While restoring an ancient book at the Palace Museum, Jiang Li, a modern history teaching assistant, accidentally touched an antique jade hairpin engraved with the character “Yan” and transmigrated to an alternate dynasty, where she became the second daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei. Her mannerisms, at odds with her new identity, caught the attention of the stern Prince Zhou Yu. To her amazement, he looked exactly like the ancient general who had appeared repeatedly in her dreams.
When plague broke out in the capital, Jiang Li joined forces with Zhou Yu to fight it using modern medicine, and they gradually fell for each other. Zhou Yu confessed that he was an “out-of-time traveler” who had remembered his past life since childhood and had been waiting for the woman from his dreams. But court intrigue soon intervened. After the crown prince took charge of the government, he forced Zhou Yu to marry into the Chancellor’s family. On the eve of the wedding, Zhou Yu left Jiang Li half a jade pendant as a token of his vow, then was sent to fight on the border.
Jiang Li discovered a way back to the modern world, but chose to stay and help him. After their identities were exposed, the two fled together and secretly pledged themselves to each other in an ancient temple. Zhou Yu surrendered himself to protect her escape. Jiang Li risked everything to break him out of prison, only to learn that the crown prince had taken the emperor hostage. Zhou Yu would rather die than let the land descend into chaos. As they said their final goodbyes, Jiang Li died in his arms, and the jade hairpin flashed with an strange light…
In a modern hospital bed, Jiang Li suddenly awoke, clutching the ancient jade hairpin. Desperate to find proof that Zhou Yu had existed, she eventually broke down in tears before a portrait of the Yan Prince’s consort at the Palace Museum. The woman in the painting looked exactly like her, and in the display case lay half a jade pendant, a perfect match for the one Zhou Yu had given her.
“Dice carved from exquisite jade are flecked with red beans. Do you know how deeply I long for you?” A thousand years apart, as spring flowers fell, she could still hear the sound of a zither reaching her across time.
