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

Inside the Qianqing Palace, there was an eerie silence.

Xing'an looked at his master's face, which had instantly changed from weak to cold, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

He had served Zhu Qiyu for many years and thought he understood his master. However, since the death of the crown prince, the emperor before him had become both familiar and utterly unfamiliar to him.

What's hidden in those eyes is a bottomless, icy pool, a chessboard of scheming to control the world.

"Your Majesty, you...you want to summon Chen Xun, Yu Qian, and Wang Wen?"

Xing'an's voice was trembling.

"Is this...is this appropriate? You just returned from Nangong..."

"Of course it's suitable."

Zhu Dijun's voice was flat and calm, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

"When I was playing games with Shen in the Southern Palace, they must have thought I had gone mad and was secretly plotting the succession of the state with Empress Dowager Sun somewhere in the palace."

He walked to the window, his gaze piercing through the palace walls and landing in the direction of the distant cabinet.

"Summoning them now will surely fill them with suspicion and uncertainty. It's a good opportunity for them to come and see what new tricks this madman is up to now."

Zhu Dijun slowly turned around, his sharp eyes fixed on Xing An.

"Xing'an".

"Can I trust you?"

This question, though seemingly simple, carries immense weight!

Xing'an's body jolted violently. Without the slightest hesitation, his knees buckled, and he fell heavily to the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold gold brick.

"His Majesty!"

His voice was trembling with emotion, filled with the excitement and fear of being trusted.

"This servant is an old woman who followed you from the Prince Cheng's residence! I am not a traitor like Yu Shan or Yu Gang!"

"My life belongs to Your Majesty! I would gladly face any danger, even death!"

"it is good."

A look of satisfaction finally appeared on Zhu Dijun's face.

He personally stepped forward and helped Xing'an up.

"Remember what you said today."

"After the court meeting, convey some messages for me, to the palace, to the outside of the palace, and to every corner of the capital where the sound can be heard."

Xing'an's breath hitched; he knew the real show was about to begin!

"Your Majesty, please give your orders!"

Judy Jun leaned close to his ear and slowly sang a ballad in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Xing'an's eyes widened with each word.

By the end, his face had turned deathly pale, his lips were trembling, and his eyes were filled with extreme horror and fear as he looked at Judy Jun.

It was as if he was hearing not a nursery rhyme, but a death curse from the deepest hell!

"Your Majesty...this...this..."

He hesitated for a long time, but couldn't utter a single word.

That's incredibly toxic!

This ballad is a thousand times, ten thousand times more poisonous than the most potent poison in the world!

This is to completely trample Yu Shaobao and his ilk's reputation into the mud, making them doomed forever!

"Scared?" Judy looked at him calmly.

"No! This servant is not afraid!" Xing'an shuddered and shook her head violently. "This servant will go and do it right away!"

"No rush."

Zhu Dijun waved his hand and sat back on the dragon throne, his cold face once again switching back to grief and numbness.

"The fish is about to take the bait."

……

Half an hour later.

The main hall of the Qianqing Palace.

The high-ranking civil and military officials, led by Yu Qian, Chen Xun, and Wang Wen, filed in.

Each person's face carried a solemn expression, a sense of doubt, and an undisguised wariness.

They had just received news from their spies that the emperor was in the Southern Palace, playing shuttlecock with the deposed crown prince Zhu Jianshen for half an hour.

This absurd act left everyone baffled.

Having just finished staging the "drama of establishing an heir," he immediately went off to play and have fun. No one can understand the thoughts in this emperor's mind anymore.

Everyone assumed that he had completely lost his mind due to the grief of losing his son.

But now, this "madman" has suddenly summoned all the officials.

What exactly does he want to do?

Filled with doubt, the group entered the hall and looked up.

On the dragon throne, Zhu Qiyu, dressed in plain clothes, had a face as white as paper and stared blankly into the void, looking like a soulless clay sculpture.

If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of his chest, one would almost think he was dead.

"Your Majesty, we, your humble servants, pay our respects."

Yu Qian led the way, bowing deeply in gratitude.

After a long while, the person on the dragon throne seemed to come back to his senses.

His eyes darted around for a moment, then landed on Yu Qian and the others.

"They're all... here..."

His voice was hoarse and his breath was barely a whisper.

