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

"Family members, we've thoroughly investigated the period from the first to the fifth year of the Longqing reign. The gentry of Jiangnan were completely crushed by the northern group, Gao Gong held absolute power, the salt profits were transported north, and border trade was monopolized. If things continue at this pace, even if the Ming Dynasty rots, it should rot within its own pot, and those wild boars of the Jianzhou Jurchens won't have a chance to gnaw on the bones."

Zhu Dijun twirled the marker between his fingers twice and wrote a year on the whiteboard—1572.

"But the good times didn't last long. Everything was ruined in the sixth year of the Longqing reign. In that year, three things happened in the Ming court: the emperor died, the chief minister was dismissed, and a ten-year-old child sat on the dragon throne."

He paused, then glanced at the comment section.

"Sounds like a normal power transition? Don't be so quick to judge. I'll show you how deep the waters run, bit by bit."

Zhu Dijun drew a timeline on the whiteboard, marking the key milestones of the sixth year of the Longqing reign.

"In the intercalary second month, Emperor Muzong Zhu Zaihou was attending court when he suddenly suffered a stroke and became paralyzed. On the 26th of May, he passed away in the Qianqing Palace at the young age of thirty-six."

He circled "thirty-six" in red.

"Thirty-six years old. In today's world, that's the prime of life. How could he have died? The official explanation given in history books is—excessive indulgence in sex and wine, which depleted his health."

Zhu Dijun copied the passage onto the whiteboard and then put a question mark next to it.

"The official account is correct. Emperor Muzong was indeed fond of wine and women, and his expenses in the harem were outrageously high. The deal Gao Gong made with him was—you don't care about the killings in the court, and I don't care about the women in your harem. Both parties were satisfied with this deal. But here's the problem."

He walked in front of the camera and placed his hands on the edge of the podium.

"Who knows Emperor Muzong's health best? Not Gao Gong, not Zhang Juzheng. It's two people—Consort Li and Feng Bao."

Two more names appeared on the whiteboard.

"Consort Li was the birth mother of Emperor Wanli. Feng Bao was a eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial. These two were by the emperor's side every day. They knew better than the imperial physicians how much wine Emperor Muzong drank, how many pills he took, and how bad his health was."

"I won't say a word here. Emperor Muzong of Ming, Zhu Zaiji, not only lacked his father Jiajing's political abilities, but he also lacked even his father's ability to protect himself. Nowadays, many people know that Jiajing's alchemy was not entirely about alchemy, but also a pretext to build his own medical team. Jiajing knew how corrupt the Imperial Medical Academy was, that it was completely a bunch of obedient sycophants of the civil official group, but Zhu Zaiji just didn't learn that. Even a little bit of something extra in these potent medicines could kill people in a short time, let alone in six years."

Zhu Dijun held up one finger.

"In the fifth year of the Longqing reign, Zhang Juzheng had already been secretly colluding with Feng Bao. I mentioned this matter when I talked about the fifth year of the Longqing reign. In front of the cabinet officials, Gao Gong questioned Zhang Juzheng about whether he had accepted money to plead for Xu Jie, and the two completely broke off relations. Zhang Juzheng knew that he had no cards to play, and his only way out was to wait for Emperor Muzong to die."

The bullet comments section was scrolling by incredibly fast.

"Waiting for the emperor to die? That's too cruel."

[Zhang Juzheng: I'm not waiting to die, I'm waiting for an opportunity.]

"It's chilling to think about. Was the alliance between Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao premeditated?"

[“Upstairs, have you forgotten the 5th year of the Longqing reign? It might even have been earlier, but it was just erased.”]

"You can decide for yourselves," Judy Jun said, without giving a clear answer.

"I'm just stating the facts. Emperor Muzong had been taking elixirs for many years, and all the court officials knew this. Did Gao Gong try to persuade him? No. Did Zhang Juzheng try to persuade him? No. Did Feng Bao try to persuade him? No. Did Consort Li try to persuade him? No."

He listed four names on the whiteboard, and put an X next to each one.

"Not a single one. Why? Because it's no good for anyone if an adult emperor is alive. If Emperor Muzong were alive, Gao Gong could continue to be his emperor without a crown. But Zhang Juzheng would always be suppressed, Feng Bao would never become the Grand Eunuch, and Consort Li would always be just a Consort, not the Empress Dowager."

Zhu Dijun pointed all the arrows on the whiteboard to the same endpoint—"The young emperor ascends the throne."

"Only when Emperor Muzong dies and the ten-year-old Crown Prince Zhu Yijun ascends the throne can the interests of these three people be fully realized. The Empress Dowager will interfere in politics, Feng Bao will be in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and Zhang Juzheng will be the Grand Secretary. The interests of the three parties will be completely intertwined."

