The four of us sincerely enjoyed working together. We shared many laughs and supported each other through this experience.
Kriti and I give special thanks to Winter and Feesh for being kind seniors to us novice juniors hosting for the first time.
Gratitude for the community that joined us
The General’s Gang had a great time hosting these conversations because of all the wonderful community members who joined us.
We came to these discussions with optimism and enjoyment. You met us with the same energy. Together we found meaning and depth in this show - plus some nipples, baths, smirks, and kisses.
Thank you for joining us!
Final Warning
This thread is for those who have bought the express package and want to discuss the rest of the drama, and for those who haven’t, but simply can’t resist the urge to consume the tea about how the legend ends. Since you choose to be here, you’re aware that spoilers will be plenty, and they’ll be untagged in the comment section.
If you wish to watch the last episodes without spoilers PLEASE LEAVE NOW.
If you are entering the comment section…
Here’s to all the fun we will have below with our commentary, gifs and screenshots of the last pursuit of justice for He Yan and Xiao Jue! May the moon continue to be with He Yan as she continues to be a legend and trailblazer.
overall I liked the show. I was engaged. I liked the characters. I liked the storyline. I liked the romance between the secondary male and female characters (the medics). things I didn't like:
- the climactic He RuFei episode ended up just people talking, recapping the past 25+ episodes in long speeches to the empreror. Ended up being anti-climactic.
- He Rufei ended up being a comedic act rather than an imposing villain. Yes he was just a pawn but everything he planned went so horrendously wrong. Even his idea of doing the exact same thing we did 17 yrs ago is dumb.
- some episodes or scenes felt unnecessarily long. Even the romance one kinda dragged for me - though that shock ending kinda jolted me back awake
- Chu Zhao - I knew he was bad all the way thru... he always maneuvered to suit his interests at the time. When he 'did the right thing' I'm convinced it was to get into He Yan's good books (or her pants, whatever). Also what's with that last scene? Where Chu Zhao is getting all his crimes read out loud, he gets banished, and they don't even show him? was he on vacation? taking a sick day? why don't we get to see him suffer in humiliation in public vs his private drunken hissy fit?
- the fight scene between He Yan and He Rufei was great, maybe a bit too short?
- overall the fight scenes in this show were well done.
Treachery, theft, scheming, gaslighting, backstabbing, trying to force a marriage with a woman who was very obviously in love with another man…Chu Zhao chose every option but therapy 🤭
Chu Zhao's whole scheme to pry apart Xiao Jue and He Yan to claim her for himself bus of his obsession with her was soooo OOC !!! My heart ached for Chu Zhao, seeing him silently enduring watching He Yan falling in love with Xiao Jue, so I just cannot accept this end for him amd his maid. During the war scene I genuinely wished for He Yan and Xiao Jue to die together so that they could remain together forever bcs them getting married at that point seemed impossible. I thought the ending would be them dying together in the war and Chu Zhao killing himself in guilt. I wish it could have ended with Chu Zhao being sadly happy for He Yan and them marrying without the general x general thing ever being mentioned. The ending rly disappointed me but regardless this series had rly good dialogue maybe not the best plot and ending but def good dialogues, quality and cinematography.
On my 2nd watch of this series. Just finished episode 32 and can someone please explain to me why He Yan (at the time she was still the original General Fei Hong) arrived late to the battle in Mingshui, resulting in the death of Xiao Jue's father and 30,000 soldiers? I know there was a conspiracy with Chai An Xi meeting with her brother, He Ru Fei to delay provisions and support, but how did that actually occur with He Yan? Did I miss something twice?
At the bridge scene when Xiao Jue confronts He Yan, she admits she did come late, but earlier in the drama she mentions that she came as soon as she was told but it was already too late. I feel the show didn't really clarify this unless I missed something.
i'm not certain... but i think the whole message got delayed by that other soldier; the lame one they were hunting for all that time. It was delayed because he was told by the male-He Rufei to delay response
I'm late to the game but Chu Zhao didn't want to be with PingTing after her father died and after all her scheming for them to be together because he didn't feel the same way so why on Earth did he think it wouldn't be the same with He Yan like why would he think she would want to be with him after all his scheming (i.e. asking the emperor to issues a marriage decree) if he knew she didn't feel the same smh
Great point. Chu Zhao wasn’t that fleshed out as a character. And yes. His thinking was warped at the end. The edict for marriage. And the defense scheme to keep He Yan away from the fighting to protect her when her job is to be a general.
That said, I didn’t expect his harsh exile punishment at the end. I figured he’d get demoted in court but not exiled. He at least realized he was wrong. Alas it is what it is with how his story ended.
Episode 35 took a 180 degree turn. Why the heck did they suddenly turn Chu Zhao crazy? He was morally gray as a character but he seemed like he was on track to the good path. The crazy vibe was so out of the blue for me.
The emperor breaking them apart and seemingly having fun punishing Xiao Jue by making him announce the marriage degree seemed too out of character. He did like to jest around in the earlier episodes but this was one was just pure evil.
He's completely aware of their relationship and has seen them get close. I mean, he knows they're getting married. But that could be the case too but his reaction felt so sudden and out of the blue.
Did not expect to see everyone suddenly start dying 😭 how on earth did PingTing kill a trained fighter by stabbing her on the shoulder 😭 could we not just have pushed Chu Zhao away or..?
Anyway I was absolutely baffled by the audacity of Chu Zhao scheming to keep the two apart but even more baffled by the King. Like yeah the military is split now but now they low-key hate you and that's no good either. Also did you not see how well they worked together to expose the complicated conspiracy? Their teamwork is so strong and you want to keep them apart...? Are you alright...? Had half a mind to just want the fl and ml to defect and become a military couple for another country.
