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

The humming of the live streaming equipment gradually subsided.

Zhu Dijun took off his headset and tossed it onto the table.

More than four hours of intense emotional output had left his back soaked in sweat, clinging tightly to his shirt.

He picked up the glass of water on the table, which had gone cold, and drank it all in one gulp.

The cold water slammed down my throat and into my stomach, finally calming down the churning anger in my chest.

Turn off the computer screen and push open the soundproof door to the live streaming room.

The motion-sensor lights in the corridor turned on immediately.

Li Jiujiang had been waiting outside the door for a long time.

He leaned against the corridor wall, holding a tablet computer in his hand, the screen's bluish light shining on his sharply defined face.

Hearing the door open, Li Jiujiang looked up.

Instead of offering words of comfort, he strode forward, raised his right fist, and lightly struck Zhu Dijun's shoulder.

"Dijun".

Li Jiujiang's voice was very low, carrying an extremely complex meaning.

"You really dared to say that during that live stream!"

He shoved the tablet he was holding directly into Judy Jun's arms.

On the screen is real-time monitoring data from the live streaming backend.

Bright red warning pop-ups, densely packed together, almost filled the entire screen!

Internet ban warning!

Report malicious tampering of history: +99999!

Report disorderly conduct: +99999!

Report violations of national unity: +99999!

"Take a look for yourself."

Li Jiujiang tapped on the frantically jumping numbers on the screen.

"If it weren't for the super-dimensional firewall protecting our system, your account would have been completely destroyed by major cyberattacks five minutes ago."

"It's fortunate you were talking about the Ming Dynasty tonight. If it were wild boar hide, those online trolls would have pulled the plug on your internet!"

Zhu Dijun looked down at the shocking red cards, a disdainful sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

He tossed the tablet back to Li Jiujiang, then casually pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and put one in his mouth.

"Isn't this normal?"

The flame from the lighter flared up, illuminating Judy Jun's fearless eyes.

"Those rats hiding in the gutter are most afraid of sunlight."

"Because I'm digging up their ancestral graves."

Li Jiujiang sighed and lit one for himself.

Smoke swirled in the narrow corridor.

"But the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind. You've now drawn all the firepower upon yourself."

Zhu Dijun's fingers, which were holding a cigarette, paused in mid-air.

He turned his head, his gaze fixed on Li Jiujiang.

"Jiujiang, have you been on Douyin and Billie Eilish's website these past few days?"

Li Jiujiang was taken aback.

"The account of 【吃瓜蒙主】 is gone."

Zhu Dijun exhaled a puff of smoke, his tone calm, yet every word was like a knife.

"Just yesterday afternoon. All accounts across the internet were banned, along with all videos and articles, completely wiped clean. It was as if this person had never existed on the internet at all."

The corridor fell into a deathly silence.

Li Jiujiang's pupils suddenly contracted.

That hardcore history blogger who specializes in popularizing the true history of the Ming Dynasty and exposing the rise of capitalism in Jiangnan and the history of the Jurchens?

That influential figure with millions of followers across the internet, who always presents arguments with reason and evidence?

It's gone just like that?!

"These bastards..." Li Jiujiang gritted his teeth, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

"There are too many enemies who do not want the revival of Han culture."

Zhu Dijun flicked his cigarette ash.

"Not only are there many of them, but they also have money, power, and enormous capital backing them up. They have woven an all-encompassing network in education, media, and online platforms."

"Some of our ancestors even paid the ultimate price for the revival of Han culture and for telling the true history of the Ming Dynasty."

"They braved the danger with their own flesh and blood, and now they are being targeted and silenced."

Zhu Dijun turned around and stared straight out the dark window.

"Now that I've stepped forward..."

"The fact that they're targeting me actually protects other history popularizers!"

"Draw all the attention and resources of these scumbags to me. As long as my live streams continue, as long as the truth continues to spread."

Zhu Dijun stubbed out his cigarette.

"This battleground of public opinion for the sons of Han people is something we absolutely cannot lose!"

Li Jiujiang stared intently at the man in front of him.

After a while.

