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

"Family members, we'll talk about the Gengxu Incident, the darkest moment that brought shame to the Ming Dynasty, later."

Zhu Dijun stood in front of the large screen, his eyes as still as a pool of water under the glaring lights. He picked up his teacup, took a big gulp, chewed the remaining tea leaves vigorously, and swallowed them.

"We need to rewind the timeline a bit. Because before this national calamity that completely stripped the Ming Dynasty of its dignity descended, those vermin in the Ming court were busy organizing an extremely absurd coronation ceremony!"

He turned around, grabbed a red marker, and drew an extremely exaggerated circle in the center of the whiteboard.

"As I mentioned earlier, the Great Rites Controversy dragged on for a full twenty-four years, triggering the Zuo Shun Gate Massacre, the Li Fuda sorcery case, and even impacting the border defenses! And now, in the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign, this Daoist emperor who had been manipulating the Ming court finally announced—this game of recognizing a father has been completely over!"

Four large, blood-red characters crashed down on the public screen: "[Emperor Ruizong Enters the Temple]!"

"In September of the seventeenth year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign! The Jiajing Emperor officially issued an edict honoring his biological father, Prince Xingxian, as 'Emperor Ruizong,' and forcefully placed his father's ancestral tablet into the Imperial Ancestral Temple of the Ming Dynasty's Zhu family!"

As Zhu Dijun zoomed in on the camera, every word he uttered was utterly absurd and mocking.

"Family members, putting him in the Imperial Ancestral Temple is one thing, but do you know how Jiajing arranged the seating? He directly placed his own father's memorial tablet before that of Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao!"

The chat in the modern live stream room suddenly froze for a moment, then erupted into a tsunami of "Holy crap!" comments.

"Holy crap?! Zhu Houzhao was a legitimate emperor of the Ming Dynasty who reigned for sixteen years, and he was also his cousin!"

"King Xingxian never served as emperor, yet he was posthumously honored as emperor by his son, and his rank even surpasses that of the legitimate emperor?"

[Jiajing Emperor: My father is the rightful heir, my cousin is nothing!]

"The Ming Dynasty's patriarchal system was essentially used like toilet paper by the Jiajing Emperor!"

In the Zhengde reign of a parallel universe within the Ming Dynasty, across countless worlds.

Inside the Leopard Chamber, Zhu Houzhao smashed the wine jug in his hand onto the blue bricks with a "crack," sending shards of porcelain flying. He stared intently at the sky, his eyes so red they seemed to be bleeding.

"This is outrageous... Zhu Houcong, you ungrateful little beast!"

Zhu Houzhao rampaged through the main hall like a mad beast.

"You are the future heir to my empire. After all, I am your cousin. Instead of avenging your cousin, you now even want to ride on his neck in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?! Traitor! Traitor!"

In a parallel Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat listlessly on the dragon throne, his face ashen, too lazy even to utter a curse. Rules? The rules of the Zhu family were worthless in the eyes of that grandson Jiajing. What he wanted was absolute supremacy; the Imperial Ancestral Temple was merely a museum for him to display his power.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun casually tossed the blackboard eraser onto the table.

"That's the settling of the matter! Jiajing spent eighteen years outlasting all his opponents, establishing the absolute legitimacy of his restoration of imperial power. But family, for an emperor to do such an absurd thing, someone has to provide him with a way out, right?"

Two portraits of officials in crimson robes were pushed to the center of the large screen—[Grand Secretary Xia Yan] and [Minister of Rites Yan Song].

"Let's take a look at how the power monster evolved in this final drama. In the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign, there was a Tongzhou Tongzhi named Feng Fang, a mid-to-lower-level official who couldn't even get into the central core. In order to climb up the ranks, he racked his brains and submitted an extremely outrageous memorial."

Feng Fang proposed: "Restore the so-called 'Mingtang Ceremony,' not only to allow Emperor Xian to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but also to make him a 'father of the Jiajing Emperor' with the title of Supreme God! This means elevating the status of Jiajing's father to a level comparable to Heaven!"

Judy Jun let out an extremely harsh, cold laugh.

"When this memorial was submitted, the then-Grand Secretary Xia Yan glanced at it and cursed inwardly. Xia Yan had a sense of shame, and he couldn't bring himself to use such flattery that went against the common sense of his ancestors. So he simply chose to observe, remain silent, and play dead."

"And what about Yan Song, the Minister of Rites? This old fox initially thought the proposal was too shameless, and he submitted a memorial to express his opposition according to the usual etiquette standards."

On the big screen, Yan Song's gloomy and withered face suddenly magnified several times, taking up the entire live broadcast room.

