For Zhu Shuang and Zhu Gang inside Huagai Hall, the two brothers first stared blankly at the sudden and startling change before their eyes. Then they glanced down at their elder brother and fourth brother beside them, both clearly looking forward to a good show, and at their father, who had turned his face aside but still seemed to be watching from the corner of his eye.
After exchanging a look, the two of them spoke almost at the same time.
"Is this a dream?"
"Am I still asleep?"
Before they could continue puzzling it out, Zhu Gang suddenly let out a loud shout and sprang up from his chair, glaring furiously to the side.
"Fourth Brother!"
Zhu Di scratched his cheek without the slightest embarrassment.
"I was only helping Third Brother confirm whether this is really a dream."
That shout was so loud that it left Zhu Shuang's ears ringing. His head was still buzzing, but precisely because of that he could now confirm that this was neither hallucination nor dream, but something else entirely.
"Father, this…"
Zhu Shuang thought very simply. The Great Ming had not yet changed its ruler, so asking their father was never wrong.
Just as expected, their father stood with his hands behind his back.
"This is the Heavenly Light Screen of Yingtian. It spans a thousand years. Through it one may consult Marquis Wu on the art of governing a state, ask Emperor Taizong of Tang about the strategies of statecraft, and discuss with Emperor Taizu of Song…"
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stopped speaking.
It was not that he had any particular opinion about the Song dynasty. Rather, on the imposing light screen before them, a line of text had clearly drifted past.
[Zhao Yun: I speak on behalf of Yide. Since we are about to hear the later generations discuss the Ming, the Hongwu Emperor should not grow impatient.]
In an instant, Zhu Yuanzhang felt the urge to grind his teeth.
"How could we possibly be impatient!"
Zhu Gang temporarily forgot about arguing with his fourth brother. Seeing that their father seemed slightly angered, he nearly began trembling all over. He very much wanted to say that Father already looked quite impatient.
Among the brothers, all of them feared their father's anger. But if one had to name the one who feared it the most, it would definitely be him.
Had he not once been scolded by their father over a cook? After that, he simply kept the cook around without letting him cook at all, just to avoid giving Father another reason to scold him.
Zhu Shuang, however, suddenly brightened.
Of course he did not dare provoke their father's temper, so he simply pulled at his elder brother and asked,
"This Zhao Yun, is he the one from Changshan, Zhao Zilong?"
"And the Yide he mentioned, could that be Marquis Huan, Zhang Fei?"
Zhu Biao nodded.
"Three months ago, several of us brothers in the capital already watched this light screen once with Father and Mother."
"At that time…"
Here Zhu Biao sighed softly. He did not yet know how to tell his two younger brothers about their mother's ill fate, nor about the destiny that foretold his own early death.
During this recent period, Imperial Physician Dai Sigong had been extremely busy. Yet after examining the Empress again and again, he could only say that although her constitution was somewhat weak, there was no serious illness.
It seemed that if they wished to completely avert their mother's misfortune, they would have to see whether the light screen might speak more about the matter.
After collecting his thoughts, Zhu Biao continued.
"At that time, Physician Dai discussed medicine with Sun Simiao. Father also discussed matters of governance with Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Taizu of Song. Marquis Wu even reminded me to balance work with rest and pay attention to my health."
Hearing this, Zhu Shuang immediately felt a little envious. But he also asked casually,
"Who is Sun Simiao?"
Seeing the helpless look on his elder brother's face, Zhu Shuang chuckled.
Then he raised his head toward the light screen.
"This thing really is that miraculous?"
Such an unimaginable and strange object stood right before them. Though difficult to believe, seeing the father he respected most treating it so seriously, and his most respected elder brother doing the same, Zhu Shuang subconsciously accepted what his father had said about its wondrous abilities.
Now he naturally wanted to see just how miraculous it truly was.
[Lightscreen]
[Recently, the hottest topic is without a doubt the Paris Olympics.
First of all, congratulations to our athletes for winning gold medals and bringing honor to the nation. But at the same time, one cannot help but sigh that this edition of the Paris Olympics is truly… distinctive.
Whether the effort behind it will go down in history is uncertain. But the creativity of the opening ceremony has absolutely reached an unprecedented level.
I wonder what our ancestors would think if they saw what the world has become today?
I know some viewers are probably saying, "Illiterate UP, you're going off topic again!"
Heh heh. Do you think I'm that kind of person?
The reason I mention this is that, thanks to the popularity of the Olympics, another cultural relic has once again become widely discussed.
And this particular artwork just happens to belong to the Ming dynasty.
So let us take this as our entry point and casually talk about today's protagonist, the Ming dynasty.
This painting is brought up every time there is a major sporting event.
It is the famous work now housed in the Palace Museum:
"Emperor Xuanzong of Ming Enjoying Himself."]
For Zhu Yuanzhang, he temporarily forgot about Zhang Fei's remark.
Because as the later generations mentioned something called the Olympics, the scenery before his eyes began changing more violently than ever before.
Images flashed past at astonishing speed.
He saw a row of people holding objects resembling muskets, aiming them into the distance.
Then the scene shifted again. Two Chinese athletes stood on a small platform, waving excitedly with flowers in their hands. Hanging on their chests were bright golden round medals that glittered brilliantly.
Then two athletes leapt together from a board, tracing a graceful arc through the air before plunging into the water. The splash even made Zhu Yuanzhang exclaim twice.
After that, the same two athletes once again stood on a small platform, smiling brightly with golden medals on their chests and flowers in their hands.
More scenes followed.
People splashing in a pool.
A young girl concentrating intently while drawing a complex-looking bow.
Athletes performing intricate yet beautiful movements on a field.
Others rapidly swinging small round paddles in their hands.
And almost all of these scenes ended the same way.
Standing upon that small platform.
Sometimes the highest step, sometimes the second highest.
The medals on their chests were occasionally silver.
The sequence was so fast that Zhu Yuanzhang could barely keep up.
He could not help asking aloud,
"What is this?"
But the spectacle was far from finished.
As the narrator mentioned the "creative opening ceremony," the flashing scenes grew even more astonishing.
He saw people in all kinds of clothing parading on boats.
He saw a masked figure running across rooftops with a torch.
As the camera pulled back, an unimaginably vast city came into view. Yet most of its inhabitants were blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners.
At the docks were exotic dances.
At the city's highest point, a golden bird rotated slowly.
A woman holding her own head sang loudly.
Red ribbons burst from rows of castle-like buildings.
Silver armor drifted along the river beneath shimmering lights.
If it had ended there, perhaps it would still have been acceptable.
But the next series of images made Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widen.
Three people laughing inexplicably before closing a door.
A group of strangely dressed figures seated beside a long table.
And beneath a huge round pot lid, a blue-skinned, golden-haired man emerging.
Zhu Biao did not know how to comment on this.
Instinctively, he quietly placed a hand over his son Zhu Xiongying's face, blocking the boy's view.
The narrator from later generations continued speaking slowly, so the images did not switch too quickly. Everyone in Huagai Hall saw everything clearly.
And all of it made the Emperor of the Great Ming groan aloud.
"What is all this?"
Compared with that, when the Ming dynasty painting finally appeared afterward, it seemed almost too normal to attract any attention at all.