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

The chaos in Fengtian Hall spread like a silent plague at an alarming rate.

The news traveled faster than the fastest courier, rushing out of the palace gates and into the depths of the palace walls that separated the inside from the outside, symbolizing supreme power.

Renshou Palace.

The air is filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and the atmosphere is warm as spring.

Sun Ruowei, the most powerful woman in the Ming Dynasty, sat serenely on her phoenix couch, holding a string of emerald beads in her hand.

Yu Qian, Wang Wen, and Chen Xun are a trinity, the swords she trusts most.

With these three swords in the imperial court, the "good child" she personally helped to the throne will forever remain just a sheep kept in captivity on the throne.

She had even begun to plan how, once the storm had passed, she could "follow the will of Heaven" and allow the "ill-stricken" emperor to meet his ancestors with dignity.

A close female official rushed in, tumbling and crawling, her face completely pale.

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager! No...something terrible has happened!"

Sun Ruowei frowned slightly, and paused for a moment as she turned the prayer beads.

"What kind of behavior is this, all flustered and disorganized?"

Her voice remained calm, carrying the authority of someone long accustomed to a position of power.

The female official knelt on the ground, trembling like a leaf, and could not speak coherently.

"At...the meeting...Your Majesty, he...he..."

"Young Master Yu...Young Master Yu...he...he vomited blood and fainted!"

"What?!"

Sun Ruowei suddenly stood up, and the prayer beads in her hand fell to the ground with a "crack," shattering and scattering in all directions.

She walked a few steps to the lady-in-waiting and grabbed her collar.

"Explain yourself! What exactly happened?!"

The female official was so frightened that she cried out and recounted the entire dramatic confrontation that had taken place in the Fengtian Hall, word for word.

From nursery rhymes to questioning, and then to that heart-wrenching statement...

"Do you take me for Ji Chang, that beast who ate his own eldest son, Boyi Kao?!"

"You Confucian scholars still praise Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, as a beast who killed his own wife and four children for the throne!"

……

When the roar came out of the female official's trembling mouth, Sun Ruowei's body swayed violently.

She let go, staggered back two steps, and fell heavily onto the phoenix couch.

On that well-maintained, elegant face, the color was fading at a visible rate.

What did she hear?

That Zhu Qiyu, who had always been docile, timid, and even somewhat dull-witted in her presence…

Did he use his son's death to set up a scheme?

Using the father-son relationship as a weapon?

In front of the entire court, they even dragged out the sage emperor praised by Confucianism and whipped his corpse, completely blocking any possibility of Yu Qian's defense.

This……

Is this still the Prince of Cheng she knew?

Do not!

impossible!

This is definitely not a plan that man could come up with!

There must be someone behind him!

But...who is it?

Who could have come up with such a vicious, insane, and flawless scheme?!

Sun Ruowei's mind raced, names flashing through her mind before she rejected them one by one.

Suddenly, a place she had long overlooked appeared in her mind like a ghost.

Nangong!

That man she had imprisoned for years, whom she thought had become utterly useless... Zhu Qizhen!

Yes!

It must be that the brothers teamed up!

But... that's not right!

Zhu Qizhen, that fool, if he had such cunning, how could he have ended up as a prisoner at Tumu Fortress!

So what exactly...?

Sun Ruowei's breathing became rapid, and her chest heaved violently.

She suddenly realized an even more terrifying problem.

"What else did he... say?"

She asked in a dry voice.

The lady-in-waiting answered tremblingly:

"Your Majesty...His Majesty has decreed...to reinstate Prince Yi, Zhu Jianshen, as...Crown Prince!"

boom!!!

These words were like a black lightning bolt, striking Sun Ruowei hard on the top of her head!

She froze completely.

The shock and anger on his face instantly turned into bone-chilling fear.

She got it.

She finally understood!

This whole scheme, from beginning to end, was not about avenging Zhu Jianji!

It's not simply about bringing down Yu Qian!

This is... General!

It was that "Zhu Qiyu" who, in this most outrageous way, was announcing something to her and to the entire world—

He, Zhu Qiyu, has completely lost control!

Zhu Jianshen was reinstated as crown prince!

This move is more than just cutting off the enemy's supply lines!

This is like burning away all of Sun Ruowei's possible future strategies with raging fire!

What is her biggest trump card?

It means "the foundation of the nation is unstable, and the state is in grave danger!"