"But the very next day after Yan Song submitted his memorial opposing the emperor's proposal, he astutely sensed the emperor's reaction! Jiajing was displeased! Jiajing was extremely unhappy!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his foot on the podium, making a loud bang.

"Yan Song was a shrewd man. He immediately displayed the most terrifying 'kneeling face-changing technique' in the Ming Dynasty officialdom! Without saying a word, he contradicted himself and wrote a new memorial overnight, which he then submitted!"

"Not only did he completely overturn his objections from yesterday, but he also fully supported Feng Fang's proposal! Not only did he support it, Yan Song even went so far as to personally plan all the details of this 'Mingtang Ceremony' for the emperor, arranging everything for Jiajing, including how the music should be played and what clothes should be worn!"

"Although it's shameless and opportunistic, it suits Jiajing's tastes perfectly. My friends in officialdom all know that having connections makes it easier to get promoted. Yan Song was transferred from Nanjing to Beiping as Minister of Rites. If he wants to advance, he can only do so with Jiajing's support. Xia Yan can't just give up his position, can he?"

"Our Prime Minister Xia Yan is also at the age where he should be striving."

Zhu Dijun pointed his finger directly at Yan Song's name on the screen.

"Xia Yan lost the Emperor's favor because of his ridiculous desire to save face. Yan Song, on the other hand, won the Jiajing Emperor's extreme trust through his shameless and absolute pandering! From that year onwards, Yan Song began to rival Grand Secretary Xia Yan in the court, paving a path to power for him—a path bought with dignity—that would later allow him to dominate the cabinet and control everything!"

In the live stream, netizens gained a completely new understanding of Yan Song's low moral standards, and the screen was filled with contempt.

In a timeline set in the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, Yan Song was kneeling on the cold ground, trembling all over. The sky had torn away his fig leaf, leaving him with nothing. He knew that Xia Yan must be wishing she could tear him apart right now.

"These vermin are dividing up the power pie in the imperial court, but what about those who once upheld the principles of the Ming Dynasty?"

A sense of indescribable desolation welled up in Zhu Dijun's eyes, and his voice suddenly rose.

"The Ming Dynasty wasn't without its toughs! Under such extremely oppressive and repressive rule, there were always those who refused to believe it! There were always those who dared to provoke the emperor's sensitive sore spot!"

Gu Cunren, Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Rites!

"While Yan Song was busy flattering and currying favor, this lowly censor submitted a memorial. On the surface, he advised the emperor to suppress Buddhism, but at the end of the memorial, he added a fatal sentence—requesting His Majesty to release the officials who had been previously demoted!"

Zhu Dijun gasped.

"Family members, who were those who were demoted before? They were those old officials who fought to the death with the emperor during the Great Rites Controversy! What is Gu Cunren doing? He's exonerating the dead! He's using the pretext of suppressing Buddhism to indirectly accuse the emperor of being wrong in cracking down on dissidents back then!"

"What kind of temper did Emperor Jiajing have? He was an extremely paranoid, paranoid, and tyrannical ruler! He exploded the moment he saw this memorial!"

In the scene, crimson blood once again stained the blue bricks of the Forbidden City.

"Without any legal procedures, Jiajing directly ordered: sixty strokes of the cane! In front of the entire court, Gu Cunren was beaten until his skin was torn and bleeding profusely! Not satisfied with the beating, he was stripped of his official position and exiled to the coldest and most remote frontier of the Ming Dynasty to eat sand!"

"Sixty strokes of the iron-clad cane in court! It not only shattered Gu Cunren's bones, but also completely shattered the last voice in the Ming court and among the people who dared to question the 'Great Rites Controversy.' With this beating, Jiajing told the whole world: I've settled all the scores of these eighteen years. Anyone who dares to mention it will die!"

"Of course, we must also mention Gu Cunren here. Let's take a look at the original text of his memorial to the throne."

[The first statement was that the emperor should extend his benevolence and pardon Yang Shen, Ma Lu, Feng En, Lü Jing, and others. The final statement read: "Nothing corrupts customs and hinders agriculture better than Buddhism. Who is Ye Ningxiu, and how dare he beg for ordination?" The emperor was currently a follower of Daoist teachings. Ningxiu was a Daoist. The emperor considered this a satire of him and disliked his attempt to pardon Yang Shen and others. Therefore, he rebuked Cunren for falsely accusing Ningxiu of being a Buddhist, had him flogged sixty times in court, and exiled him to the border region. He remained there for nearly thirty years.]

"But Gu Cunren doesn't seem to realize that when the Great Rites Controversy broke out, the civil official group led by Yang Yiqing, along with Empress Dowager Zhang, brought him, Jiajing, and his birth mother, Empress Dowager Jiang, shame and even life-or-death crises. How could they be pardoned just because of a so-called memorial to the throne?"

