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

The studio's overhead lights were deliberately dimmed, and a holographic screen displayed a towering blaze of fire. The crackling sound of burning wood was transmitted through the speakers, creating a strong sense of oppression.

"March of the 44th year of the Jiajing reign."

Zhu Dijun placed his hands on the podium, his expression hidden in the dim light.

"A fire broke out without warning in the west corridor of the Daming Gate. The fire was extremely fierce and, with the help of the spring wind, it spread all the way and almost burned into the inner palace of the West Garden where the Jiajing Emperor lived."

He opened a photocopy of historical materials on the table.

"In official history, the characterization of this fire is extremely simple—'Heavenly Warning.' It means that the calamity sent down by Heaven is a warning to the emperor for his moral failings. But in the eyes of Xu Jie and his group of upright officials from Jiangnan, this fire was not a natural disaster at all, but a nuclear weapon that they had been planning for a long time and that was enough to overthrow the entire Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Dijun took out a red pen and drew a circle around the location of the fire.

"Why do you say this fire started strangely? The Thousand-Step Corridor is lined with the guardhouses of various government departments, and it's usually heavily patrolled and guarded. March is warmer, not the extremely dry depths of winter. Why did the fire break out at this crucial moment?"

The viewers in the live stream sensed a conspiracy, and the barrage of comments sped up.

Before the audience could guess, Zhu Dijun dropped the conclusion.

"Whether the fire was an accident or arson, on the night it broke out, Xu Jie, as the Grand Secretary, did not do anything to organize firefighting or appease the officials, but instead launched a shocking propaganda war in an extremely secretive manner."

The screen then switched to silhouettes of several Ming Dynasty officials dressed in civilian clothes.

"Xu Jie secretly instructed his trusted officials to spread rumors wildly around the fire site and in major teahouses in the capital. The rumors were extremely accurate, directly linking the fire to Yan Shifan, who had been exiled. The rumors said that Yan Shifan had secretly fled back to his hometown from his place of exile and built a luxurious mansion. The mansion's design was so outrageous that it angered Heaven. This fire was Heaven's retribution for the Ming court's harboring of a traitor."

Zhu Dijun tapped the table, making a clicking sound.

"What kind of person was Jiajing? In his later years, he was extremely sensitive, spending all his time by the alchemy furnace pondering the will of Heaven. Xu Jie understood this old fox all too well. He knew that the impeachments by the censors alone could not kill Yan Shifan. The emperor subconsciously still kept the Yan faction, which was a backup plan to check and balance Xu Jie. To break this balance, the gods had to be dragged into it."

The holographic screen splits into two, and on the left side appears a Taoist priest wearing a Bagua robe, named Lan Daoxing.

"After the first step of the plan took effect, Xu Jie played his most vicious trump card. Remember Lan Daoxing, the Taoist priest who practiced spirit writing when Yan Song fell from power? Xu Jie bribed him again, or rather, they were originally in cahoots, and the money was just to create the illusion of being bought off by outsiders."

Zhu Dijun walked to the screen and pointed at Lan Daoxing's face.

"Shortly after the fire, Emperor Jiajing was restless and summoned Lan Daoxing to consult the heavens through divination, wanting to know what the fire foreshadowed. Lan Daoxing drew an extremely ominous divination on the sand table—"

Zhu Dijun lowered his voice, pausing between each word.

"A fire a thousand paces away is an ominous sign, a traitorous minister usurping the throne; to appease Heaven's wrath, the usurper must be executed, otherwise the dragon's aura will dissipate, and the emperor will find no peace!"

The moment those words were spoken, the air in the studio froze completely.

"Did you understand the murderous intent behind this?"

Zhu Dijun held up one finger.

"Lan Daoxing did not name the traitor, but with the rumors circulating outside, the first name that would come to Jiajing's mind would definitely be Yan Shifan. Xu Jie used this kind of metaphysical micromanagement that blocked both ends, directly elevating the issue of corruption to the very lifeline of the imperial power."

Parallel universe. 44th year of the Jiajing reign. Xiyuan Academy.

Zhu Houcong remained seated cross-legged on the prayer mat.

Upon hearing the words "To quell the wrath of Heaven, one must punish those who usurp the throne," Jiajing's previously gaunt cheek muscles twitched uncontrollably.

Prince Yu, Zhu Zaihou, knelt on the ground beside him, his forehead covered with gold bricks, not daring to breathe loudly.

"Lan Daoxing... Xu Jie..."

Jiajing's withered fingers gripped the edge of the prayer mat tightly. His fingernails scraped through the gaps in the straw, making a harsh, tearing sound.

