Legend of the Female General

A Sword-Grabbing Saga That Will Tickle Your Bones

The Legend of the Female General is a hilarious drama that I enjoyed immensely. Its entire premise is a crater-sized plot hole, so if you can't suspend disbelief big time, best give this one a skip. The title makes its mythic, Hua Mulan-esque aspirations obvious (Mulan, of course, being a legend herself). The indisputably romantic and lyrical Chinese title, 锦月如歌 (Song of the Brocade Moon), makes it clear this is more Art of Love than Art of War. And in that, it delivers in spades as a sword-grabbing saga that will tickle your bones.

For me, the unwitting humor here far surpasses that of A Dream Within A Dream (which I dropped), which tried so hard to be a parody it was more stressful than amusing. This drama comically embraces a bunch of the best, most incredulously well-loved tropes with abandon and just runs with them, not caring if they are well-stitched together. While I found it a nonsensical riot, I totally understand why it's been panned.

To preserve their military status, the (dumb-dumb) He family swaps out their sickly, all-important male child, He Rufei, for their robust and completely expendable daughter, He Yan. They couldn't find a big and tall girl, so they made do with a short, scrawny, and chesty one. She grows up wearing a mask and achieves glory as the redoubtable General Feihong, whose military successes are so awesome they make the real He Rufei wish he'd been born short and scrawny sans boobs. He stages an epic recovery at the height of her fame and swoops in to steal her glory. Of course, no one notices the one-head height difference because this kingdom is a classic Darwin 101 example of a state doomed to extinction. After reclaiming his name, he arranges for her to fall off a cliff, evidently unaware that no one dies falling off a cliff in a Chinese drama.

Disguised as a man, He Yan later joins the Yezhou army led by the no less renowned General Feihong—her old classmate, Xiao Jue. Suspecting "he" is a spy, Xiao Jue gives "him" the hot side-eye many times until the thrust of his mighty sword is parried by a pair of boobies. Yes, shame on me! I loved all the dirty jokes and naughty-but-nice innuendo that had me gawking at my big-screen TV with a stupid, lovestruck grin. I wasn't bothered at all that the cross-dressing "pretty boy" He Yan went full-on girly on Xiao Jue with her shameless flirting and half-innocent innuendo.

The truth is, I don't dislike trashy idol romance dramas when they are made like this. Most of the time, I drop them because I've seen the leads go through the same tired motions with so many other pairings that the chemistry feels contrived. There is nothing more nauseating than the dreadful dead-duck stare that so many third-rate traffic actors try to sell as infatuation. This drama works because I was hooked by Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei's chemistry. I saw an explosion of sparks every time he side-eyed her and she ogled him right back like she was ready to misbehave. True story: after the hot moment of enlightenment in Episode 4, my old big-screen TV literally died on me, and I had to rush-order a new one.

I won't bother shredding the plot and logic holes—there are lots of them, and far more articulate voices have already gone to town on it. Undeniably, the compelling chemistry and strong portrayals by both Cheng Lei and Zhou Ye carry this drama, bolstered by solid performances all around. I was charmed by how naturally Li Qing brought to life the face-swapped role of Cheng Lisu, and his romance with Song Tao Tao was cute and funny. Chu Zhao is the best-written, most multifaceted character in the story. The conflict between his ambition and his morality is well-played by Zhang Kangle. I had to laugh at how Bai Shu totally hammed up his cartoon villain with wildly exaggerated facial expressions; he seemed to be having the time of his life.

By far the strongest aspect of this drama are the fight scenes—they are brutally intense, fast-paced, and thrilling. This director is known for problematic storytelling, but his action choreography is really something else. Some of the war tactics are creative takes on famous Three Kingdoms battles.