He tapped on the table.

"I'm not saying they murdered Emperor Muzong. He drank himself to death. But these three men turned a blind eye to the emperor's declining health, offered no advice, and waited for the throne to remain vacant—how is that any different from murder?"

The Ming Dynasty, in a parallel universe.

Zhu Yijun sat on the dragon throne, his fingers gripping the hem of his robe. He had only been ten years old when he ascended the throne, and his memory of his father was already hazy. But he remembered one thing—the expressions on the faces of Mr. Zhang and Feng Bao on the day his father passed away.

It's not sadness.

It's an irrepressible, eager excitement.

"I was young then and didn't understand."

Zhu Yijun's voice was very soft.

"Now I'm over fifty, and looking back at that day... when Mr. Zhang entered, his steps were a beat faster than usual. I can't remember if Feng Bao's eyes were red, but he took over the seal of the Grand Eunuch that very day. He didn't even bother to pretend for a day."

Zhu Yijun loosened his grip on the hem of his clothes; his palms were sweaty.

"My father's body is barely cold, and these treacherous officials are laughing as if it were New Year's Day. I was so naive back then."

Zhu Dijun continued to push forward.

"Emperor Muzong did something before his death. He summoned three cabinet ministers to the Qianqing Palace to entrust the young emperor with his care: Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Gao Yi. His dying wish was that they, both inside and outside the court, work together to assist the young emperor."

He wrote the three names on the whiteboard.

"It sounds normal. It's a long-standing custom for emperors to entrust their sons to others on their deathbeds. But there's a huge problem here."

Zhu Dijun drew a red line over the four characters "内内同心" (meaning "united in heart and mind").

"The 'inner' refers to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. The 'outer' refers to the Grand Secretariat. Emperor Muzong intended for the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs to cooperate in governing. But here's the question—did the late emperor's oral will actually mention the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs sharing the responsibility of assisting him?"

He pulled up a historical document on his tablet.

According to the "Veritable Records of Emperor Muzong of Ming," Emperor Muzong verbally entrusted his son to the Grand Secretariat, appointing them as regents. However, the final edict he issued included four additional characters: "Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs." Who added these four characters?

On the whiteboard, Zhu Dijun wrote the two characters "Feng Bao" with an arrow pointing to "tampering with the imperial edict".

"Feng Bao. At the time, he was the Grand Secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonial, not the Grand Secretary. The Grand Secretary was Meng Chong. Feng Bao took advantage of the opportunity to draft the imperial edict and privately added a clause allowing him to share the administration of state affairs with the cabinet ministers, thus seizing Meng Chong's power."

Zhu Dijun slammed his hand on the table.

"This is a forged imperial edict. In the Hongwu reign, this would have been a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family."

"What about Zhang Juzheng? Does he know?"

The comment section asked this question on his behalf.

"He was aware of the whole thing."

Zhu Dijun's answer was concise and to the point.

"The alliance between Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao was established in the fifth year of the Longqing reign. Feng Bao altered the imperial edict, and Zhang Juzheng not only knew about it but also participated in the planning. On the day the edict was promulgated, Zhang Juzheng was the first to express his support."

He drew a triangle on the whiteboard—Empress Dowager Li, Feng Bao, and Zhang Juzheng.

"The Iron Triangle. The Empress Dowager provides the nominal authority, Feng Bao provides the power within the inner court, and Zhang Juzheng provides the wisdom of the outer court. With the combined efforts of the three, Gao Gong's death is imminent."

The Ming Dynasty, in a parallel timeline of the 45th year of the Jiajing reign.

The Western Garden Abode. Jiajing leaned back on the couch, and after listening to this, his withered fingers clenched tightly under the covers.

"A forged imperial edict."

Jiajing repeated the two words over and over, his voice hoarse.

He spent his entire life playing power games, spending forty years in Taoist practice without attending court, yet he firmly upheld the bottom line of imperial authority. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs and the Grand Secretariat were all his lackeys. Would a dog dare alter its master's will?

"This Feng Bao is even bolder than Yan Song."

Jiajing raised his eyelids slightly, a chill emanating from his cloudy pupils.

"Yan Song was greedy for money and power, but he dared not touch the imperial edict. These people dared to alter even the imperial edict; what else in the Ming Dynasty wouldn't they dare to do?"

The Taoist priests standing in the hall kept their heads down, not daring to breathe loudly.

Jiajing suddenly laughed, his laughter dry and rough, like sandpaper grinding iron.

"I cultivated Taoism for forty years, seeking immortality. In the end, even my grandson couldn't leave behind a complete will. What use is immortality then?"