"Family members, don't forget how Emperor Feizong of Ming, Zhu Gaochi, treated the officials from the Jianwen era who had been exiled by his father, Emperor Chengzu of Ming, Zhu Di, as well as his son Zhu Zhanji and grandson Zhu Qizhen, the God of War of the Ming Dynasty. Jiajing learned from this lesson and resolutely refused to pardon them. If the circumstances didn't allow it, Jiajing would have simply executed their entire families! Everyone understands why."

Zhu Dijun pulled over a chair and sat down heavily.

The red light in the entire studio gradually faded, turning into an extremely dim, desolate shadow. He did not continue to denounce Jiajing's tyranny, but turned around and slowly wrote a name of a wanderer in the corner of the whiteboard.

[Yang Shen].

"Family members. The Great Rites Controversy has finally come to an end. Yan Song is about to ascend to power. The Emperor has won for now. We'll discuss the aftermath of the Great Rites Controversy later."

Zhu Dijun's voice suddenly became very soft, carrying a sense of powerlessness that seemed to have pierced through the ages.

"Where is Yang Shen, the top scholar of the Ming Dynasty who led the charge in shaking the gate and weeping outside Zuoshun Gate, shouting 'The nation has nurtured scholars for 150 years, and today is the day!'?"

The scene on the large screen was completely cut off. Gone was the splendor of the Forbidden City, gone was the intrigue and backstabbing of the imperial court.

There is only a surging river and a dilapidated Zhongyan Temple in Sichuan.

"This year was the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign. The once spirited top scholar had been exiled for fourteen years. He had become a half-crippled man with a full head of white hair, begging for food by selling calligraphy and paintings in Sichuan."

"When news spread throughout the capital that the emperor had fully enshrined his biological father in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and that Yan Song was rising through the ranks, Yang Shen sat on the banks of the Yangtze River, watching the waters flow eastward. He knew that he would never be able to return to the Forbidden City in his lifetime. The principles of propriety and ambition he had upheld throughout his life had been torn to shreds by the emperor who had ascended the throne at the age of fifteen."

Zhu Dijun picked up the pointer, not pointing at the map, but at a poem that slowly appeared on the screen.

"After extreme despair and a profound understanding of the vicissitudes of life, this most outstanding talent of the Ming Dynasty carved a timeless masterpiece on the wall of a dilapidated temple, a masterpiece that shook the entire Chinese civilization."

The deep background music echoed in the live broadcast room. Zhu Dijun looked at the camera and read out the familiar text word by word.

"The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, its waves washing away the heroes of the past."

Right and wrong, success and failure, all turn to nothing in the end.

The green hills remain, and the setting sun has reddened them countless times.

The comments section went completely silent at that moment.

A few seconds later, countless viewers felt their scalps tingle in front of their screens.

"Holy crap... 'Linjiangxian' was actually written around this time?!"

"This is the opening poem of Romance of the Three Kingdoms! I always thought it was written by Luo Guanzhong!"

"Right and wrong, success and failure, all vanish in the blink of an eye... This is treating the power struggles of the Ming Dynasty court like utter garbage."

Across countless worlds and timelines, countless emperors and generals listened to this poem, remaining speechless for a long time.

In the Weiyang Palace of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che closed his eyes and gently tapped his fingers on the dragon throne.

In the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin held a wine cup, gazed at the bright moon outside the window, and let out an extremely long sigh.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun suddenly stood up.

"Family members. Yang Shen wrote this poem, marking the complete death of idealism in the mid-Ming Dynasty. The emperor used the Great Rites Controversy to lock up imperial power, and also locked up the fate of the Ming Dynasty."

He pressed his hands firmly against the edge of the podium, the darkness in his eyes almost tangible.

"In the north, the Mongol Khan Altan Khan was riding his warhorse, looking at the Ming Dynasty's border defenses, which had been hollowed out, and sneered."

"Since right and wrong, success and failure, are all fleeting, let the iron cavalry of the barbarians trample this Forbidden City, which prides itself on being a celestial empire, under their feet!"

"Therefore, the civil service group participated in many dishonorable acts during the later national humiliation of the Ming Dynasty, the Gengxu Incident, and even earlier during the Southern Tour of Chengtian, because they wanted to kill Jiajing and replace him with a more obedient emperor."

"One of the traditional practices of the Ming Dynasty was that there was a crown prince to inherit the throne, and any disobedient emperor could be killed. Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Youcheng, and Zhu Houzhao all died this way. Now it's Zhu Houcong's turn—the Jiajing Emperor!"