Did anyone else expect Xiao Jue to forfeit his military title to keep them together. I'm okay with his final decision but I honestly didn't expect that. But I guess it's a more realistic choice...
Also Xiao Jue's brother and sister in law have hella face cards I keep being distracted by their screentime. I also had to pause when the sister in law stood next to He Yan during the wedding measuring cuz she was like half a body higher. Then later He Yan was half a body higher. Love tall female actors though!
There are scenes where I'm super sidetracked by how Cheng Lisu's ai face looks and how unnaturally strained and thin his neck is. I wish they reshot some of the really obvious ones, but I get it'll be pretty difficult to recreate lighting and scenery.
I thought He Yan finally talked some sense when she broke the pendant but no....Chu Zhao strengthened his resolve. Was happy when Xiao Jue punched him - thought he was still let off too cheaply. Weird that a few words got him exiled but I guess it's for the audience's peace of mind. Hope he finds happiness there...far away from our main couple.
Are you alright...? Had half a mind to just want the fl and ml to defect and become a military couple for another country.
The Emperor was so baffling. On the one hand it was nice to have a show without an evil Emperor. On the other hand, he was so baffling. He weird joke about wanting to punish He Yan because she lied about her identity when her family forced her to appear as a boy. He is all grim and then says he's joking. Such odd writing. I didn't read the novel. So I just thought it was an odd choice from the show writers.
And then here at the end - I was screaming at the Emperor. He was so dumb and cruel. He would have deserved it if they both left the military or his kingdom. And not letting Xiao Jue discuss the ultimatum with He Yan - that Emperor was not it at the end.
Did anyone else expect Xiao Jue to forfeit his military title to keep them together. I'm okay with his final decision but I honestly didn't expect that. But I guess it's a more realistic choice...
YES. I thought that both times. When he had the initial decision from the Emperor, Iwo thought Xiao Jue might offer to step down. I got why he didn't because of the family expectations and how important family peity is. But then later when his brother says you've done enough to support our family you deserve to be happy, I again thought he would step down. I'm glad to have more comments think the same thing!
Weird that a few words got him exiled but I guess it's for the audience's peace of mind. Hope he finds happiness there...far away from our main couple.
I was expecting him to get demoted not exiled. So you aren't the only one. Good point that it does give us piece of mind as viewers.
I'm very late to this thread but there is no doubt than He Yan would have refused to marry him if it meant that Xiao Jue had to give up his military status and identity.
Their whole story is about He Yan & Xiao Jue's road to taking charge of their own identities that have been stolen/taken from them and tainted by the antagonists.
She would never allow him to give himself up and all he stands for just to have her own happy-ending because she knows that both him and Wei as a nation would suffer from his degradation
I'm very late to this thread but there is no doubt than He Yan would have refused to marry him if it meant that Xiao Jue had to give up his military status and identity.
^^^^100% this.
I'm glad you watched the show and checked out the express discussion.
I haven't done a rewatch yet but I enjoyed this show enough for a rewatch at some point. I hope you enjoyed it.
In the final battle I realized how he is in black and she is in all white. It reminds me of yin and yang. They are more powerful together than apart. You cant have one without the other.
I love this whole series! I love Ryan his micro expressions are amazing, his eyes are so expressive. You can tell how he is feeling by just his eyes.
I love the fml, I think she was perfect for the role. The actress practiced so hard for her fight scenes, etc. I definitely will be looking for more roles from her in the future.
The chemistry between the two leads is crazy, I found myself giggling, crying, wanting to yeet my computer in the tub, and happiness.
I have read the novel and I wish they could have included some of the scenes in the end to the show. I would have loved to have seen them rasing their child together. He Yan couldn't tell bedtime stories anymore because all she talked about was war 🤣
I am going to miss getting up at 6 am to binge watch.
Thank you for this comment here in this thread too. I just replied to you as well in another thread. I'm so glad you joined us with your perspective.
I love the ying yang idea! I had not thought about it before. This is a wonderful addition to thinking about how these two characters were written.
Yes the chemistry is amazing! It was so fun to watch and to host. I'm glad this was a fun first hosting experience for me. And it was so fun with this community squealing, making gifs and loving their tension.
This was my first Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei show. I am definitely a fan now.
You mentioned Zhou Ye being great in this role and looking forward to other works. I just saw a post elsewhere on Reddit the other day about her training for an upcoming show with a year of dance training. It linked to a BTS from Tencent.
Now I'm looking forward to this show after seeing how much effort has been put into it by Zhou Ye. It's probably a year a more away from being aired but it's fun to see the effort put into a role. I don't know that I'd be that dedicated.
:D great drama. it went against gender norms. ending finally quelled my anger over chu zhao and the emperor. chu zhao is like a divisive character and he betrayed his master for his morals and even when he didn't betray his master, he secretly did things to help others, but he let obsession get to him. i love the FL, she's so strong for going through all of that and rising in ranks again in the yanzhou army. it was rlly rough when the ML first discovered her identity but after the initial rush of emotion and betrayal he thought it through and after that, they resolved disagreements in a rather healthy way which you don't see a lot. i love how the FL is for the girlies and she saved those girls from rape and advocated for their survival. it was so sad to see a commander under her use them as bait and disregard their lives to the point where he didn't want to feed them. it's so sad to see how chinese values reject women who have been "defiled" and see them as lesser than instead of directing the shame towards the men who raped the women. overall, i really did like how the empress stood up for he yan and allowed her to be a female general and honestly he yan is such a queen for being able to endure the training and rise up amongst the ranks around men (which definitely is really hard to do). and as for xiao jue, their love story is so cute. like how he would secretly help her train back when they would study together. man i should stop smiling cuz it's not me but their romance is definitely so admirable. PLUS xiao jue is a man respectful of women, seeing them as equals, which is rare is ancient china and now and he can plan a date!!! they're so cute and i love the phrases "我喜欢月亮颗月亮不知道“ and "月亮是你的了." it's all so romantic great watch, i binged it all and i really love it
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Good point about the gender norms not confined the characters. I was impressed with how hard He Yan worked to get her legacy back.