As for Zhou Ye, she is a total firecracker who absolutely lights up the fiery scenes as delightfully as she owns the cute, girly bits. On the surface, she may not look the part of a female general, but she certainly acted it in the fight scenes. Too many idol actors shirk hardcore action, daring to pass off a few showy twirls and wimpy sleeve-swats as fighting. As He Yan, Zhou Ye really wielded her spear and sword powerfully and vehemently; the strain of demanding moves was visible on her features. She is a professionally trained ballerina—incredibly strong and athletic despite her size. Not all generals have to be tall and physically imposing; many famous ones were more brain than brawn. Zhuge Liang of Three Kingdoms fame was skinny and runty with mediocre combat skills, wandering into battle with his fan. While the fearsome Cao Cao was a killing machine, both he and the unbeatable Yue Fei were allegedly quite short and possibly even stocky. Oh, the preconceived notions we have! What pains me most is that no one asks why cast such a tall actor as Bai Shu as He Rufei instead of why cast Zhou Ye as He Yan.

I'm not trying to deflect the well-deserved criticisms. This is indubitably not an award-winning masterpiece, but it won my heart with its cheeky adult humor, melting romance, gripping action, and overall engaging rehash of cheesy tropes. Even with my 9.5+ rated dramas, I'm not much of a re-watcher. But this is one of the few trashy gems with scenes I can see myself replaying when I'm bored. Happy to rate this 8/10 as a top-tier guilty pleasure.

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"I hope that in this world, there is someone who will come just for me."

"Legend of the Female General" (锦月如歌) is one of my highly anticipated dramas for 2025. It is based on the novel "Rebirth of a Star General" by Qian Shan Cha Ke, but I haven't read the book, so my review is based solely on the drama.

(NOTE: This review has been sitting in my drafts folder for 2 months, and I'm glad to finally publish it!)

PRODUCTION 📺:

For me, one of the things I like most in this drama are the action scenes, which are so well executed. Most of the time, as they wield their swords, whips and spears, I was glued to the screen, and I felt like I had an adrenaline rush just by watching them 😂. I think the production team really put effort into the choreography. Some memorable scenes include:
• He Yan's sword dance in Yezhou👏 ~  It's a combination of gracefulness and strength.
• He Yan's Duel with Ding Yi ~ Badass He Yan at one of her finest scenes!
• He Yan's face-off with the Lie He commander ~ this scene and the events leading up to it are just brilliantly done.
• Their battle with Wu Tuo at Jiyang and  He Yan's fight with Hu Ya Te, the commander of Wu Tuo.

There are still other action scenes of He Yan and Xiao Jue that I like, but I won't mention all of them anymore.

As for the location shoots and costumes, they are appropriate and meet my expectations for a costume drama set in a fictional period in Chinese history.

STORY/PLOT 📚:

Right from the start, the drama team shows us that one of the story's main themes is the romance between He Yan and Xiao Jue. For me, they have shown enough of the romantic aspect in the drama.  I also like the snippets of flashbacks in some episodes that show the dynamics between He Yan and Xiao Jue when they were still students in Xianchang Academy.

The military aspect is also dealt with, and their military exploits/espionage activities are complemented by the excellent fight scenes.  Another thing I appreciate in the drama is that He Yan's military genius, leadership and commanding presence really shine through in the scenes where they're needed.

Overall, the drama's pacing is good.  Each arc is given time and space to develop, except maybe for the last arc. As for the ending, it gives a good wrap-up for most of the characters.

There are some parts that could be better though:
• I wish they had shown more background on He Yan and her master Liu Bu Wang, like where and how they met, and how he helped mould her to become the person she is.
• Some parts could have been fleshed out further, but given the number of episodes, I think we got a good compromise.
• I was disppointed with how the scriptwriters treated General Yan He's character (played by Peter Sheng) towards the end.

CAST/ACTING 🎭:

Zhou Ye as He Yan is the one that stands out for me. She was able to show the different sides of He Yan - one who's feminine yet not dainty, sharp and strategic, an ace fighter and a leader. When she fights, she slays it! There were just some scenes with Xiao Jue in Yezhou city where I think she acted a bit too feminine, when she was supposed to be a man at that time.

Cheng Lei is one good actor who has portrayed memorable characters in other dramas, e.g., Gong Shang Jue in "My Journey to You". Here, he brings the same kind of intensity and focus as Xiao Jue. There are moments though when I feel he could bring more depth/emotions to his scenes.

He Ru Fei got my blood boiling many times; his character is so infuriating! Based on this alone, I'd say Bai Shu did a good job portraying him. He Ru Fei is a despicable character, with little redeeming qualities.

