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

"The Lan Yu case is the most controversial and the most regrettable of the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Dijun's voice carried a hint of sorrow.

Historical records state that Lan Yu was arrogant and lawless, kept servants, and plotted a rebellion. In the end, he was skinned alive and stuffed with straw by Zhu Yuanzhang, his three clans were exterminated, and more than 15,000 people were implicated and killed.

"A founding father and a renowned general who fought in countless battles met such an end. This seems to be irrefutable evidence of Zhu Yuanzhang's cruelty and bloodthirstiness."

"But family members, have you thought about this?"

"Lan Yu is the maternal uncle of Crown Prince Zhu Biao's wife, making him a relative by marriage with Zhu Yuanzhang! He commands a large army and is a powerful figure in the Ming Dynasty's military! He is also Crown Prince Zhu Biao's strongest backer!"

Even if Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely suspicious, was it necessary for him to resort to such a self-destructive method as killing his own son's right-hand men?

"Unless, he believes, that Lan Yu has become a more dangerous entity than any external enemy!"

"And this is exactly the result the Khazars wanted him to see!"

Above the sky, the image was split in two.

To the left lies the vast northern grassland, bordering the Buyur Lake.

General Lan Yu, clad in heavy armor and brimming with confidence, commanded the Ming cavalry to utterly crush the main force of the Northern Yuan! This was another decisive victory for the Ming Dynasty against the Mongols! A peerless feat worthy of being hailed as a glorious achievement!

To the right, however, lay a dark corner of the Yingtianfu Palace.

Several officials, their faces obscured, were huddled together, whispering among themselves.

"Have you heard? General Lan actually broke through the Xifeng Pass in the dead of night!"

"That's not all! He also forcibly took the Yuan emperor's concubine!"

"Such behavior is no different from that of beasts! His Majesty values ​​military discipline above all else; if this matter were to reach His Majesty's ears..."

Shh... watch your words, watch your words!

Exaggerated and distorted "dirt" was continuously transmitted into the palace through these people.

……

The 26th year of the Hongwu reign.

Having just recovered slightly from the grief of losing his wife and son, Zhu Yuanzhang was reading the report of Lan Yu's great victory when a rare smile appeared on his face.

"Good! Well done! No wonder these are soldiers trained by Chang Yuchun!"

But soon after, impeachment memorials from censors and officials began to arrive like snowflakes.

"Arrogant and unruly soldiers, utterly disrespectful to their sovereign!"

"Forcibly taking the imperial concubine as a concubine is a disgrace to the nation!"

"Possessing a BMW is tantamount to treason!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face gradually darkened.

He thought of Hu Weiyong, who held immense power in the court but ultimately harbored malicious intentions.

He thought of his grandson Zhu Xiong Ying, who had died tragically.

A deep-seated suspicion and vigilance, like a venomous snake, coiled around his heart.

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun's cold voice continued to ring out.

"This is the Khazars' insidious plan! Killing two birds with one stone!"

"First, they used flattery to their detriment! They used their agents, who were already infiltrated into the court, to constantly praise Lan Yu's achievements, fueling his arrogance and making him overbearing, thus sowing the seeds for his eventual downfall!"

"Secondly, slander! They also used these traitors to exaggerate and report Lan Yu's unintentional mistakes, or even some fabricated crimes! They even planted people in Lan Yu's army, disguised as his servants, to run rampant and create trouble, and then frame Lan Yu for everything!"

"What they wanted to do was plant a thorn in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart!"

"A poisonous thorn in Lan Yu's side—that he might become the next Hu Weiyong!"

"The last straw that broke the camel's back happened in the 25th year of the Hongwu reign."

Above the sky, time fast-forwards.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao has fallen ill.

Zhu Yuanzhang took care of her tirelessly, but it was still too late to save her.

The successor he had devoted his entire life to cultivating ultimately left him.

Once again, a parent outlives their child!

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was already sixty-five years old.

He lost his wife, his eldest grandson, and now, his most beloved son.

The screen deliberately gave Zhu Yuanzhang a close-up.

The man who had once stood tall and upright seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant. His back hunched over. In his eyes, there was only endless sorrow, weariness, and a distrust of the entire world.

"The Crown Prince has passed away, and the Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen is still young."

"At this time, how would Zhu Yuanzhang view Lan Yu, who held considerable military power and had close ties with the Crown Prince?"

"Is it a guardian spirit?"

