The Lady in Butcher’s House (2022)

Xu Qing Jia (Tong Meng Shi) is a bookish and morally principled young man who was orphaned when he was a child. He is something of a wimp and does not excel at anything with one exception: When it comes to studying, he is almost unsurpassed. Despite his inauspicious background, he manages to place second in a highly competitive civil service entrance examination – a fact that allows him to win a post as a county magistrate. He hopes to bring fairness to the region with tax reforms, corruption-fighting measures, and famine-alleviating actions. But his task is not going to be easy – many obstacles stand in his way. Fortunately, he has a key ally in his struggle: Hu Jiao (Han Yun Zhang), the youngest daughter of the Hu family. The Hu family runs a pork butchery and Hu Jiao has effectively managed it since she was a child. A quirk of fate leads her to marry Xu Qing Jia. But while this marriage looks – on paper – to be a disastrous match, sometimes opposites attract. She is everything he isn’t: She might be illiterate, but she’s a fearsome fighter, a streetwise tough-talker, and has no shortage of common sense. Could this unconventional duo defeat the corrupt officials who stand in their way – and realize their dream of creating a brighter tomorrow for the county? “The Lady in Butcher’s House” is a 2022 Chinese drama series that was directed by Mao Kun Yu.