Zhang Kang Le was able to show the morally grey aspect of Chu Zhao. He could have been a great statesman, had he learned to let go of his obssession.

Li Qing as Cheng Li Su and Zhang Miao Yi as Song Tao Tao contributed to the light-hearted scenes. I like that they put these two characters in the drama.

QUOTABLE QUOTE 🔮:

"有时候做一个人的替身久了，难免会忘记自己是谁。我希望，这世上有那么一个人是为我而来。" ~ 禾晏
"Sometimes, when you've been another person's substitute for so long, you might forget who you are. I hope that in this world, there is someone who will come just for me." ~ He Yan

FINAL VERDICT ⭐️: If you like military dramas with great fight scenes and romance, and a kick-ass female lead who succeeded in a male-dominated world (despite having to dress up as a man first), then I would recommend this. Despite some parts that could have been better, this is still a good watch for me.

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Romance of the Female General

The scriptwriters for this show need to write a 10,000 word apology essay for butchering such a high budget, highly anticipated drama. There is absolutely no excuse for this poor of a script when the source material is right there for you to pull from, no matter what constraints and editing they had to do after.

I have to say that the title of this drama is horrifically misleading. When you think of a drama called "Legend of the Female General", your first thoughts are probably of a female-lead drama and her journey and heroic rise to becoming a female general. This drama is not that. Instead, what we got was a was a bland, extremely watered down version of what the trailer promoted. It's like ordering a sandwich and receiving a half toasted slice of bread instead. They have completely cut out what should have been the core and bulk of the show - her journey to being a general. They have provided no context and almost no background on her past life as a general and instead, the audience is just supposed to go with the flow and accept that she's a well revered general despite having received nothing to support this fact.

While I have no issues with a FL who has a personality, she is also clearly overwhelmingly feminine for someone who has supposedly been living as a man AND among fellow soldiers for most of her life. She is seemingly so well versed in battle plans and tactics but the audience has no idea where or how she learnt this. She's angry and upset over the loss of her past comrades? The audience doesn't care because, again, we don't know anything about her life past life as a general. There's so many holes in the plot that it is honestly a bit frustrating to watch because we can see the potential but it's just not giving. There's also very little battle scenes and the few that we do get, leave a lot to be desired. Shaky sword-wielding with little strength behind it as well as overly embellished sound and visual effects by the editing team lead to unsatisfying fight scenes.

I think the scriptwriters and directors of this show aimed for this to be a romance story right from the start, and as such, it was terribly disappointing for most of us who expected more. One scene that really stood out to me and really highlighted how absolutely romance based and ridiculous this show was, was when they were in the middle of the battle and the FL thought the ML had died so she went crying out to find him and then ... she let go of her sword completely. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLEFIELD. WHERE PEOPLE ARE STILL FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES. And then after she finds him, they have a touching moment with soft words ... in the midst of the battlefield. And the audience is just supposed to believe she's an experienced general?

Truly, the only thing that pulled me through 36 episodes was the chemistry between the two leads. However, for the record, I don't think this is a terrible drama. It's just disappointing. And bland. It's perfectly serviceable as a romance drama. But would I recommend it personally to people that I know? No.

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A spoonful of sugar helps the dodgy script go down

This show aimed high, but ultimately missed the mark. Much of the blame lies with the script.

Let's take a step back and look at the fundamentals. Early plot progression feels like bullet points in a presentation. It leaps about rather than flows.

Our FL went from hero to zero in a few scenes. Her whole backstory was summarised on the back of a napkin and took about as long to play out on screen.

Two issues are soon apparent. Firstly, this drama is based on a web novel, but it cherry picked key scenes and subplots. The connective tissues between plots feels weak.

For instance, the FL in the novel died and soul swapped with a girl from a poorer family. This is the foundation of her story arc and eventual growth. Our FL didn't die so it is more a sidestep than a do-over. It fundamentally altered the depth of her struggles. I understand changes are part of adaptation. However, this seemed to be the low road.

Secondly, whatever tracking device the FL is using, I want one! Any time the FL is in mortal danger, either the ML or her sifu will come to her rescue. It is uncanny.