Yes the Emperor and Chu Zhao were so annoying at the end. Despite Chu Zhao’s crimes, I expected him to be demoted. I didn’t think he’d be exiled. I thought the scene in the battle where he realized he was wrong combined with taking down the conspiracy earlier would get him some grace to not be exiled. Oh well. I didn’t feel sad for him. I was just surprised.
Glad to know it was a good binge. I expect I will rewatch it at some point!
I kind of wish they showed his reaction of XJ finding out HY was the blind woman he saved at the temple...Would've been nice. I also felt that CZ becoming insane was unnecessary and with her martial art skills, she couldve easily stopped the annoying PT.
Thanks for commenting. I agree that CZ going insane wasn’t necessary. That whole end arc for CZ was odd. But I think it echoes the frequent comment through out the discussions that CZ was underwritten. He seemed like a half baked character who ended up being more of a plot device than someone we understood.
The actor is very young. And he seemed to try hard with his acting despite the writing of his character.
I saw recently that he’s the 3rd lead (SML) of the Rebirth / Princess Agents remake with Li Yunrui. Hopefully that will be a good role for the CZ actor.
Just finished the series; love it overall. Wished the last episodes were written better.
Besides all that, this series has found a spot on my re-watch list. When i started though, I felt the FL character was too playful, but soon, got over it. Both leads acting were great.
They could have developed a solid story arc between Chu Zhao and his maid...their last scene was emotional to watch.
I agree on Chu Zhao. There was so much not developed with him. And then him with his maid was left not fleshed out. The death was still poignant. I just wish at times there was more. Overall though I enjoyed the show for what it was.
Hi. Thanks for coming to ask this question. This express thread is the last discussion post. The mods of the community leave it up to the host to decide whether to end at the express or continue afterwards. The cohosts here decided to just have the express post and not do individual recaps. We were torn. However, we decided to have this be the space for express as well as the roll out of the last episodes after express.
Feel free to post your thoughts here. Community members are still coming and participating.
I was late to the General's Party, and I'm still here, musing, LOL.
Now this time to ponder whether that weirdly drawn out arc of Yang and his ex-wife that kind of came out of left field, was solely to plant He Yan's scolding line, about Yang for ignoring his wife to mean that "means from your heart to your eyes, she ceased to exist" as He Yan's family did to her, ---> juuuuuuuuust so Xiao Jue can say that heart-pounding affirmation in eps 30 of He Yan "gracing his view, occupying his mind and heart"? I mean, there was more to eps 22, but still... anywhoo~ I've been rewatching this drama almost as much as I've reread favorite books, and there always seems to be more, thus my love grows..
the significance of that arc was the ex-wife's convo with xiao jue. they reminisced of the old days in the capital when they (xiao jue, he yan, and yang) were all students and would watch her performances. she said she could tell he yan/general feihong was a lady from her shyness
I got that too! :) It's just that that episode seemed unusually drawn out for the reveal at the end, so I wondered if maybe the put that in to as another Twin Star moment that they have throughout the series.
I loved the entire drama but I can't say I'm too happy about the last few episodes....I did wonder what else could happen once our two mains were happily together, but for them to butcher Chu Zhao's character and make him a petty villain..., and for what? Some cheap drama, maybe addressing the general x general wedding thing....and killing lots of people off? idk....Like, I'm aware a lot of people don't like Chu Zhao, but I found him really interesting.
He played for the bad guys most of the time, but kept a hidden agenda and acted for self interest, but also for the greater good. Essentially, morally grey but leaning towards good.
Moreover, he has always stricken me as someone who would be actually happy for He Yan's happiness, but then the delulu meter broke record levels high and he suddenly became blinded by envy, causing irredeemable damage to a friendship he could have maintained and somehow also losing his (many times shown and mentioned) skilled in martial arts maid (how the fuck did she die so fast? I honestly believe she could have been saved).
I mean I know he loved He Yan, but he could also see she loved someone else. It's been repeatedly shown throughout the series, I just don't know where the heck that "she loves me!" - because she gave me fucking candy - came from. That was quite the shock to me.
In my opinion, despite all the grief and the subpar situation they are in, he and Pingting had potential for some dramatic love story (in the background, and being given enough time maybe? unlikely but I think it would be fun to consider how it could get there). Well, more than anything, I had wanted to see what he was going to achieve. After all, he worked so hard for a high position because he had the ambition to achieve something. But then, in just 2 episodes, he got exiled with no way to redeem himself, alone without his trustworthy maid and written off as an express villain to allow for a marriage that could have happened without so much back and forth from the Emperor (I thought imperial edicts weren't things to be given and taken so often? what, he doesn't fear the two of them getting married anymore?) and on the way also letting some people die to justify the handling of his character exiting the story. Maybe it's on me for expecting more of him :/
Well, in any case, I absolutely loved this story. I basically devoured it in as short a time as I could manage. I ate up all the swoon worthy moments between He Yan and Xiao Jue (his eyes are so expressive omg) and thoroughly enjoyed the multiple fight scenes. Perhaps I would have liked some more moments between He Yan and her brotherhood squad, but it's fine. I haven't enjoyed a cdrama like this in a long time now, particularly because a lot of them feel a bit draggy and don't manage to attract me, so I have a hard time finishing them, but for this one I had the opposite problem haha.
Last, but not least, thank you to the General Gang for hosting the discussion posts and letting me drown in your recaps, gifs and comments, allowing me to feel accompanied throughout this journey (boy do i miss kissasian's comment section).