"Cough...cough cough..."

He coughed violently, his body hunched over, as if he were coughing up his heart and lungs.

Xing'an quickly stepped forward and patted his back to soothe him.

Seeing this scene, the prince's officials relaxed their vigilance by a third.

It seems that it has truly collapsed.

"Your Majesty, please accept my condolences and take care of your health."

As the Grand Secretary, Chen Xun forced himself to say something polite.

"Dragon body?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Dijun suddenly burst into a nervous laugh, a dry and sorrowful laugh.

"My beloved Ji'er is gone... what use is this imperial body now?"

He raised his head and looked around at the people in the palace. His red and swollen eyes were filled with a despairing sense of defeat.

"I have summoned you all here because I wish to... I wish to do one last thing for Ji'er..."

Everyone's heart was in their throat!

coming!

What exactly is he going to do?

Zhu Dijun struggled to his feet from the dragon throne and, in an almost delirious tone, spoke slowly and deliberately:

"I have sinned against Heaven, and have brought death upon my own son."

"I wish to grant a general amnesty to pray for Ji'er's well-being, and also to atone for my own sins."

"What do you, my esteemed ministers, think?"

boom!

Upon hearing this, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence!

A general amnesty?!

Everyone is stunned!

After a brief silence, the live broadcast room exploded with excitement!

"Holy crap! This is a blatant conspiracy! This is a fucking open conspiracy!"

"I understand! Praying for my son, atoning for my sins! Who can refute this reason? Who dares to refute it?! If you refute it, you are disloyal, unfilial, cold-blooded, and heartless!"

["If Yu Qian and the others agree, it would be tantamount to acknowledging that all of the emperor's previous 'mad' actions were justified, including making Zhu Jianshen the crown prince! Because those were things done by a heartbroken father 'praying for his son's well-being'!"]

["If they disagree, hehe, the streamer can immediately stand on the moral high ground and say that they drove their son to his death, and now they won't even let him pray for his son! They'll be branded as traitors!"]

"In this game of chess, advancing or retreating both lead to certain death! Yu Qian and his men are on the verge of being roasted alive!"

Your Highness, Yu Qian's brows were furrowed tightly into a knot.

His intuition told him it was a trap!

But ironically, he couldn't find any reason to refuse this trap!

Praying for the prince's well-being and granting a general amnesty are both reasonable and justifiable.

If he opposes it, what will the world think of him if word gets out?

They would say that Yu Qian was mean-spirited and ungrateful, showing no mercy even to a deceased child!

His lifelong reputation will be ruined in an instant!

But if you agree...

Yu Qian glanced at the emperor, who looked dazed on the dragon throne, and the unease in his heart grew stronger.

He always felt that things weren't that simple.

Just as he hesitated, Wang Wen, the Minister of Personnel, stepped forward and echoed his sentiments:

"Your Majesty is merciful; it is only right and proper to pray for the Crown Prince Huaixian's well-being! I second that proposal!"

As soon as he spoke, several officials immediately echoed his sentiments.

The situation instantly turned in Judy Jun's favor.

Yu Qian sighed deeply as he watched this scene.

He knew he had no other choice.

"I... second that proposal."

He managed to utter three words with difficulty.

"well……"

On the dragon throne, Zhu Dijun muttered to himself, a sorrowful smile on his face.

"In that case... let the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites handle this matter..."

"I... am tired..."

He waved his hand, and with Xing'an's help, he staggered toward the back hall.

What remained for all the ministers was that desolate, hunched back, as if it could be crushed at any moment.

Watching him disappear behind the palace, Yu Qian, Chen Xun, and the others felt a mix of emotions.

Is that how it ended?

It went so smoothly that it felt almost unreal to them.

It was as if they had thrown a punch with all their might, only to land heavily on cotton.

And none of them noticed.

The moment he turned and entered the inner palace, the "heartbroken" emperor's lips curled into a chilling smile.

His voice, transmitted precisely to Xing'an behind him using a secret method, reached his ears accurately.

"Let's do it."

"Let that nursery rhyme resound throughout the entire capital tonight!"

"I want certain people to know..."

"What do you mean, 'A widow's door is always a source of gossip'!"

"I will make Commander Yu, Old Man Chen, and Wang the Face taste what it's like to be scorned by the people!"