His tense shoulders suddenly relaxed, and an extremely enthusiastic smile appeared on his lips.

He suddenly slapped Zhu Dijun on the back.

"Damn it! Let's just get to it!"

"I knew you'd take a backseat! Don't worry about all that messy blocking and defense backend; I'll stay up all night and hold that line for you!"

Li Jiujiang put away the tablet, his eyes becoming extremely sharp.

"So the plan for two days from now remains unchanged?"

"Should we continue broadcasting the Anhua Prince's coup in the fifth year of the Zhengde reign?"

Zhu Dijun nodded.

He walked to the water dispenser and filled his glass with warm water again.

"right."

"We've finished telling the story of how Zhu Houzhao rose to power at the age of sixteen."

"Now, everyone must see clearly how he gradually drove himself to a dead end and what kind of tragic disaster he is facing."

"This is the deepest wound of the Ming Dynasty, and the ugliest behavior of these civil and military officials."

Zhu Dijun gripped the water glass tightly.

"To uncover these bloody truths deliberately concealed in the History of Ming. This is the destiny of us historical archaeologists, born in this era!"

……

At the same time.

In the myriad realms and timelines of the Ming Dynasty, in the eighth month of the fifth year of the Zhengde reign.

boom!

The deafening roar of cannons exploded outside the city walls of Ningxia Town!

The pitch-black night sky was completely ignited by countless wildly dancing torches.

Amidst the billowing smoke, a tattered banner embroidered with the six blood-red characters "Purge the Emperor's Corrupt Officials, Execute Liu Jin" fluttered in the wind.

"kill!!!"

The deafening shouts of battle surged toward the city gate like a tsunami.

On the city wall.

The corpses of the Ming Dynasty's border soldiers piled up like mountains, and blood dripped from the cracks in the blue bricks, forming dark red streams.

Zhu Houzhao, at the age of twenty, wore a tattered mountain-patterned armor.

His helmet was nowhere to be found, and his hair was disheveled.

On his right cheek, a deep, bone-revealing knife wound was oozing horrifying blood.

"His Majesty!"

A Jinyiwei commander, his body riddled with broken arrows, scrambled up the city wall.

He knelt heavily in the pool of blood, his voice filled with extreme sorrow.

"The east gate has been breached!"

"The Prince of Anhua's 30,000 rebel troops, along with the border troops from Datong Town who defected, have already stormed into the inner city!"

"Your Majesty! Retreat! If we don't leave now, we'll all die here!"

Zhu Houzhao did not move.

He gripped the Emperor's Sword, whose blade was already dulled from repeated cuts, tightly.

Beneath my feet lies the burning Ming Dynasty.

Before me was that semi-transparent sky that had just vanished from five hundred years in the future.

Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival; arrogance is.

Those words, as sharp as thunder, were still echoing wildly in his mind.

"I was wrong..."

Zhu Houzhao raised his head, looked at the night sky blackened by the flames of war, and let out a bitter laugh that was more unpleasant than crying.

"I thought I had the world under my control. Little did I know that my court officials had already laid a trap."

He slowly lowered his head.

Those eyes, which were originally arrogant and violent.

At this moment, all pride and arrogance were burned away by this bloody fire.

All that remains is an absolute coldness forged from the harsh realities of life!

Absolute rationality!

"Osama."

Zhu Houzhao ignored the approaching rebel army below the city walls, and also looked at the Imperial Guards kneeling on the ground.

Liu Jin, missing an arm, slumped in the corner, his face ashen.

"This servant...is here..."

Zhu Houzhao suddenly plunged the blunted Emperor's Sword into the blue brick in front of him.

"My descendants said that they would recount the truth of this mutiny to me in two days."

A chilling, bloodthirsty smile slowly crept onto the corners of his mouth.

"Pass down the order."

"Even if we have to tear down the imperial city, even if we have to pay with human lives!"

"Defend the inner city to the death!"

Zhu Houzhao's voice sounded like a vengeful ghost crawling out of the deepest hell amidst the flames of war.

"Two days."

"I'd like to see how the heavens five hundred years from now can teach me how to break through this deadly predicament!"