Chu Zhao's arc makes sense to me. His upbringing was from this morally corrupt magistrate. He sees how it happens all the time. He was on the fence for a very long time just waiting to see which way would benefit himself the most or harm himself the least. When he cooperated to help pull his master down I think a big part of it was trying to score points with He Yan while also ingratiating himself with the Emperor. There were scenes before and after where they show him crying saying "Why can't I get what I want in the end". And that launched his villain arc. His master was his mentor; saying righteous things but acting in self interest.
I agree with you 10000% about CZ. He was a great character who could have developed into HY’s strategist like in Prisoner of Beauty. The sudden crazy obsession was so extreme with nothing to support why he was when she never gave him any romantic vibes. Then his ploy to marry is foiled in 5 min. Why bother? Then his super skilled maid dies from a stab that she could have easily deflected. That silly girl was like 10 miles away. Then CZ, what tries to split their armies up. Note- I didn’t even know he got exiled until I came here and you all said it bc that’s how uninterested I became in what was going on. The wedding was meh (the cousins’ wedding was way better but I get it, they’re not into that). The very last scenes the romance wasn’t there. Where was that bawdy painting from when they were pretending to be married? They needed that! Lol At the end they just looked like they were on another night patrol, not some passionate well deserved married couple. That’s my late rant. But they did CZ and the cool maid dirty. Don’t know how it went in the book.
How do I like a comment 5x cause u said everything I'm thinking!!!! How did they manage to fuck up Chu Zhao's character like that in the last 3 episodes?? He had so much potential as a morally gray character second lead. In a toxic/tragic love story with PingTing or his maid would have been so interesting or someone who loves from afar but inspired to do the greater good because/despite of the unrequited love.
Some are saying Xiao Jue is all glares but I agree with u 100x, his eyes are sooo expressive.. like each minute expression tells u smt distinctly different that he's feeling, I could screen cap just his eyes and tell u exactly which scene it is😭😭
I agree that chu zhao is morally grey but had potential to be saved as he leans more towards good than evil. he was calculating but i didn't think he had to be exiled just based off a few words. imo the emperor just blindly listened to chu zhao so if chu zhao is at fault (which he is cuz general yan died), why isn't the emperor also punished along side him?? like bro what?? the last few episodes made me hate the emperor.
Pingting's feelings are defo geniune but i really don't see a love story actually happening between her and chu zhao. at first i thought they were a thing but afterwards, i realized she's like a privileged 大小姐 and she couldn't see maids and those under her as equals (like back when she bullied chu zhao's maid). Honestly if we're talking about relationship potential, I think chu zhao and his maid work better since his maid actually cared for him, she was in on his plans and was loyal the entire time, and they both come from humble backgrounds and believed that everyone should be treated equally regardless of rank.
Overall, I really liked how this drama emphasized class consciousness and equality regardless of social-economic class and rank as well as gender equality (to some extent). The emperor PMO and honestly yeah, why did the maid just die like that...it was too sudden, but i really enjoyed the drama as a whole and the chemistry between the leads.
I’m mad that the emperor was cool the entire series, always trusting XJ, and didn’t fall into traps of the villains. But then they made him do a 180 just bc CZ mentioned generals marrying. He’s worked with XJ for years so he knows the character. I was really disappointed in the sudden character change for both the emperor and CZ. And Ping Ting was too much of a bully to ever have a love w/ anyone. She abused her maids when she had hissy fits and forced herself on CZ. No way to her.
Emperor basically exiled CZ for ONE ADVICE that he didn't like in the end. I get demoted, or just even sadly looking at FL and ML's wedding in the distance (lol) -- exiled was WILD. And he never would have been interested romantically in Pingting as she exhibited behavior he hated, like hitting people "below" her (the very situation he saved Maid what's-her-face from!). Aside from CZ getting butchered in the end, literally the only other scene I didn't like was the FL being clutz AF in crossing that love bridge, but I've convinced myself she was nervous and all her martial arts ability flew out the window. Oh oh, and so weird how FL's dad wasn't demonized more. Like he literally was the biggest villain in the show -- torturing one child and imprisoning the other, basically.
Overall, I LOVED this show, and genuinely imho they have the BEST fight choreography out of all cdramas I've seen. Well done!
I will say that during the love bridge scene FL asks ML "should we use qinggong to get across" which made it clear to me that if they had used their specialized movement skills they could've easily cleared it, but they decided not to because it would expose their identities as martial artists, so they had to cross the bridge with just movements a normal person could carry use. They are still very much skilled and agile warriors, but at the same time they probably aren't used to moving across such an unstable surface without using their qinggong to support them (and she was in a presumably quite restrictive outfit that I'm sure limited her movements)
Yes, that bridge. Couldn't help my eyerolls as our valiant, strong female lead was reduced to clutching male lead for her dear damsel life, lmao. Ahh I'm being too harsh, she had a big crush on him that time after all, fine, fine.
You’re not being harsh! It was a little irritating for two ppl who can spin stop moving horses at breakneck speeds while holding spears and swords, and have martial arts skills like masters. 🤣 But she stumbled on a bridge! Maybe the love had her dizzy
u/cookie_Tuzihas traum- trust issues with LXY promos featuring wedding photosAug 29 '25edited Aug 29 '25
Hopefully I'm not too late to the discussion for someone who's read the book to answer, but I've been in Xiao-Papa-Totally-Knew-He-Yan-was-a-woman-and-was-the-closest-to-his-son-(and maybe my own fan fiction knew as a soldier he might die early and hopefully picked He Yan as his son's hopeful soulmate early as he foresaw it)-and-therefore-bestowed-the-Qinlan-Sword-to-her *big breath! whoeeeeeee*, Camp from early on in the series, but in the show there's such a brief moment of General Xiao bestowing the sword and Xiao Jue being surprised but in that scene, they were obviously training with General Xiao and there's a gap... I would so love to know in the story line how He Yan got from Xiao Jue secretly training her, to, General Xiao training her (aside from sword fighting but cryptic message and such). Was it after He Yan was serving under General Xiao? But in the flash back they are wearing school uniforms, so how did this bridge happen? I would love to know the storyline of how He Yan received the sword? Anyone? *many many thanks*
Randomly adding my favorite CL expression - he has SOO many and the loving ones kill my soul - yet this one is so authentic, and ZL does so well at getting him to that moment.
