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

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun's words fell like a mountain range cast onto a calm lake.

The entire universe was plunged into an eerie silence because of the name "Empress Dowager Sun".

Immediately following was a volcanic eruption of shock and rage!

The Ming Dynasty, the 20th year of the Yongle reign, the Eastern Palace.

"Bang--!"

A fine blue-and-white porcelain teacup was slammed to the ground and shattered into pieces!

Zhu Zhanji's eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. He looked like a red-hot earthenware pot that might explode at any moment.

"Sun Ruowei!"

"That vile woman—!"

The roar was not like that of a gentle and refined imperial grandson, but rather like the howl of a demon that had crawled out of the deepest hell!

He trembled all over, pointing at the woman's figure in the sky, so angry he could barely speak.

"How dare she! How dare she!"

"I...I was truly blind back then! How could I have fallen for such a vicious and venomous woman!"

Zhu Zhanji felt as if his heart was about to burst from regret and anger.

He recalled the Sun family from back then, the one who was charming and gentle in the palace.

He thought he had found the love of his life, and even defied his grandfather Zhu Di's wishes to keep her by his side.

But the result?

The future generations in the sky told him that this woman would not only kill him in the future!

He was also the instigator of the tragic lives of his two sons!

She abandoned her captured son, Zhu Qizhen, for power!

And then, for the sake of power, they supported a puppet ruler, Zhu Qiyu!

Finally, when Zhu Qizhen returned after surviving countless near-death experiences, she didn't think about reuniting with her son, but rather how to turn him into a puppet in her hands once again!

This is hardly a mother.

This is clearly a demon that devours the flesh and blood of its own offspring!

Zhen'er really wasn't her biological son!

His own mother was also an accomplice. The town should have belonged to Hu Shi (Hu Shanxiang), but it was switched at birth!

"I, Zhu Zhanji, have always been proud of myself. In terms of both civil and military achievements, I believe I am no less capable than my grandfather and father!"

"Unexpectedly, I was defeated by a woman! A complete loss!"

He closed his eyes in anguish, two streams of hot tears, mixed with endless humiliation, sliding down his cheeks.

Zhu Gaochi, standing to the side, looked even more ashen than a dead man.

His lips trembled as he tried to comfort his son, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Because he had thought of a deeper and more terrifying layer than Zhu Zhanji.

Sun Ruowei...

Who was it that defied public opinion and selected her to enter the palace and send her to Zhanji's side?

She is his good wife, the current Crown Princess, and the future Empress Dowager Zhang!

At first, he thought it was because Zhang loved her son and was going along with his wishes.

But now it seems...

Is it really?

A woman who could rule from behind the curtain in the future and, together with the "Three Yangs," suppress the emperor.

A woman who, after the Tumu Crisis, decisively abandoned Zhu Qizhen and established a new emperor.

Could Zhang Shi be a simple, loving mother?

Zhu Gaochi dared not think any further.

He felt a chill rise from his spine, instantly freezing his limbs and bones.

He suddenly realized that perhaps, starting from his generation, Zhu Gaochi, the cancer of the empress's interference in politics had already been sown!

Sun Ruowei was nothing more than a pawn planted by the Zhang family, a pawn to perpetuate their control over power!

"It's over..."

Zhu Gaochi muttered to himself, then slumped into a chair, utterly dejected.

"The very foundation of my Ming Dynasty... is probably already rotten to the core..."

[Modern Live Streaming Room]

The comments section has completely gone crazy.

"I'm devastated! I'm devastated for Zhu Zhanji! His wife killed him and then betrayed his two sons! This is hellish NTR!"

"Sun Ruowei! Empress Zhang! I see now, these two are no pushovers! The F4 of the Ming Dynasty's harem, terrifying indeed!"

["So the unofficial history is true? Empress Zhang had affairs with Sun Ruowei and the Three Yangs, making Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Yang the cuckolds."]

"Zhu Qizhen had it so tough! So incredibly tough! His father died young, his mother was a stepmother who schemed against him, and his grandmother was no better! His whole family were wolves!"

"So, Zhu Qizhen's blow wasn't just aimed at Xu Youzhen, but at the malignant tumor of empresses interfering in politics that had plagued the Zhu family for two generations!"

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun watched the boiling barrage of comments, his expression completely unmoved.

He waited quietly, letting the anger sparked by this human tragedy burn to its peak.

Then, he slowly opened his mouth, his voice cold and calm.

"Family members, it certainly takes a lot of courage to break the shackles of family ties."

"But for an emperor, this is far from enough."

"Because what can truly overthrow imperial power overnight is never the whispers of the empress in the harem or the writing brushes of the court."

His gaze suddenly sharpened.

"It's not that it's in someone else's hands, but rather the handle of a knife!"

"After using Xu Youzhen's head to warn Empress Dowager Sun, Zhu Qizhen's third strike was unhesitatingly aimed at another person."

"A man of higher rank and greater power than Xu Youzhen, and a more real threat than Empress Dowager Sun—Yuanxun, the 'Seizing the Gate' general!"

"Lord Zhongguo, Shi Heng!"

Zhu Dijun's voice was firm and resolute.

"Some might ask, why bother with Shi Heng?"

"Wasn't he the great hero who helped him ascend the throne? Zhu Qizhen had just purged the old officials of the Jingtai era and forced Empress Dowager Sun to abdicate. His power base was unstable, and he needed to rely on these new military elites!"

"That's right."

A cold smile curled at the corner of Zhu Dijun's lips.

"But the most important thing Zhu Qizhen learned during his seven years in the Southern Palace was—"

"Never trust anyone who can easily put you on the throne."

"Because he can bring you up, and he can also pull you down!"

"And Shi Heng is precisely that kind of person!"

Zhu Dijun's voice turned deep, carrying an undeniable assertion.

There are two reasons for taking action against Shi Heng.

"Firstly, and most importantly, Shi Heng and his nephew Shi Biao had already effectively controlled the military power of the three major camps in the capital! In other words, the entire military force of the capital was under the control of the Shi family!"

"This is a Damocles' sword hanging over the head of any emperor!"

"Secondly, family members, don't forget Shi Heng's background!"

"He himself was one of the culprits of the Tumu Crisis! Although not the main culprit, he was a key participant in leading to that disastrous defeat!"

"A so-called 'meritorious official' with a history of betrayal, who now commands a large army..."

Zhu Dijun's voice, like the whisper of death, resounded throughout every time and space.

"Tell me, should he have been killed?"