As long as the emperor has no heir or the crown prince is too young, she, as the empress dowager, has sufficient reason and authority to interfere in court affairs, and even... depose and install the emperor!

But now?

Zhu Qiyu voluntarily returned the position of crown prince to Zhu Qizhen's son!

He was essentially telling everyone: Even if I die, the throne will belong to my nephew! Our Zhu family has its own internal succession; it's none of your business, outsiders, to interfere!

In that case, what excuse could Sun Ruowei possibly use?

What excuse do Shi Heng, Cao Jixiang, and their ilk still have to use for "welcoming back the retired emperor"?

All the conspiracies and excuses became a joke in the face of this "Crown Prince Zhu Jianshen"!

"puff……"

Sun Ruowei felt a sweet taste in her throat, but couldn't catch her breath and felt her vision go black.

She gripped the table, desperately trying to keep her swaying body afloat.

Looking out at the gloomy sky, she realized for the first time that the chessboard she thought she had completely under control had slipped out of her grasp.

That sheep she always thought she could manipulate at will.

Without anyone knowing, it has transformed into a... man-eating, all-consuming evil dragon!

……

Nangong.

A dry well, a waning moon, and a cold wind.

When that aged figure reappeared before Zhu Qizhen like a ghost, recounting everything that had happened in Fengtian Hall in detail...

Zhu Qizhen remained silent for a long time.

He just stood there in front of the broken window, motionless, like a petrified statue.

It became.

That madman's plan actually came true!

Moreover, it was even more ruthless and cruel than he had imagined!

"Ji Chang... Liu Heng..."

Zhu Qizhen murmured the two names, his body trembling uncontrollably.

That's not fear.

Rather, it was a kind of... terror mixed with awe and fanaticism!

He lost.

He, Zhu Qizhen, was utterly defeated by his younger brother.

It wasn't the throne that caused them to lose, but their lack of vision and their methods!

He was still thinking about how to endure humiliation, how to prolong his life, and how to find an opportunity to take back everything that belonged to him.

But that madman had already overturned the table, dragging everyone into a crazy game of chess where it was a fight to the death!

He used Zhu Qizhen's son as his own talisman!

He used Zhu Qizhen's hatred as his fuel!

it is good!

What a devil's deal!

"Master..." the old eunuch's voice held a hint of hesitation, "We...really must..."

"Call him Master."

Zhu Qizhen slowly turned around, and in the darkness, his eyes shone with an alarming light.

"From this day forward—no, from the moment he stepped into the Nangong Palace—he is our one and only master!"

His voice no longer held the struggle and resentment of before, but only a resolute determination to burn his bridges.

"My son, Jian Shen, is now the Crown Prince..."

Zhu Qizhen muttered to himself, a strange smile appearing on his face.

"He's the Crown Prince..."

He finally understood his brother's true intentions.

This is not a hostage.

This is a freshman!

A deposed "Prince Yi" who could die in the shadows at any moment, and a "Crown Prince" who has been brought back to the forefront and is now the focus of everyone's attention.

Which one is more likely to survive?

The answer is self-evident!

That madman wasn't gambling with Jian Shen's life.

He used the entire fate of the Ming Dynasty and the lives of all the officials to forge a... invulnerable golden holy armor for Jian Shen!

Who dares to touch the Crown Prince?

Anyone who makes a move is committing treason! Anyone who does so is trying to overthrow the Ming Dynasty!

"Pass down the order."

Zhu Qizhen's voice became cold and firm.

"From this moment forward, all of Nangong's former subordinates shall fully cooperate with their new master!"

"We'll do whatever he tells us to do!"

"Whoever he wants to die... must die!"

The old eunuch shuddered and buried his head deeply.

"This servant... obeys the decree!"

At this moment, as Zhu Qizhen looked at the waning moon outside the window, the last trace of pride he held as the "Retired Emperor" vanished completely.

Instead, there is an unprecedented clarity.

He is no longer a chess player.

He and his son were both pawns in that madman's hands.

But to become a living, useful, and even decisive piece in the game...

It's better than being a discarded piece left outside the chessboard, slowly rotting away!

The game has begun.

And he willingly became the devil's sharpest...knife.

Of course, if Zhu Qizhen and Sun Ruowei met at this moment, they would definitely wonder if this was still the Zhu Qiyu they knew. Could he have been possessed by a ghost?