A case in point, our BLIND female lead "stumbled" up a mountain while being chased. Really? After falling down a cliff, she is found by her sifu who happens to be tramping there. Really? The plot armour is next level!

There are also serious plot holes. From a young age, the FL was forced to take on the identity of her stepbrother, He Ru Fei. I have nightmares about masks now, just saying.

Her brother returns at the beginning of this series. Pushes her aside unceremoniously and subsumed all her glories and merits. He then poisons, blinds and tries to silence her with extreme prejudice. What brotherly love!

Then this "fake/real" General He arrives in court to accuse the ML's dead father of traitorous acts. The man has a different voice, is a head taller than the FL. Nobody notice that?! Including those who fought next to her for years. That plot hole is big enough to drive a Big White Truck of Doom™ through!

But wait, there is more! The first dozen or so EP has the FL playing Mulan in a training camp. We have all the cliché moments. They are low hanging fruits.

My jaw dropped when the ML suddenly realises the FL is a girl the moment her chest touches his back. Holy Mother of Drama Gods! How? Did the FL not bind her chest? She dressed as a man every day and nothing "shows". Inconceivable!

I almost sloth quit several times by this point but I hung on with grim determination. Sunk cost fallacy is real, my friend.

The show changed tack and sends them on an undercover mission as a married couple. Yes, you guessed it. All the couple/dating tropes got an airing. Oh, the sugar hits, I gave it a second chance. I'm weak, ok? Don't judge me!

I can't deny our OTP have their swoon-y moments. It did drag on for too long. When we finally get THE confession, the skinship blossoms. It was rainbow and unicorns for a while, but another problem looms.

Normally, we would get a final confrontation with the antagonist just before the HEA ending. In this case, it happened several eps too soon. We did get an episode of fan service, and I can't complain. There is no way we are going to get 4 eps of fan service. I'm not that naïve.

Sure enough, the show hit us with the angst train. To wit, the SML manipulated the King so that he can wed the FL by royal decree, thus sundering our OTP.

Speaking of the King, he is the ultimate plot device. Need someone punished, the King! Need someone send to the frontiers, the King! Need a wedding planner . .

To cut the story short, the FL marched into the palace and told the King this is total BS. Think Éowyn from LoTR. ;) Instead of sending her to the salt mine, he capitulated. Just. Like. That.

Our leads simply sworn to forsake all others and carries on. Geez, that's a win-win for His Majesty. Did we just wasted an episode?

The predictable ending arrives. I'm not going to spoil it. One hint, the show came full circle. ;)

It pains me to pen this. I had high hopes. It should be a slam dunk. When it is good, it is watchable. The battle scenes are mostly style over substance, but they are well done. The romance is sweet with a decent amount of skinship. Acting is decent. The sets, costumes and OST are solid. It just needs a good script. Did no-one proofread it?

So close, yet so far. Peace.

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Pretty People Trying to Fight and Fall in Love, I guess?

Due to the change in the original reincarnation story, they utterly made this non-sensical plot.

What exactly was He Yan proving y'all? She was already a General. She didn't have anything to learn, just to get revenge against her idiot family. But y'all, here me out? Like......why not...and i know this sounds crazy....but why not, just go take out that snotty nose GeGe. What her dad going to do y'all? He is gonna be forced to keep her. Also, you could just kill that dude as well. Why not? She is strategic GENERAL, why can't she take what she wants from her useless family?!?! Don't give me the blah blah morals of her character blah blah. I don't want to hear it, this guy tried to assassinated her (was so close) and caused the death of 30,000 soldiers. I think she can take him out easy.

Instead, she "pretends" to be a new solider but legit gets caught within 1 minute of entering the doors. And get this, the guy who runs the show is also her classmate?!

Listen, that man is FINE. Respectfully. BUT HE DID NOT KNOW THIS CHICK WAS HIS CLASSMATES AND SOME HOW BOUGHT THAT THE OTHER GUY (her gege) who is what 6 ft? Wide shoulders? Deep Voice? Lacking moral character? is his classmates?!? Nah, that means he is dumb and shouldn't be running an army.