"No!"

"Under the psychological manipulation and slander of the Khazars for years, and after the immense blow of losing his loved ones one after another, Lan Yu was now seen by Zhu Yuanzhang as a powerful minister whose achievements threatened his young grandson... a minister whose power was overwhelming and who could be a threat to the emperor at any moment!"

"And so, the executioner's blade finally fell."

Above the sky, on the left, the hero of the Fishing Lake is bound to the execution ground, his eyes filled with incomprehension, anger, and despair.

On the right side of the screen, in a dark corner, those blurry figures wore smug smiles.

The 25th year of the Hongwu reign.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the scene in the sky and was struck dumb as if by lightning!

He looked at his son Zhu Biao, who was dying on his sickbed, and then at Lan Yu in the picture, whom he had personally sent to the execution ground.

He looked at the ghostly figures that were grinning maliciously in the shadows.

"Did we...did we kill the wrong person?"

A piercing, bone-chilling regret, like a tsunami, instantly overwhelmed him!

He recalled his daughter, Princess Anqing, pleading for Lan Yu's life with tears in her eyes.

He recalled that when Zhu Biao was seriously ill, he had told him, "The Duke of Liang (Lan Yu) is capable of great things."

He thought his son was kind-hearted, and he thought his daughter was just being a woman!

It turns out, he was the one who was wrong!

He was blinded by grief and suspicion!

It was he who personally severed the strongest support for his own grandson!

It was he who fell for the enemy's most vicious scheme of using someone else to kill him!

"puff--"

A mouthful of blood suddenly spurted from Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth, splattering all over the memorials before him.

This emperor, who had lived a life of iron-fisted rule, swayed violently and nearly fell over.

He wasn't angry, but filled with endless regret and grief!

"Khazar..."

Zhu Yuanzhang gripped the armrests of the dragon throne tightly, his fingernails cracking and bleeding from the force.

"We are your mortal enemies!"

……

The fifteenth year of the Yongle reign.

Zhu Di stared at the sky, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

He had also accompanied Lan Yu on his campaigns and witnessed firsthand the general's bravery.

"I see... I see..."

Yao Guangxiao stood to the side, clasped his hands together, and sighed softly, "Killing two birds with one stone, using someone else to kill... What a vicious scheme. It not only eliminated a pillar of our Ming army, but also sowed discord between the Taizu Emperor and the meritorious officials, making everyone in the court feel insecure... Such cunning is unfathomable."

Zhu Di's eyes burned with raging fury.

This anger was directed not only at Khazars, but also at his nephew Zhu Yunwen!

The fact that the emperor was deceived and wrongly killed a loyal minister is already a tragedy.

And you, Zhu Yunwen, as the "beneficiary" of this tragedy, actually went to seek refuge with the real culprit behind the deaths of your uncle (Lan Yu) and your brother (Zhu Xiong Ying) later on, carrying the Imperial Seal of the State?!

This isn't just stupidity, this is betrayal!

"evil creature!"

Zhu Di gritted his teeth and said to the eunuch beside him:

"Send another imperial decree to Zheng He!"

"Tell him that once Zhu Yunwen is found, there's no need to capture him alive!"

"Kill him on the spot! Wipe him out completely, along with all the Khazar demons around him!"

"Bring the imperial seal back to me!"

At this moment, Emperor Yongle's murderous intent reached its peak!

Modern live streaming room.

The atmosphere was deathly silent.

Everyone was so shocked by this tragic and cruel truth that they were speechless.

After a long while, the comments started flowing again, but they were filled with sympathy and sadness.

"This is so tragic... Lan Yu has been wronged so much..."

"The Hongwu Emperor was so pitiful, manipulated by the enemy and forced to kill his own loyal ministers..."

"This isn't just a conspiracy theory, this is an epic tragedy!"

"All I want to see right now is see Khazars die!"

The audience's emotions were completely stirred up.

As Judy Jun watched all this, he slowly exhaled.

"Zhu Yuanzhang made a mistake, an irreparable mistake caused by grief and deception."

"He was not a madman who indiscriminately killed innocent people; he was a besieged, wounded lion."

"And the shadow of Khazars will not dissipate because of the deaths of Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu."

His gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, landing on Zhu Di in the fifteenth year of the Yongle reign.

"Its tentacles will continue to extend, entangle my ancestor, the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di."

"And that will be another epic tale of covert warfare, even more magnificent and perilous than before!"