[Historical Danmei] Huo Qiu

Shan County is a remote backwater, a little county town with no ties to the capital. Yet it is a haven for schemers seeking to line their pockets, and ordinary people's lives are unbearably hard.

But ever since a magistrate named Huo Qiu arrived five years ago, Shan County has shed its former air of decay and reclaimed its heroic spirit. The new magistrate may look frail, but he can punch a tiger in the mountains and kick a river dragon in the water. Somehow, he turned the whole place around, beating crooked merchants until they wailed and fled in terror. Whenever Huo Qiu's sedan chair passes through the streets, everyone who has done wrong, young or old, beautiful or plain, is so frightened they hide at home and dare not go out.

Of course, don't think Huo Qiu does the fighting himself. In the end, he is merely a civil official. When it comes to arresting those petty criminals, all he has to do is stand there and move his lips. The constables in the yamen take care of the rest.

In just five short years, Shan County has been transformed, turning an ugly duckling into a beauty. The townsfolk are all beaming with smiles. Even residents who moved away earlier because they could no longer stand living here have returned, drawn by Huo Qiu's reputation.