A freaking dancer who met her ONCE, spotted that she was a chick. AND homey had MONTHS studying with her? Get out of here. Then the kicker, he feels her bound chest against his back and was like, "A woman?!" (insert that clip from Mulan where she is dragged once she is found out).

Now on to the other stuff, the villains were so subpar. The emperor was dumb. And those last couples episodes, why? like why? For who? What a silly mindset? Here me out. EVEN IF, either of them gives up their army authority, did the emperor really think the army is still not going to follow their command?! All you did was piss them off. And that throwaway 2ML, like boy. I was hoping you turn around have some common sense but no, you went stupider and lost the 1 chick who stayed loyal to you. Such nonsense.

And all this, I could forgive a bit (not all, ain't a saint) if the chemistry was FIRE. But no, it was meh. Sorry, it just wasn't fully there for me. But anyway, everyone was pretty to look at.

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A General Without Her Legend

This series had the potential to be a masterpiece, but it struggles with focus and execution. At times, the dialogue and scenes feel truly epic, yet they are quickly undercut by fluffy, love-bubble moments that seem more suited for early teens. With episodes running only 30–45 minutes, the show often downplays serious issues just to insert romance, and these lighter scenes end up taking even more screen time than the plot deserves.

What I had hoped to see was a story centered on He Yan—her legendary reputation as a general, her brilliance as a battlefield tactician, and her skill as a martial artist. Instead, the narrative leans heavily on a childish romance with the male lead, sprinkling in only a few fighting scenes in an unconvincing attempt to showcase her strength.

Despite this imbalance, I still watched through to the end, hoping for redemption. The core story is genuinely strong, but the forced romance, misplaced focus, and glossing over of critical issues hold it back. The true highlight remains He Yan’s fighting scenes, which revealed the kind of depth and power the series could have delivered if it had trusted its own potential.

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It showed what is easy, tells the obvious and avoided what could have been great!

The genre listed for this drama is Romance, Wuxia, Drama, and War, which sounds very legendary on paper, except that it managed to dip its toes in all four without actually excelling in any. This is just a guilty pleasure romcom.

I came here for some sweeping war chess and tactics, and of course a razor-edged female general we were promised in the trailer and the poster. I kept searching for the "larger than life" hype that I created in my head but sadly I was disappointed.

He Yan, on paper, is everything I expect from a strong female lead. Brave, witty, with a moral backbone and we get to see glimpses of it in the flashbacks. But somehow the balance between "female general" and "romantic lead" was off almost all the time. Here is where the drama falters the most for me.

We were told she fought her way up the ranks disguised as a man, surviving in a brutal, male-dominated world of war and yet in present, that struggle barely showed. She kept acting too cute.
Yes, women are allowed to be warriors and be happy and thriving in love but for it to feel real, the transition needs to carry that weight. I missed the awkwardness, the hesitation or even the tension. I wanted to see push and pull, the conflict between her desires and the hardened exterior that she might have built over the years of disguise. That would have felt earned.
But it looked like the writers got the amnesia trope themselves and forgot all about her past when it came to romance. The aegyo (lack of a better word) like behaviour undermined the whole dark and serious vibe of the drama I was expecting.

Also that whole arc where the FL pretends to be her brother really demands a huge suspension of disbelief. But I feel they did a good job with keeping her makeup to minimal to atleast make it look believable.

Coming to romance, the sparks existed, but again, it was too mild and easy. The angst, the longing, the courtship lacked passion. I wasn't excited for them to get together. I knew they were the leads and things just kept happening. Even the key moments felt dull. It wasn't bad but nothing to run home about.

The drama also wanted to scream women's empowerment, but like everything else, it just tells and does not show for it to actually make an impact. It was just all about the grand speeches. There was one scene where she was supposed to fight to show her talent in front of the army, and I was excited to finally see that fire but they cut it away and came back when it was over. If you want to sell me a hard-earned battle warrior, show her that way. There were other fight scenes too, but none of them left any impression on me.

Also, the focus on side characters who made minimal impact on the overall story was a baffling choice. I feel there was a lot more to explore about the lead characters especially the male lead. But instead I feel I know SML better than him. The SML in my opinion got the most fleshed story. It was unpredictable and he was given so much depth as a character compared to the leads. And the whole princess and master storyline was just not needed. Some deaths felt completely pointless, added neither the shock value or the story value. I was just confused.

