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

The night wind blew across the ruins of Nangong, carrying with it the lingering smell of burnt metal and blood.

That devilish pact that could overturn the world had already been etched between the two emperors.

The grand narrative ends, and the cold reality begins.

Zhu Qizhen leaned against the charred pillar, still feeling his legs go weak, not from fear, but from the exhaustion brought on by that resolute determination.

He looked at his younger brother, whose calmness was terrifying, and asked, "So... what's our first step?"

"Clean house."

Zhu Dijun uttered four words, concise and to the point.

"Portal?"

"The palace is our home, and also our first line of defense."

Zhu Dijun's gaze swept over the brightly lit outline of the Forbidden City in the distance.

"This house is not clean now."

"From the nine gates of the outer city to the four gates of the imperial city, and then to the depths of this palace, how many eyes are watching us? How many hearts are not with us?"

Zhu Qizhen's heart sank suddenly.

He recalled the undercurrents in the capital after the Tumu Crisis, the officials who advocated moving the capital south, and the nobles who were alienated from him.

"Especially..."

Zhu Dijun's voice was completely calm, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"The harem".

Zhu Qizhen's pupils suddenly contracted!

He instantly understood who his younger brother was!

Sun Ruowei!

That former wicked empress, now the Holy Mother Empress Dowager!

That woman who colluded with Yu Qian, Chen Xun, Wang Wen and others behind the scenes, sidelined him as the retired emperor, and even almost caused him to die far from home!

"She...is, after all, your mother, and mine..."

Zhu Qizhen's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"She is a member of the Sun family, the biggest backer of the imperial relatives, and the most dangerous thorn in the side of the palace."

Zhu Dijun interrupted him directly.

He turned his head and looked quietly at Zhu Qizhen.

"Brother, you just promised me that we would share the burden of our sins."

"Now, it's the first one."

"Your so-called 'status' and 'human relations' are worthless in the face of what we are about to do."

"Or, we can remove this biggest thorn now, completely control the palace, and pave the way for the subsequent purge."

A sinister smile curled at the corners of Zhu Dijun's mouth.

"Or, we'll wait for her to unite with those 'loyal ministers' in the outer court and give us two brothers another 'Tumu Crisis'."

Zhu Qizhen's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He remembered his brother's words: the gentry group would do anything for profit.

What does an empress dowager amount to?

After a long silence, Zhu Qi-zhen closed his eyes. When he opened them again, that last trace of hesitation had turned to ashes.

"I see."

He looked at Judy Jun and said, slowly and deliberately, "Go do it."

"No."

Judy shook her head. "It's us. Let's go together."

"The Demon King's sins are shared equally between you and me."

……

Cining Palace.

The lights were on, and the luxury remained.

Empress Dowager Sun was fiddling with a string of Buddhist prayer beads, her mind uneasy.

The sight in the sky filled her with unprecedented fear.

The Prince of Cheng, whom she had always looked down upon and whom she considered a "tyrant," had actually become such a... monster!

Especially when Zhu Qizhen also chose to yield, her heart sank to the bottom.

"Someone come here!"

She was about to summon her confidants to discuss countermeasures.

"Squeak—"

The palace gates were slowly pushed open.

The two people who walked in were the two she knew best, yet the two she least expected.

Zhu Dijun and Zhu Qizhen.

The two brothers stood side by side.

One had a calm expression, while the other had a cold and stern face.

Behind them, there were no guards, only the cold moonlight shining in from outside the door.

"Emperor? Retired Emperor?"

Empress Dowager Sun suddenly stood up, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes, but it quickly turned into the majesty of an empress dowager.

"What right do you two have to break into my Cining Palace in the dead of night?!"

Zhu Qizhen's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word.

Zhu Dijun stepped forward and looked at her calmly, as if she were a dead person.

"Sun Shi, your elder brother Sun Jizong and your father Sun Zhong, I have already sent people to send them on their way."

boom!

These words were like a bolt of lightning from the heavens, striking Empress Dowager Sun hard on the head!

She was completely stunned, pointing at Judy Jun, her lips trembling:

"You...you're talking nonsense! How dare you..."

"They might be a little lonely on their journey to the underworld."

Zhu Dijun's voice remained completely devoid of emotion.

