Palace Museum Restorer: From the Start, I Dismantled the Guardian Object on Jingshan Hill

Lin Yan bears the family’s original sin of trafficking in components stolen from the Forbidden City. After joining the palace as a restoration specialist, he triggers a crisis involving the protective object at Jingshan while verifying his great-grandfather’s notes. His mentor, Old Zhou, reveals the old feud between Lin’s family and Nirvana, an organization that wants to replace traditional architecture with modern buildings. Lin Yan teams up with Su Xiao, an undercover agent for Nirvana and the leader’s daughter, who later switches sides after recognizing the value of traditional architecture. Together, they follow clues left by his great-grandfather, restore the Jin merchant family’s Wall of a Hundred Longevity Characters and the Jiangnan Mirrorwater Garden, and unravel the secrets of a silver vault and a military formation. At Dunhuang, Lin Yan ultimately uses traditional techniques to save the wooden eaves of a grotto, wins an international challenge in traditional architectural craftsmanship, and returns the stolen components. He reconnects the spiritual lifelines of China’s ancient architecture, redeems himself, and becomes a guardian of traditional architectural culture.