I Am the Ming Emperor Who Has Been Vilified the Most by Posterity

I am Zhu Jianshen, known to history as Emperor Xianzong of the Ming dynasty, the emperor of the Chenghua era.

When historians mention me, they always return to a few things: my exclusive favor for Wan, my failure to attend court, my indulgence of the Western Depot, and the many corrupt policies of the Chenghua era.

But no one wants to write about how, when I was seven, my father stripped me of my position as crown prince and locked me in the Southern Palace for seven years. It was that woman, seventeen years older than me, who brought me a basin of charcoal on a snowy night and warmed my entire childhood.

I ascended the throne at seventeen. Before me was a court full of suspicion; behind me, a history book being twisted one character at a time.

In this life, I no longer want to wait for people of later generations to speak for me.

Told in the first person, this book recounts the life of Emperor Chenghua, Zhu Jianshen, from the snow of the Southern Palace to the blades of the Western Depot, from the infamy recorded by historians to these words: Though my body be crushed to pieces, I fear nothing, for I will leave my innocence in this world.