And can we please take a second to talk about last 4 episodes. What in the world kept happening. The character arcs were already weak but somehow they manged to destroy that as well. I am still confused about a few things as why we needed that. This includes all fronts from comedy to romance.

Production-wise, this was below average. The overall set design lacked a certain richness. The poster had better colour grading, and the overall colour palette of the drama felt muted. And whoever is in charge of the blood effects should retire immediately. I mean, what were those ruby red lipstick swatches. Nothing disappoints me more than when a tragic moment is happening and fake blood on the actor's cheeks kept distracting me. Also, the dialogues were as lacklustre as the production.

Acting-wise, this is my first time seeing the leads, and I feel this shouldn't be the story I should be judging their acting on. Ryan Cheng served with his visuals, and Zhou Ye was bubbly ( a little too much) but did show us the few glimpses of a strong warrior when the script allowed but I was expecting more. Zhang Kangle, as Chu Zhao, impressed me the most. I liked his portrayal of the antagonist part. He carried that whole cold and cruel aura with justice. The rest of the supporting cast also did fine, but I wasn't too immersed in the story to comment here.

Overall, this was a huge miss in my books. It's wasn't just about one or two incidents that can be overlooked for overall enjoyment, but it's the constant repeated choices to chip away at the integrity and heart of the story, i.e. the journey of the female general. There was nothing legendary or "general" about it. It's frustrating not because it is unwatchable but it constantly kept reminding me what it could have been.
Will I recommend this? No.

Thank you for reading my review! <3 I hope you like the drama more than me. Please take my opinion as one of many if we don't seem to agree :))

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Mostly good but the minor issues were...something

I think the biggest highlight for me was the relationships between the female lead and the friends she made while trying to avenge herself. The second highlight was her relationship with the male lead. Aside from that, the minor issues towards the end of this put a damper on the show for me. Let me list them down below.

1. Chu Zhao being able to get away with so much and distance himself when doing wrong until the end. (It took way too long for him to be punished.)
2. The emperor being extremely easy to manipulate despite his age.
3. The emperor still wanting to find fault with He Yan despite everything that has happened. (I'm referring to after her brother got arrested, and he was then saying nonsense about how she joined the army instead of coming forward with the truth, like sir...please be serious for a minute. No one would have believed her, especially given the state she was in.)
4. That random ass marriage degree.
5. Yan He's random death.
6. The emperor.
7. Oh, did I mention the emperor?

Were there other issues with this show aside from the last couple of episodes? Yes, but I decided not to mention them because, well, this is an idol drama. Therefore, nitpicking at things such as "how a general should look" seems...odd. Anyways, if you are looking for something fairly lighthearted with a minimal amount of character deaths, I recommend this drama.

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Overrated

While the story itself was strong, the execution left much to be desired.

First, the editing felt quite messy,scenes often cut off at odd points, and some episodes felt more like random segments pieced together rather than full, coherent episodes. Episode 27, for example, gave most of the screen time to side characters, which disrupted the pacing of the main storyline.

Another issue for me was He Yan’s disguise. I honestly don’t understand how she managed to fool everyone, her mannerisms, compared to the other Yezhou garrison soldiers, were distinctly feminine and almost childish, making her cover less believable.

I was also disappointed with Yan He’s death. It seemed included only for shock value, but it didn’t really land emotionally or add much to the storyit felt unnecessary.

That being said, I’ll give credit where it’s due: the fighting scenes were very well executed and definitely a highlight of the series.

Overall, this drama had potential and an interesting story, but the poor editing, questionable writing choices, and overhype online made it fall short for me.

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Legend of my undying patience with this show.

Me during the first few episodes: Why are these episodes so short? Why aren't they 45 minutes long?
Me during the last few episodes: Why are these episodes so long? Why aren't they 30 minutes long?
That would sum up the decline of my enjoyment as I was watching the drama.

I want to be perfectly clear - I am not one of the people who were unable to enjoy it because of their expectations. I had zero expectations, I saw no promo materials. I went into it blind and willing to accept whatever they threw at me. I just did not expect them to start throwing bullshit.