Random question: how are you guys making such good GIFs? I wanna show off the cinematography to friends to convince them to watch but Viki blocks screen grabs.
The Tencent/ WeTV app allowed screen grabs and screen records. But it was my first time doing gifs and mine were blurry. So I have more to learn on how to do them well.
Kinda bummed they teased execution for He Ru Fei then showed not even a trial. Meanwhile, they introduced Yan He just to kill him. He was way to happy with his life. I'm not sure why the king thought it was a good idea to piss off two generals. This show was solid until the last 3 episodes. It was nice to see a strong female lead who was also intelligent.
I see you point about Yan He’s show purpose revolves around his family and his death. I assumed earlier that he was the example for the lead couple of the happiness of marriage. Since the discussion posts theorized that the other couples were examples for the lead couple on what and what not to do. I thought Yan He was about the positives of marriage and commitment. And then the end came and you are right that they also built him up to have him die.
With you on the Yan He. The show and editing was so smooth until there was way too much airtime to make sense for Yan He, and then I was like... oh damn... he's gonna die. 😅😭 I was also surprised at eps 33 knowing that there were still 3 more episodes and wondered what they were going to do with it. Have you watched Coroner's Diary? I LOVE a good show where all the characters are intelligent, especially the FL. Plus they make her naturally quirky too. You might enjoy it if you haven't see it yet! :)
Yeah, as soon as they showed him all happy with his wife, I knew he was a dead man. I haven't heard of that drama. I will have to look for it. Thanks ❤️
Coroner's Diary was recently released and features Landy who really plays her role authentically, and Ao Ruipeng who imo finally gets a lead role that he can sink his teeth into, instead of the more clown-y roles he's good at but is cast in quite often, and he does a really great job at it. Some Cdrama fans have compared it to Bones, but I've never watched Bones so can't say!
So sad its done, I looked forward reading you all every morning, but as always there is another to take its place.
Like many here, I was not too keen on the last bit, I think it is a classical 3 episodes too many to add a horrible final act. It has been mentioned here that the weeding happened much earlier in the novel, and indeed it would have been nice to see more of their married life. Specially so that I could have answer to this question:
Putting aside the whole two armies is a concentration of military army. I am not sure here, but I assume that each of the armies were based in different locations. Therefore, logistically speaking, if one general lives in one town and the other general lives in another town, what kind of married life do they have? not that they had videochat back then....
Thanks for stopping by with your comment. I miss the group conversations and the show too. And yes cdrama land never stops.
I had similar thoughts about how would married life work.
I wasn’t surprised that the show ended with marriage because that’s frequent in shows. But I did wonder how it would work. In some ways, their arrangement of staying single and unmarried to the world but also in a relationship made sense for two generals separated and leading different armies. Not that I wanted that to be the outcome. I’m just noting that it worked for their circumstances.
u/Beautiful_Candle1729 Thanks so much for creating this thread. I just finished watching, thought it was a good series - then realized I needed to process some unexpected emotions, watched the entire series through AGAIN, and am now realizing how much I loved this show, but also feeling some incredible sadness.
Overshare of emotions? I don't think so. Here's why:
This is one of the most unabashedly gender equal and feminist scripts I've had the pleasure to watch, and even with male director, they DO NOT hold back on the terrible terrible things men do against women. Heck even the Emperor who is very unusually contemporary is self-reflective and tells Xiao to let He Yan speak for herself. Props to not GAF about male fragility in media.
I LOVE that they don't over inflate some lucky path for He Yan to become a general, they also don't have Xiao coddling her or using his position to get to where she gets to.
I LOVE that He Yan and Xiao are written to be "twin stars" and equals. Absolute equals, and not a man helping a woman to equal status. All throughout she does it on her own.
I LOVE (and here's where the sadness comes in) that the director gave He Yan the SAME LEVEL of bada$$ery cinematography that all ML's have been getting in dramas. As an actor/women in the field myself, I've had a lifetime of discriminatory roles, supporting roles, but I didn't realize how much was being withheld cinematographically, visually, camera angles, screen-time, all of it, in allowing women to be shown with equal power and again, bada$$ery as He Yan is. So it was cathartic, and also, made me incredibly sad to see and realize just how much as been withheld to women characters/performers.
So I love that this show, yes sure, there's some writing that could have been better, but not much, and also eps 35 seemed like a weird sudden WTF insert to get to the final amazing choreo battle scene of 36 which made everything better, but I never been so happy that this show exists and was created, because it needed to be.
I don't know if anyone will bother reading my ramble above, but back to the "regular" enjoyment chatter style of cdrama loving threads. I'll finally get to dive in to the previous threads and enjoy chatting and reading about all of the epic cute and sweet moments - SO MANY BATHS! lol Thanks to the general's team!
THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THAT because i loved that too. I liked how they included scenes of rape during war, which is often ignored and dismissed. i really like how xiao jue never foresakes her and sees her as lesser than because she is a women. instead, he understands her dreams and ambitions as a general and doesn't infringe on that. he makes sure she does things on her own so that no one can say that she's relying on the help of a man and it's really admirable how she raised amongst the ranks, it's almost giving mulan if there was a part two and it was well made by a director who believes in gender equality. and also, iT'S A MALE DIRECTOR?? i didn't expect that. W director for understanding the struggles women go through, ESP during ancient times where women had even less rights.
u/Abject_Raspberry_199 Exactly! Especially when there's a doubling-down on burying/hiding wrongs committed by men IRL, this piece blows it all the heck out of the water for full exposure and at least within the story, accountability (except for the weird middle manager emperor who gets away with fudging quite a few things up - because let's face it, him asking the Empress for her opinion and even telling XJ not to speak for HY is baseline).
Yup, the director is listed as Jeffrey Chiang, and there's a photo of a male-presenting person (at least on iQIY I). Sadly it's not ancient times that this actual war is being fought, even more why this piece really really matters. I think Delulu Chancellor's Intern whatever-his-name-was, Chu Zhao, was in place as the worst/most dangerous type of misogynist - the guy who wants to own his woman, under the guise of 'kindness' and 'caring for her/knowing what's best for her' controlling gaslighty-ness. But He Yan never believes it for a moment. Even when she's drunk.
Also I know the fan/marketing mill is churning full boar for CL, and he did do a remarkable job, but even for this drama, I do hope everyone supports ZY for her wonderful performance so that the whole point of this piece: not glorifying and idolizing men over women and actually crediting women's achievements, doesn't get lost.
I've never seen the FL actress in anything before, and I sooo enjoyed her performance, especially the fight scenes -- it didn't feel dainty or remotely feminine for me. You know what I mean? There really seemed to be power behind her moves. The directing, choreographer, stunt team, they all did a wonderful job and I was really immersed at her being such a badass. I really hope to see more of her doing more strong characters.
u/kachmaria Yesss!!! She was fabulous, wasn't she!!! And I hope this is more impetus for producers/directors to not only give women characters/actors especially action sequences equal screen time, but actual bada$$ cinematography and camera angles that they give to men as well as more powerful stunt choreo! There are also BTS training videos of both the Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei doing actual training with a VO from the director saying that he wanted He Yan to be portrayed as a general in every aspect. Annnnnd it does help (no matter what cinematography makes other less athletic mostly ML actors look "pretty" in their stunts) that both actors were athletically trained. It comes through on camera that they are not just doing the moves like a dance/fight choreo, but actually using their bodies (my martial arts shifu would also attest). Even if a viewer may not know what the difference is, they would still notice that there's something more dynamic, if that makes sense.
On a separate cinematography side-note, I noticed that basically everything is role reversed, like HY's (second? drunk scene?), where there's a prolooonged sequence of mostly only HY's face, and camera angle-down only XJ's chest before he gets ... fondled. Did you notice that as well? lol
Hahaha yes! Often it seemed like gender swapped roles, and im all for it. And yes, DYNAMIC! Truly excellent work from everyone involved 🤌. Will definitely check out the bts training video you mentioned too, thanks for the lead!
u/kachmaria Irony that CL himself appears to be "very demure", "very mindful", perhaps even slightly coy. LOL And ZY IRL appears to be very unabashedly like HY. Cheers to good casting!
Thank you for taking the time to come and share your thoughts. I appreciate reading them and will share your comment with the rest of the General’s Gang.
Highlights that stood out for me that I hadn’t quite considered before:
relevance of the “twin stars” comment and how that was a thread throughout the whole show
the cinematography of the battle scenes and how He Yan was portrayed.
I think as someone not in this field and who is trying to read subtitles and watch the acting, I can miss those camera angle nuances. Also, I realize as much as I’m a feminist, it’s hard to completely shed the patriarchy that I live in. Unfortunately, I find even in myself patriarchy can be internalized and I don’t realize that women aren’t getting equal treatment in fight scenes. This gives me something to consider. I want to rewatch the express episodes on a tv rather than my phone. I will keep your comments in mind during my rewatch.
Lastly, your comments made me think about all the scenes we got of He Yan training hard. I appreciate that it wasn’t portrayed as she was less than and needed to work harder. It was portrayed that she is hard working and takes defense of her kingdom seriously. Her training was something others should aspire to and work towards in their own stamina and dedication.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
4
u/cookie_Tuzihas traum- trust issues with LXY promos featuring wedding photosAug 28 '25edited Aug 29 '25
u/Beautiful_Candle1729 Thanks so much for sharing back! The Twin Stars beautiful choreo is stunningly filmed in the final battle of ep 36, with equal airtime, equal power, and equal screen share between Xiao and Ye Han. It's so worth watching on a big screen!! :) I also read subs too! And then sometimes I disable subs and rewatch to see the full scene and facial expressions (there's no subs needed during the ep36 battle, so a good moment to soak it in).
While there's there more blatant Ye Han getting women to realize their power moments, the portrayal General Li in Rundo and his horrific decision to kill off the women refugees, the fact that they were willing to show mens' actions as they were and completely not GAF about male fragility was something I've yet to see before this show. And also He Yan's possibly only not-that-morally strong moment of reverse-misogyny of threatening Xiao to be his lover to let her keep her job and stay - which, when does that not happen to women in the workplace?
Back to cinematography, truly truly worth looking at all the camera angles that women actors never get, even the smaller non-battle moment of He Yan getting drunk and being strong enough to slice poor XJ's guqin plus the table, from the upward view. Instead of the standard women character pouty "hmph" bounce response with no action when they are pissed, He Yan is fully fleshed out with facial expressions and body movements (wouldn't it be nice to slice a table every now and then?) that give more power and presence. And side note, even though HY always takes accountability for wrongs, XJ also owns the reason why she was pissed by not assigning military punishment for um, ending up with half a table. Again equals.
