Ye Liangyu is a well-known commentary creator on a video platform. One day, her sharp tongue got her caught up in a history livestream System.
The System thought that telling her the livestream would be broadcast throughout the ancient world would make Ye Liangyu rein herself in a little. It never expected her to aim her mockery straight at the emperors of old.
On the first day of the broadcast, all was calm. Under the System's coercion, Ye Liangyu played a roundup of one of history's greatest enlightened rulers.
The second day was still peaceful, like a sea growing restless beneath the calm before a storm. Ye Liangyu played a compilation of foolish ancient rulers.
On the third day of the broadcast, Ye Liangyu split the stream to show two video roundups side by side.
The cartoon moon hanging on the left smiled sweetly.
"Good morning, everyone. Welcome to my livestream."
The pinned title in the livestream was:
"Comparing History's 'Enlightened Rulers' and 'Foolish Rulers'"
-
The same rain fell across two thousand years of past and present. When the skies cleared, a mirage appeared, one unseen in a century. Just as the Imperial Astronomical Bureau hurried into the palace with news of this auspicious sign, the mirage suddenly began to move.
Everyone saw a cartoon moon from who knew where hanging high in the sky, shining alongside the sun.
The mirage before their eyes shifted, and an emperor in magnificent robes appeared in the sky screen.
On the first day, a virtuous and benevolent emperor brought order and prosperity.
On the second day, a foolish and pitiful emperor ruined his family and lost his kingdom.
On the third day, a "divine voice" descended from the heavens, its sweet sound echoing across the land.
-
The Qin Emperor, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizu of Song, and the others featured in the roundup the day before had just finished giving their spendthrift descendants a beating. Now they suddenly appeared in the sky screen again, and all of them trembled.
It was no wonder. The previous roundup might have praised them as emperors without equal, the greatest of all time, only for the next compilation to turn them into cautionary examples. Who could take that kind of whiplash?!
But mockery from a thousand years in the future didn't care how aggrieved the emperors of a thousand years ago felt.
Looking at the eight characters on the screen, "Kaiyuan Prosperity" and "An Lushan Rebellion," Ye Liangyu smiled faintly.
"You slacked off in your later years and wasted the rest of your life. Isn't that right, Emperor Xuanzong?"
"Stop blaming everything on women. What's wrong with being beautiful?"
Li Longji: "..."
Having united the realm, pacified the four corners, and won renown across the seas, Emperor Qin Shi Huang sighed as Moon Fish looked at Ying Zheng.
"You really ought to have more children. Those few of Kangxi's could certainly cause trouble, fighting over the throne like a bunch of fighting cocks. But at least the one left standing wasn't a spendthrift."
The First Emperor, furious at his disappointing son, kicked Hu Hai again.
Yang Jian, watching the show with a grin, hadn't even finished smiling when the "heavenly voice" turned its fire on him.
"Emperor Wen of Sui, what are you smiling about?"
Like the Qin dynasty, Yang Jian's dynasty had lasted just two generations, and he'd also had a spendthrift son. Yang Jian: "..."
Kangxi had just received a compliment that didn't quite sit right, and he wasn't sure whether to smile, when the leisurely "heavenly voice" reached his ears again.
"Don't get cocky just because you have lots of sons. You raised a nest of vipers, and in the end you got nothing. Isn't that right, Sacred Ancestor?"
Kangxi: "..."
Yongzheng had just exchanged a glance with Emperor Wu of Han when the "heavenly voice" followed close behind.
"You two do seem to know yourselves. Suspicion is an illness. It needs treatment."
After a round of taunts, the "heavenly voice" turned its mocking fire up to full blast, then noticed the Hongwu Emperor sitting nearby, lost in sorrow. Its tone turned sympathetic.
"How about signing you up for a medical counseling course?"
The Ming emperor's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Could we start with childhood health care?"
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes light up, Zhu Biao hurried forward.
"Father, I died young, not as a little child!"
Notes:
1. This isn't rigorously researched or historically precise. Feel free to treat it as alternate history.
2. The emperors in this story aren't meant to represent their real historical counterparts. For serious research, please consult historical records.
Theme: Learn from history
