnan region, which later generations called the "Great Merchants of the South," who supported and drove the vast civil service group, a complex and intricate network that sucked the lifeblood of the empire.

I will personally tear it to shreds, inch by inch!

[Modern Live Streaming Room]

Zhu Dijun recounted the purges that began after Zhu Qizhen's return to the throne, then mentioned Sun Ruowei and shook his head, saying:

"The God of War's cleansing procedures were fine, but his mistake was that he was too merciful. He shouldn't have imprisoned Sun Ruowei; instead, he should have let her die immediately from illness or disappear in flames. This sowed the seeds for his later death."