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

Zhu Dijun twisted open the Nongfu Spring bottle in his hand, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp. The water slid down his throat, suppressing the heat brought on by the continuous high-intensity output. He casually tossed the plastic bottle onto a corner of the podium, the crisp clinking sound breaking the brief silence of the studio.

"Alright, family."

Zhu Dijun held a laser pointer and pointed it at the holographic whiteboard behind him that had lit up again.

"Hai Rui's 'Memorial on Governance' was a scathing critique that earned him the reputation of a righteous official for all time. According to the consistent account in the 'Veritable Records of Emperor Shizong of Ming' and the 'History of Ming,' Emperor Jiajing died on the 14th day of the 12th month of the 45th year of his reign in the Qianqing Palace of the Western Garden at the age of 60. The cause of death was determined to be chronic heavy metal poisoning caused by years of consuming elixirs containing lead, mercury, and arsenic. His phlegm ailment worsened in the winter, and after a long illness, he finally succumbed to natural causes."

On the right side of the live stream, the chat messages are scrolling and refreshing.

"Here it comes, here it comes, the familiar Ming Dynasty conspiracy theory segment!"

"What conspiracy theory? This is official history, isn't it? It's just that the civil service group led by Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng controlled the pen and deliberately downplayed the truth."

"Alas, being an emperor in the Zhu family was tough. Even Zhu Houcong, one of the top ten most cunning emperors in history, still suffered a setback and was ultimately defeated in his later years."

"Jun-ge, tell me quickly, how exactly did that old bastard die?"

Zhu Dijun crossed his hands on the edge of the control panel, leaned forward, and his eyes revealed a sharp, scalpel-like glint.

"If you look through any copies of the *Veritable Records of Emperor Jiajing*, you'll find an extremely unusual phenomenon. From Hai Rui's memorial in February of the 45th year of Jiajing's reign until the emperor's death in December—a full ten months! This crucial period of power transition at the very top of the Ming Dynasty is glossed over in historical records, without even a ripple. These ten months have been deliberately interfered with and forcibly erased!"

He turned around and drew a timeline on the whiteboard with a red marker, with a huge question mark in the middle.

"Stepping outside the official historians' embellished accounts, today I'll use a conspiracy theory perspective, driven by self-interest, to reveal the truth of what actually happened during those ten months."

Zhu Dijun tapped the blackboard.

"This was the most covert and ruthless power struggle in the mid-Ming Dynasty, one that didn't involve a single sword or spear!"

The holographic screen is divided into two sections. The left side displays the official conclusions and logic, while the right side is a blank deduction area.

"Let's first look at the logical foundation of official history. The official account says that for over twenty years, the emperor lived alone in the Western Garden, consuming 'longevity pills' made from cinnabar, realgar, and red lead—all highly toxic substances. The official records document Jiajing's symptoms in his later years: numbness in his limbs, dizziness, hallucinations, fever, hemoptysis, and mental confusion. This is indeed a typical case of chronic heavy metal poisoning." Zhu Dijun pointed to the text on the left.

"Furthermore, the official statement specifically emphasized that eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial and imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy took turns caring for the deceased before and after his death, and cabinet ministers such as Xu Jie and Li Chunfang inquired about his well-being daily, with complete records of his daily life and medical history. The conclusion is: suicide by overdose of drugs, with absolutely no trace of external conspiracy."

Zhu Dijun let out a sneer, the sound of which was particularly jarring in the empty studio.

"Perfect. This rhetoric is too perfect, so perfect that even the punctuation is used to absolve the civil service of any responsibility."

He wiped away the list of official historical records on the whiteboard.

"But in this world, all the anomalies point to one core issue—maximizing profits. Who benefited the most in these ten months? It was Xu Jie, and the 'pure stream' group led by figures like Zhang Juzheng!"

The logic chain begins to build on the right side of the screen, with bright red font that is visually striking.

"First of all, Jiajing is the only living obstacle to all the reforms of the Qingliu faction! As long as this old emperor is still breathing, he will protect the old officials, he will continue to levy heavy procurement taxes on the palace for alchemy, and he will always let Xu Jie 'act as regent.' The Qingliu faction wants to completely abolish the exorbitant taxes, exonerate Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian, and thoroughly cleanse the court, but they simply cannot bypass the emperor's imperial seal."

