The Donkey's Descent

[Sweet, Bilingual Miao Official's Daughter VS. A Scheming, Proud Village Official]

Lu Qinghe was one of the capital's hottest young talents, having passed both levels of the imperial examination. He was sent down to the Miao frontier to work at the grassroots level and implement the policy of replacing native chieftains with appointed officials.

It was a poor, rugged place where the people were fierce and no less unruly than bandits. After surviving an ambush, Lu Qinghe captured the ringleader. A young woman fluent in both Chinese and Miao was just the kind of promising talent he needed to train into a capable official.

So he urged his bodyguard, He Yu, to court her, tricking her into coming down from the mountains to work at the local government office.

Who could have guessed the stubborn girl would be as hard to move as a mule? No matter how hard they tried to persuade her, she wouldn't come down. Instead, Lu Qinghe was the one who lost his heart to her.

He thought he had merely been a step too late. With his status, position, and looks, surely he could beat He Yu, a man of no rank or standing.

But then He Yu lost the use of both legs, and the girl's heart and eyes were filled with her Brother He.

Later, Lu Qinghe steeled himself and forced himself on her, believing she would have no way to escape him after that.

Instead, she packed her bags and set off for the capital to accuse him of rape, ruining his reputation and making him a laughingstock throughout the land.

Heartbroken and utterly disheveled, Lu Qinghe returned to the capital.

Three years later, his work replacing native chieftains with appointed officials had become an achievement for the ages, expanding the nation's territory by a thousand li. He had lost in love but prospered in his career. Appointed Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, he entered the imperial cabinet and swept across the country with a series of bold reforms.

In the sixth year of the Qi'an era, officials from every province came to the capital to report on their work. Among the sea of high-ranking men in black gauze hats, he saw the woman who had once sworn to accuse him.

She wore a black gauze hat and a blue official robe embroidered with a mandarin duck insignia, marking her as a minor seventh-rank official with little power. She bowed and kowtowed whenever an official's sedan passed, yet refused to bow to his blue-canopied sedan.

Reason for entering the contest: In this ancient story about overcoming poverty, outsiders and grassroots officials work together to develop Miao villages. The heroine becomes a female official despite belonging to an ethnic minority, highlighting cultural exchange and integration as well as women's strength. The leads take turns building up local communities as husband and wife, helping the villagers prosper. The historical backdrop draws on the Ming and Qing policy of replacing native chieftains with appointed officials.

A new story is coming soon: Young Master, Weeds Are Growing on Your Grave. It's an angsty, old-school melodrama, so look elsewhere if that's not your thing!

Theme: The whole village overcomes poverty and achieves prosperity