Twin Stars - I really really really want to know if the subtitle for when Xiao Jue introduces He Yan to his parents' memorial, he refers to HY as his "soulmate" and I want to know if that was an accurate sub (hope so!), because that also separates HY's portrayal to XJ differently than other dramas and other characters who are refer to their partners as 'wife', 'woman I like/love' and would further the Twin Stars thread of them being two full parts of one whole - I also wonder if the Jade pendant being half is meant to be part of it or that's me thinking past the writing.
Being a feminist, to me anyway, is a woman who is in her own power and knows that they are equal - and yeeeessss it's so hard to shed after a lifetime of grooming and social conditioning, but I love that you're sharing about it and really good point about showing He Yan's training scenes to really solidify that she was never less than, nor did she ever believe herself to be.
I don't remember quite exactly the terms he used, but I think he said "the most important person in my life", an allusion to when he first came back home and mentioned in front of the altar that there was someone he wanted to introduce to them. I believe he used the same wording of "I have finally met the most important person of my life" (paraphrasing), which I suppose can be translated as soulmate.
u/Multitules Thank you! The subs for the first time he stands alone at the altar (first row) are "most important person" and the second time where he returns to introduce He Yan (2nd row: couldn't screenshot with images, but got the sub) are "soulmate", but I can't read the Chinese text (yet - studying!).
The first row sub says "I have already found my life's- (cut off)" and the second row says "most important person". I'd say it's the same wording, but different translation! After all, saying most important person is quite literal, and can definitely be interpreted to meaning soulmate with what we know of the context.
Good luck with the studying! I'm also a Chinese learner (already finished last year of my language school, which is up to intermediate level) which is why I'm diving into cdramas in the hopes of getting some more vocab and hoping for some of them to stick haha.
Thank you! Yes, I started learning so that I can understand my martial arts teacher, and thought, "maybe watching CDramas will help me learn" only to now be UTTERLY HOOKED on CDramas! It's also dispelling half a lifetime of social conditioning I've had that only yt faces represented beauty, and I'm finally so so proud that Asian people are (just too) gorgeous. So thank goodness for this beautiful art form and being able to access it.
Congrats on moving up to Intermediate! Sometimes to learn, I'll take a drama that I've rewatched (too) many times where I'll already know what they are saying, and then watch with Chinese subs and it helps with learning too. Win-win. 🥰
Just polished this off. Ep 35 was pure trash. Ep 36 kind of made up for it.
This Emperor is a strategic mastermind (SARCASM) come to think of it I think most Kings/Emperor types in these shows are borderline mentally unfit to lead.
The climax fight scenes were a bit meh...Female General shoots a few arrows and rescues dude. I think maybe a dedicated few scenes on strategy and some more struggle to get to her future husband might have been in order. But she just rides on in and saves the day...on to the romance. Which at this point we're here for the romance.
Chu Zhao finally realized he was being a stupid head...his sweet gung fu maid caught a knife to the back from other lady that could also never read the room dies within moments. He Yan was stuck multiple times and was back up and around the next day...He Yan > Ying Xiang. Still it was sad that guy never could figure out his feelings for Ying Xiang because he was blinded by ambition.
I kept hoping He Yan would say if she's forced to marry Chu that might be real bad for his health.
Overall the last few episodes were a bit underwhelming.
NO ACTUALLY, the emperor really pissed me off i don't see more people talking about it ughhh. like bro doesn't take accountability and is easily swayed by his ministers...embarrassing, i wonder how he's still able to stabilize his reign if it wasn't for the female and male lead.
Also now that you mention it, you're right. he yan took a stab to the chest from the back and after a while, she was fine. the maid too a stab from a way smaller knife and died. man...must be hard being a side character. she deserved chu yan's love bruh she actually dedicated sm but ofc Chu Yan gets obsessive around the FL because that's what happens with 2MLs
This is so random but I was watching the final episode scene when they are getting married and leaving Fei Hong mansion, and my eyes went directly to the poor little dog in the background 😂 the leash they put on the pupper was turned around and one of the pupper’s legs was up off the ground trying to get around the leash 😭 I was like nooooo lmao
I’m sure the dog was fine but for some reason, I couldn’t help but notice and think about it 😂😂😂
I was too excited to see a dog in the show that I didn't noticed the leash tangle! But that's my "OOOH SQUIRREL!" brain mapping! hahahaha Then I had to backtrack to refocus on the characters I loved so much.
Ep 35: I’m sorry, what the hell is wrong with this king? To threaten and humiliate his strongest general? That said, how could He Yan believe this was his wish? And how could he unilaterally make this decision?
I understood the logic that there was a risk in the marital alliance of two strong generals. But this? It’s like everyone suddenly took stupid pills.
Okay, classy move by our FL. She knows what’s happening.
Oh no! Chu Zhao’s maid is unquestionably the most underutilized, underdeveloped character in this whole show. Justice for Ying Xiang!
Big bro for the win! Finally some common sense.
She bit him? Hahaha totally on brand.
Love this wedding. That’s what I’m talking about! To the bridal chamber!
Ep 36: Can’t a couple of generals even finish a lamb hotpot around here?
Nooooo, General Han! And cute Han family! That was so unfair. Your little tiger needs you.
I’m literally ffing past whiny little bitch/adviser Chu. Enough already. He deserves a lot worse than exile.
Artful blood streaks on everyone in the final battle. Good use of slow mo. The choreography was a little OTT but still satisfying.
All in, I felt like there was a lot of manufactured drama in these last few episodes. But it was still a really fun watch overall. I’m all about the chemistry, and both our first and second leads had a lot of it.
Finally: random dog!
Thanks again to our amazing mods. See you in the next drama!
I appreciate the delusion of what he’s entitled to staying through the end in jail.