"Secondly, there's the potential threat of a succession crisis. As mentioned earlier, Prince Jing, Zhu Zaizhen, died of illness. Logically, Prince Yu became the only heir, and the throne should have been secured. However, Emperor Jiajing was an extremely suspicious and controlling man, and he never publicly appointed Prince Yu as crown prince. What did this mean? It meant that the position of crown prince was undecided, and the emperor could change the succession arrangement at any time due to a momentary whim. Could Zhang Juzheng bear this Damocles' sword hanging over his head? Could the gentry of Jiangnan sleep soundly?"

Zhu Dijun paced back and forth on the podium, speaking rapidly like a machine gun.

"The most lethal catalyst has arrived! The third point. In February of the 45th year of the Jiajing reign, Hai Rui's memorial on maintaining order ignited a firestorm in the court. Jiajing was furious at the time, even shouting in his study that he wanted to thoroughly investigate the mastermind behind Hai Rui and planned a large-scale purge of the civil service. Once this bomb exploded, Xu Jie and his group's carefully laid plans of more than a decade would all be wiped out!"

He stopped and slammed his index finger heavily on the control panel.

"Finally, and most easily overlooked, is the physiological condition. It's true that Jiajing's health was poor, suffering from heavy metal poisoning. But he was only sixty years old! With the medical resources available to emperors in ancient times, even without drastic medications, as long as he stopped taking elixirs and recuperated properly, he could have easily survived another five to ten years. Once Jiajing reached nearly seventy, Xu Jie and his ilk of old ministers would have long since died of old age or retired, and their planned power consolidation would have been in vain. Time was not on the side of the upright officials!"

The Ming Dynasty, in a parallel Hongwu era.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat steadily behind his desk in the Fengtian Hall, his fingers twirling Buddhist prayer beads with great force, making the sandalwood beads creak.

"Boiling a frog in lukewarm water" and "Using someone else to do the dirty work."

Old Zhu's assessment was incisive and his words were extremely cold.

"What a bunch of sage disciples who are loyal to the emperor and love their country. The emperor is blocking their way, blocking their path to promotion, wealth, and protection of their families. They even want to manipulate the emperor's lifespan. Such filthy scheming is something we never saw when we were fighting for the country against Chen Youliang's million-strong army."

Li Shanchang stood below the steps, not daring to raise his head, beads of sweat sliding down his nose and landing on the gold bricks. He understood that these younger colleagues in the sky had torn the last fig leaf of civil officials to shreds.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's scalpel followed the chain of logic, cutting into the most hidden crime scene.

"To assassinate an emperor residing in the heavily guarded Western Garden, sending an assassin to slit his throat would be the worst possible tactic, leaving room for gossip. The Qingliu Group chose a three-tiered, progressively more sophisticated poisoning hypothesis, leaving absolutely no direct evidence. This is nothing short of a targeted, pre-arranged physical manipulation!"

The large screen changes scenes, revealing a royal Taoist temple shrouded in mist, where several Taoist priests dressed in Bagua robes are busy in front of an alchemy furnace.

"The first layer of danger: using the Taoist priest to continuously intensify the toxicity of the elixir!"

Zhu Dijun held a laser pointer and outlined the shape of the alchemy furnace.

"Do you really think those charlatan alchemists in the Western Garden are just working for Jiajing? You're sorely mistaken. Years ago, when Yan Song fell from power, Lan Daoxing used spirit writing to deliver a divine edict—that was Xu Jie's most successful example of secretly controlling and bribing alchemists. If he could bribe them once, he could bribe the entire alchemy industry chain!"

"On the surface, the Taoist priests were obsequious and continued to brew 'elixirs of immortality' for the emperor. But what about in secret? Under Xu Jie's instructions, they secretly increased the proportions of cinnabar, mercury, and arsenic in the elixirs year by year. How could they cover this up? It was too easy! They claimed to the outside world that 'Your Majesty's immortal foundation is deepening, and the elixirs need to be prepared with higher heat and dosage to prolong your life.' Jiajing was already in a state of extreme superstition and anxiety about immortality, so he believed these claims without a doubt and took the elixirs on time every day."

Zhu Dijun faced the camera directly, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"This is the most perfect murder. The victim swallowed the murder weapon himself. If outsiders investigate, it will only be ruled as 'suicide by taking elixirs,' a royal scandal. Who would suspect those powerless civil officials and high-ranking ministers? Jiajing is destined to take the blame, and so are the Taoist priests. The Qingliu faction won't even get a drop of blood on their fingernails!"