Extensive original worldbuilding, OOC warning | All-pairings harem | Zhang family male ensemble | Nine Gates ensemble | Actress heroine | Self-serving and calculating | A little of the Zhang family early on, Southern Archives in the middle, Nine Gates later
Zhang Youzhu spent ten years pretending to be good, without anyone noticing. She's ruthless enough to sacrifice her teammates and become famous for it, and her solid acting skills have made her the Zhang family's undisputed queen of the screen.
The Zhang family tried to find someone to deal with her, but instead put her on the fast track to success.
A certain taciturn man: He knows she's acting, and she knows he knows.
Clansmen: Why do you two seem to be enjoying this so much?
Someone: We call it living together in harmony.
She went from Changbai Mountain all the way to Nanyang, running into several oddballs who even dared to pretend they were her relatives.
Zhang Hailou: I was sacrificing myself for art.
Zhang Haixia: You were so thoroughly scammed you didn't even have your underwear left.
Zhang Youzhu saw no future in it and promptly ran off to Changsha.
Zhang Qishan picked up a forlorn little lamb, hoping to keep her by his side and care for her. He never expected her to steal the affections of everyone around him.
The adjutants: The young lady's got quite a lot of attitude for someone with no official rank.
Er Yuehong: I only know how to sing opera, but you're even better at putting on a show than I am.
Chen Pi: You've got a black heart, and my hands are stained with blood. We're made for each other.
Qi Tiezui calculated that he was fated to run into a petty villain, but never guessed the villain would be pretty, too.
Zhang Qiling said nothing, focusing only on searching for his childhood sweetheart in western Hunan.
Just after she'd finished stealing something with another man, Zhang Qishan cornered her against a wall. "I'm only Lord Buddha when you need nothing, but your brother when you do? How could you be so heartless?"
She smiled. "Correction: I don't have a heart."
He stared at the beautiful, innocent face before him. He knew she was heartless, but even so:
He had spoiled her too much.
Though his little darling was drafty and armed with knives, she was so sought-after that the Nine Gates had this to say: Nobody gets to covet our black-hearted little darling.