He recalled the night he issued the decree to execute Yan Shifan. At that time, looking at the embers in the sky in the direction of the West Thousand Steps Corridor, he felt a lingering fear, thinking that he had truly obeyed the will of Heaven and preserved the dragon vein of the Ming Dynasty.

After all that fuss, it turns out this "divine will" was just a bunch of random scribbles bought with money by the Prime Minister.

"You treat me like a three-year-old child, playing with me in the palm of your hand." Jiajing's breathing became extremely rapid, his chest emitting the labored gasps of a broken bellows. He kicked over the priceless blue-and-white porcelain incense burner in front of him. The incense ash flew up, blinding him.

"A cunning and calculating old man. Truly a cunning and calculating old man." Jiajing leaned against a pillar, his tone extremely desolate.

"Using my superstitions to kill my ministers, and then to seize my power. Xu Jie, oh Xu Jie, the scholars of the Ming Dynasty, you have truly mastered this ruthlessness to the bone."

In the celestial canopy, Zhu Dijun's autopsy entered the crucial stage of conviction.

"Fate has set the tone, rumors have created momentum. Next, we must proceed with legal proceedings."

Zhu Dijun wrote the three characters "Sanfa Si" heavily on the whiteboard.

"The three judicial departments jointly tried Yan Shifan. At this time, a strange thing happened that no upright gentleman could understand."

He took a copy of the case file out of the drawer and patted it in front of the camera.

"The legal officials at the time searched the Yan family's property and compiled a long list of crimes. At the top of the list was the bloody case of harming loyal officials such as Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian, followed by the huge economic crime of embezzling two million taels of silver from the national treasury. Either of these crimes was punishable by beheading under the law. The legal officials were prepared to submit the memorial to the emperor."

Zhu Dijun snorted coldly.

"When Xu Jie saw the draft memorial, he threw it directly into the wastebasket. He then launched into a tirade against the legal officials. Why? Because Xu Jie knew all too well Jiajing's psychological defenses!"

"Yang Jisheng's death sentence was personally approved by Emperor Jiajing. In your memorial, you wrote that Yan Shifan killed a loyal minister, the subtext being that Jiajing was a foolish ruler who wrongly executed a loyal official. As for corruption, Jiajing used Yan Song throughout his life precisely to allow him to procure funds for building Taoist temples; corruption was a gray area tacitly tolerated by imperial power. If these two charges were submitted, Jiajing, to maintain his face and absolute correctness, would not only not execute Yan Shifan, but would also punish the officials who submitted the memorial. Yan Shifan would very likely walk out of prison alive!"

Zhu Dijun crossed out "harming loyal officials" and "embezzlement" on the whiteboard with a red pen, and wrote a line of large characters next to them.

"Xu Jie personally oversaw the revision of the charges, changing them all. He convicted Yan Shifan of an extremely bizarre and completely unsubstantiated death sentence—'colluding with Japanese pirates and plotting rebellion'!"

The live stream chat was flooded with question marks.

"Yan Shifan colluded with Japanese pirates to rebel? That's absurd! Although Yan's faction was corrupt, they enjoyed a life of luxury in the capital. What motive would they have to collude with pirates?"

Zhu Dijun clapped his hands in delight.

"That's the point! Xu Jie doesn't want facts or logic at all; he wants something that fits the key phrase in the 'divine will'—usurping the country!"

"Xu Jie fabricated a whole set of lies in his memorial. He said that Yan Shifan had recruited a group of desperados and was secretly contacting Japanese pirate leaders at sea from his place of exile, preparing to launch a coordinated attack on the capital. This would be considered spreading rumors today, but at that critical juncture, just after the devastating fire at Xiyuan Garden, it was a logically sound conclusion!"

Zhu Dijun placed his hands on the control panel.

"When Jiajing saw this memorial, a cold sweat immediately broke out on his back. Lan Daoxing said that a traitorous minister was usurping the country, and the Thousand Steps Corridor was on fire. Now Xu Jie's memorial says that Yan Shifan is colluding with Japanese pirates to rebel. Everything matches up! This is Heaven using the great fire to warn me that Yan Shifan is going to rebel!"

"Therefore, Jiajing was furious. Without any hesitation or verification of evidence, he directly wrote in red ink—'Execute immediately!'"

Zhu Dijun tore the copy of the case file in half and threw it into the wastepaper basket.

"Yan Shifan died just like that. He didn't die from corruption, nor from persecuting loyal officials, but from a charge of treason and collusion with Japanese pirates that Xu Jie had tailored for him. He used the plot of assassinating the emperor to complete the most crucial task of clearing away obstacles."

He raised his head, his eyes extremely cold.

"The Yan faction has been completely wiped out. Next, the upright officials should turn their swords on that blind emperor sitting on the dragon throne."