"So, after thinking it over, I've decided to send you... to join them."

"The most important thing for a family is to be together."

At that moment, Empress Dowager Sun finally understood.

The emperor before her was no longer the one she could manipulate at will.

He's a devil!

A demon crawled out of hell to take her life!

"No...no!!"

She let out a piercing scream and turned to run towards the inner palace.

"Zhen'er! Save me! I am your legal mother!!"

Zhu Qizhen's body trembled violently. He abruptly closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"It's no longer the case. Ever since the Tumu Crisis was orchestrated and the attempted assassination of the emperor failed yesterday, it's no longer the case."

Zhu Dijun simply raised his hand slightly.

A dark shadow, like a ghost, flashed down from the roof beam.

They are the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Before Empress Dowager Sun's horrified and desperate gaze, a white silk ribbon had silently been placed around her neck.

"Uh...uh..."

The struggle was so futile.

Soon, everything fell into a deathly silence.

Judy walked to her body, picked up the scattered Buddhist beads, and gently placed them in her already cold hands.

"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, exhausted from tending to the affairs of state, passed away in her sleep tonight."

He turned around and gave a calm instruction to the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard behind him.

"By imperial decree, announce the death of the emperor throughout the land."

"As you command."

The shadow vanished, as if it had never existed.

Judy Jun then looked at Zhu Qizhen, who still had his eyes closed, and her voice regained a bit of warmth.

"Brother, you can open your eyes now."

"The devil's first sacrifice has been offered."

……

[Modern Live Streaming Room]

At this moment, the entire sky was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by the lightning-fast killing!

One moment they were discussing the grand philosophy of "the survival of civilization".

The next moment, it was a bloody massacre in the palace!

"Holy crap..."

"That's it...killed her? Killed the Empress Dowager? Just like that...so casually...killed her?"

"The most important thing for a family is to be together... Damn it! Jun-ge, you're the biggest villain!!"

"That's a real demon king! He's decisive and ruthless! One second he's reasoning with you, the next he's sending your whole family on their way! It's so... so exhilarating!"

[“Cry! Everyone, cry! Those who called Brother Jun a tyrant, are you dumbfounded now? He doesn’t care at all! He’s showing you with his actions that this is just the beginning!”]

The shock to modern audiences manifested in a deluge of bullet comments.

Meanwhile, in the ancient timeline, those gentry and scholars who had just been cursing were now as if someone had choked them, unable to utter a single word.

Instead, a chill emanated from the depths of one's soul!

……

Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wuyi Lane.

Director Wang looked at the sky, and the teacup in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

He had just been organizing people to write a proclamation denouncing Zhu Qiyu as "the tyrant Jie and the tyrant Zhou".

But now, he only felt a chill running from the soles of his feet straight up to the top of his head!

Kill the Empress Dowager!

Without any charge, without any trial, they were killed without warning!

This is something even Jie and Zhou wouldn't do!

Zhu Qiyu is not joking!

He really was about to flip the table!

……

The Cui family of Qinghe during the Tang Dynasty.

The white-haired and bearded patriarch stared blankly at the sky, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

"A madman...a madman...he's a madman who doesn't follow any rules..."

He suddenly realized that their pride in "public opinion," "righteousness," and "legal system" might be... nothing at all in front of this madman!

……

The Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu era.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the sky, where his descendants calmly announced the Empress Dowager's "death," and remained silent for a long time.

Zhu Biao, standing beside him, was deathly pale, muttering, "Too...too ruthless...even his stepmother..."

"ruthless?"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly smiled, a smile that was both gratified and complex.

"Biao'er, remember this."

"The greatest mercy you can show to your enemy is the greatest cruelty you can inflict on yourself!"

"Since this Lady Sun has colluded with foreign officials and threatened imperial power, then she is neither an empress dowager nor a legitimate mother!"

"She is the enemy!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze fell on Zhu Di again, and his eyes showed an unprecedented level of satisfaction.

"This young man has the same flair we had back in the day!"

"No! Even more decisive than us!"

"Even if we kill someone, we still need to find a pretext and fabricate a crime."

"He killed someone..."

"Just one reason is needed."

"That is—"

"You're blocking my way!"