Chapter 1: The Little Ancestor from a Thousand Years Ago
Around three o’clock in the afternoon, at one of the modern drama filming locations in Hengdian, the male lead Yu Zhicheng’s dressing room.
“Junior!”
Yu Zhicheng was sitting in a chair, reciting his lines. When he looked up, he saw a little girl.
She appeared to be about three and a half years old, carrying a sandalwood box half her height in her hands.
She wore a bright red dress resembling the Tang dynasty-style ruqun, her hair tied into two small buns, each adorned with a jade bell that jingled crisply with her movements.
The little girl was looking at him with large, glossy black eyes like grapes, her chubby face filled with an oddly affectionate and mysterious smile.
A strange feeling spread through Yu Zhicheng’s mind. How could this resemble... the way an elder looks at a junior? His grandparents had looked at him just like this.
Impossible! He shook his head.
She must be a child actor from some crew or perhaps the child of an actor.
He didn’t pay much attention and spoke, “Little sister, this is a private dressing room. You can’t come in here. Go back and find your guardian.”
“Guardian?” The little girl, Yu Danxue, tilted her head and puffed out her small chest. “I am the guardian. I’m even your ancestor!”
Yu Zhicheng twitched the corner of his mouth.
Are kids these days really so rude?
“You don’t believe me?”
Yu Danxue pouted. “I have a seal. I can prove it!”
She set the sandalwood box down and took out a sachet from her bosom, then pulled a seal from inside and handed it to him.
From the moment Yu Danxue was born, she was the apple of the entire family’s eye.
However, her fate was unusual. Master Xuanqing had said she would not live past four years old if she remained in this world, and would bring illness and disaster upon her family.
The whole family tried everything and finally found a way to break the curse.
It cost Master Xuanqing ten years of his life and countless rare treasures to send the three-and-a-half-year-old Yu Danxue a thousand years into the future.
Master Xuanqing told her, “Find your eldest brother’s ninety-first generation descendant and stay by their side. Only then can you grow up peacefully, free from illness and disaster.”
Her eldest brother had given her this seal to prove her identity.
Yu Danxue remembered her brother’s instructions deeply. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she found herself in this strange place.
This man looked young and handsome, with some resemblance to her eldest brother in his features.
He must be the ninety-first generation descendant of her eldest brother.
On her journey to find her juniors, she had decided to live here peacefully, care for her descendants, and strengthen the Yu family.
“Brother said that once you see this, you would believe my identity.”
Yu Zhicheng instinctively took the seal and examined it, suddenly standing up.
This was an ancient personal seal carved from exquisite jade.
The milky white jade was engraved with intricate patterns, appearing both ancient and elegant at a glance.
He could tell immediately that this was a genuine antique.
On the back of the seal were three characters: Yu Danxue.
The ancestor’s younger sister was named Yu Danxue.
It was said that this seal was carved by the old ancestor for this sister, but she had an unfortunate fate and died young, at just over three years old.
Yu Zhicheng’s grip on the seal tightened, and he crouched before Yu Danxue, asking in as soft a voice as possible, “Little sister, tell me, where did you get this seal?”
Yu Danxue put her hands on her hips, stamped her foot, and with the demeanor of a senior, scolded, “You must call me ‘Little Ancestor Aunt’—you can’t be so disrespectful.”
“Besides, this seal was given to me by my eldest brother.”
Yu Zhicheng was half convinced, half doubtful.
Could this little girl actually be his little ancestor aunt?
But how could that be possible?
There was a thousand-year gap—it sounded too fantastical.
He looked at the little girl again.
He didn’t like children much, but somehow, he felt an inexplicable closeness toward this one.
He couldn’t bring himself to speak harshly and instead played along, “If that’s the case, can I call you ‘Little Aunt’?”
“Okay.” Yu Danxue nodded, and her little buns swayed twice. “Then I’ll call you ‘Little Sheng.’”
Yu Zhicheng couldn’t help but smile. “That’s fine.”
Yu Danxue, a bit tired, climbed up onto a nearby chair with some effort.
She looked around the room.
Was that a luminous pearl hanging from the beam? Could luminous pearls really be that big?
The chairs and tables were different from those in her old home, and even the juniors’ clothing and grooming were strange.
Was the world a thousand years later like this?
Yu Zhicheng poured a cup of warm water and handed it to Yu Danxue.
She accepted the cup and softly said, “Thank you.”
Sitting upright in the chair, holding the cup and sipping slowly, she carried herself with grace and poise.
This demeanor made Yu Zhicheng notice something different.
Most little girls wouldn’t be trained to have such refined manners and temperament.
It was very much like the education of his own Yu family...
“Yu Zhicheng, why haven’t you... Ancestor, who is this little girl!?”
Yu Danxue turned her small head and saw a middle-aged man dressed quite flamboyantly, running over with a face full of panic and unease.
Feeling she should act like an elder, she jumped down from the chair and walked up to the man.
“Hello, I am Yu Sheng’s little aunt, Yu Danxue. Are you a friend of Yu Sheng’s?”
All of Manager Liu’s anger and anxiety deflated in that moment like a popped balloon.
He glanced at Yu Danxue, then at Yu Zhicheng, and spoke sharply, “Zhicheng, is she joking? Little Aunt?”
Yu Zhicheng winked at him, signaling: I don’t know where this kid came from; find her family later.
Manager Liu immediately understood and began formulating a plan.
As a seasoned agent who had seen all the storms in the industry and knew when to yield, he quickly adopted a junior’s demeanor.
“Hello, Little Aunt, I’m Yu Zhicheng’s agent, Manager Liu. You can just call me Little Liu.”
A strange gleam flickered in his eyes.
“Little Aunt, would you be interested in having Zhicheng join a show?”
“Show?” Yu Danxue looked puzzled. “What is a show?”
Before she could finish, Yu Zhicheng scolded sharply, “Manager Liu, are you crazy? Don’t try to take advantage of the little girl!”
Manager Liu rolled his eyes and said irritably, “I’m not taking advantage of Little Aunt. I’m asking her for a favor.”
“No matter how popular you are, you’re hated everywhere online. Your reputation is terrible, full of scandals. You have family backing, but you should consider how much your bad reputation affects your family’s honor.”
Yu Zhicheng fell silent.
Manager Liu then turned to Yu Danxue and explained Yu Zhicheng’s situation in simple terms.
After hearing this, worry deepened on Yu Danxue’s face.
Had the Yu family fallen on hard times a thousand years later?
Otherwise, why would Yu Sheng become an actor?
In her understanding, only those who could not survive otherwise or came from poor families would send their children to become actors.
She sighed with concern, unsure if the treasures she brought could support herself and Yu Sheng’s family.
As an ancestor, she must strive to earn enough to support her descendants and protect the glory of the Yu family.
At this moment, Yu Danxue’s goal changed: she would alter Yu Sheng’s fate, help him become a prime minister as talented in literature as in warfare like her father, earn enough wealth, and restore the Yu family to its former status as a great noble clan.