It started well. Solid set up for the female lead, explaining why she needs to climb the military ladder from the bottom. We had fun “mulan-esque” plot lines that made me sing “I'll make a man out of you” as she was kicking ass during the practice. The tension between her and Xiao Jue was great. And then it slowly started to hit me how little generaling we have in this story about a female general. How the drama does not really have much plot, not substance. How the most interesting character is actually the second male lead. How the villains are empty shells that make me feel nothing.

Why did it happen? I think every plot line, every interaction, every motivational speech and feministic message did not have proper set up. Things just happened and we moved on to another scene. They kept telling me how bad women had, how she is this brave and strong and the idol for all the other women, but I did not really see much suffering or discrimination. Don’t get me wrong - inequality was clearly visible, but they presented with dialogue a completely different level of suffering than what was actually shown. It left me with a feeling of dissonance.

Not everything was bad. Outside of her preachy monologues I actually liked He Yan a lot. I appreciated how she was not this cold, stoic man like warrior. She was witty, cheeky and at times even bubbly. She had a bright and fun personality, but also knew when to focus on work. That made her far more enjoyable to watch.

Even if underdeveloped, I also enjoyed Song Tao Tao and Cheng Li Su. They served a good contract to both leads. Tao Tao had little to no physical strength, but was motivated and because of her knowledge in poison, was not a defenceless damsel in distress. Cheng Li Su might have seemed like a spoiled nuisance, but was also loyal and dedicated.

Sadly, that’s where the positive aspects end. Sure, the acting was good, but does it matter when the writing was not? I don’t even want to talk about the production value. What was that crayon blood? They did not even try to fake the injuries and wounds - they just smudged some red pain on their faces with artistic vision. Yes, Cheng Lei looked hot with that fake blood, but it was still too fake to ignore. There were also issues with the continuity of the shots (eg. blood being there in one cut, and not in the other from a different angle). The whole last arc (last 3-4 episodes) were so ridiculous I wanted to cry.

Overall, I should have dropped it, I have no idea why I finished it (I do, Cheng Lei’s face).

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Beautiful couple bad production

I LOVE the main couple!

I also read the novel and I would have preferred that they stick more to it to a certain extent without making it about rebirth.

Unfortunately, liking the couple is not enough. I don't know if they wanted to prioritize one actor debuting or something but with the shortening of the number of episodes, they should have focused on the couple more in that case. The additional drama was not necessary.

Positive points:
- Cheng Lei does a really good job. I am impressed with him as an actor and would like to see him again in a well produced drama. Hopefully, his next drama will be good. Even if I really like him as Xiao Jue, I am excited to see him develop in other roles.
- I like Zhou Ye. This role was really good for her however, I think she could have done more if she had a little bit more experience. But I still liked her as He Yan. I think with a few more works under her belts, she will be a great actress.
- Their chemistry was great. I would have loved to have extra clips of their lives.
- The war scenes were mostly good even if they could have had less battles but more quality in the scenes.

Not so positive points:
- Production was not that great. They had a great couple, a good novel as source but they did not do it honor. They did not even show Xiao Jue's realization process, what happened to He Yan, the details, the pain that she felt... all the details that makes him angry and sad on her behalf. They only showed him say it. That's what's makes it disappointing.
- Villains are not convincing. I would have loved to have more subtility in their actions.
- Chu zao was too much in the front of the story. As the story and the episodes were shortened, it became too obvious. In scenes that were meant to have only the main leads, he was there. If the drama was 45 episodes, it wouldn't have been that noticeable but as it is 36, it messed up the story adding unnecessary drama and messing up the flow.

To sum up, it is worth it for the couple: Xiao Jue and He Yan are great. Xiao Jue is a great character that should have been more fleshed out. I hope someone write fanfictions about this couple to feed our fantasies. 😂😂😂
Watch it, you won't regret it but don't expect a really good story. Just enjoy, a good couple and their cute moments.

8/10 just for the couple and the action. Without the couple, this is a 6/10.
I will re-watch Xiao Jue and He Yan's moments.

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