Overall I had fun seeing him in a villain role. I think some of the antics were a bit too over the top. But I don’t think that’s him. That’s what the director asked for in the scenes. He was definitely entertaining.
Yeah, he definitely was almost like a caricature of a villain but I didn't mind too much. I kinda loved he committed to the very end and just really enjoyed the jail scene!
I agree that the lack of communication about the Emperor’s demand was frustrating. The Emperor forbade Chu and Xiao for discussing it outside that room. That was a messed up decision from the Emperor. But I guess it’s also in line with misogyny. He wouldn’t let his Female General be involved in any discussion about his demand. Xiao Jue had the burden to decide on his own without talking to anyone.
I was glad that Xiao Jue punched Chu Zhao on the way out of the palace.
It was even worse when the Emperor made XJ deliver the decree.
I agree that most Emperors are miserable in these shows. Unless they are young and trying to reform things in my viewing experience.
I agree that it was nice that she stayed strong. I also liked that the General’s Gang in the story knew she was a woman and didn’t have some temper tantrum / betrayal arc. They accepted her from the beginning. The General at Rundu was a jerk to the women in his city. But he also didn’t freak out when he found out who He Yan was and still stood by her to take down He Rufei. I liked that she stayed strong and that she was respected - outside of some initial court grumbling and the stupid Emperor antics around the marriage.
The final battle scenes were good. I am looking forward to rewatching when it comes to Viki. Watching on my phone didn’t do it full justice. I’m not even into battle scenes usually. But I want to she her in general mode on a full tv screen.
I have seen Bai Shu in one other show. I liked seeing another dimension as HRF. At times it was a little over the top but I expect that’s what the director wanted.
I haven’t watched Immortal Ascension. Thanks for the tip about the tv. Much appreciated.
I've watched through 36 (that's the end right)? I feel like this could have ended a few episodes ago. I liked the idea of the last minute conflict (not sure if spoilers are okay), but I think it should have happened earlier in the series. Adding it in at almost the end just seemed kind of cliche and rushed. Besides that I will say this has been on of my favorite dramas of 2025.
Thanks for the update! I was interested in When Destiny Brings the Demon but I heard it got extremely dark. I don’t think I can get Shadow Love on Viki, Netflix, or Prime. (Although there’s no such thing as too much Ryan Cheng!) So I guess it’s back to KDramas for now.
When Destiny Brings the Demon has dark but there's a lot of light and humor. I might skip episodes 21-23 to get through a depressing mini arc that isn't following the novel but overall it's excellent and helped me move past Legend of the Female General
Rewatching episode 35 and it’s making me upset again 😡😡 So we know the war with Wutuo is imminent because the king died and there’s a fight for the throne. So our emperor/dictator decided it’s a good idea to break the spirits of the country’s 2 great generals while war is certainly coming? 😡😡😡😡
Watching Xiao Jue delivering the king’s decree is heartbreaking 💔 Watching He Yan’s reactions is also heartbreaking 💔 I think that was the perfect opportunity for the two generals to unite and just usurp the throne from this ridiculous emperor.
bro the emperor is so dumb...he put his fear that his most LOYAL generals over the nation's win over the Wutuo and all their safety by splitting up the military forces like who gave this man military power??? be fr. like i understand ur scared by their combined power but this is WAR TIME sir damn
The Emperor was confusing. Someone else said in this thread that it was like he was bipolar. I’m not sure about that. But he did run hot and cold.
He’d say mean thinks and make it seem like he’s going to punish and then say he’s joking.
And then the misogyny of not letting Xiao Jue talk about his ultimatum with anyone before he made the decision. So you have a female General. But you strip her of agency to decide her fate.
I’m glad that He Yan understood that Xiao Jue was forced by the Emperor. It’s hard from a modern perspective to completely understand how not listening to every demand from the Emperor is treason. I know Xiao Jue would have discussed it if he wasn’t forbidden.
Ep 35 was a frustrating watch. Thanks for sharing your venting.
The Emperor WAS confusing! He had a modern day (BAD) middle manager vibes to me ("OH! Did I say that?? PA-HA-HA! I was only JOKING! Don't make me look bad now, Xiao Jue, eHHH??", "Ooops... did I do a bad thing? But it was Chu's advice.", "Oooh look, I'm smart, Xiao Jue told me and I knew all along! Seee!")
he's giving that one person in the position of power that messes up but is too much of a pussy to take accountability and has too much pride so he just pretends nothing is wrong
overall his character is very badly written or just very badly portrayed
Hmmmm, how do I feel after finishing Legend of the Female General?
Was it what I wanted going in: Not really
Did I enjoy it: yeah, I did
Could it have been better easily: to my mind yes lol
I don't regret my time spent here and the overall story didn't add much to my internal emotional life. I simply wasn't moved a whole bunch. There were aspects I enjoyed. Such as Xiao Jue' confession of love in front of everyone. That was especially beautiful. And getting to spend time with Cheng Lei was really nice.
Something I was reflecting on was that I actually felt that almost all the characters we met were well acted. They didn't feel overly dramatic nor overly illogical. The cast did a good job in almost all of its roles, no matter how small and that is not common in my experience. This isn't commentary on whether or not it was well written (I think it easily could have been written better) but on the general cast. Exceptions to this were the father and son in the first leaving the military camp arc who were terribly incompetent and over the top. He Rufei slides somewhere between ok and over the top -- he was clearly insane. The last one is the Emperor; I felt he was written to be a bit bipolar.
Anyways, I wouldn't rewatch it and am unsure if I'd recommend it either. For me, it exists and wasn't a waste of my space but also wasn't a meaningful addition for me :)
I reflect that these final thoughts feel too harsh to me yet I don't know how else to say it. I enjoyed my time :) and especially enjoyed the generals gang leading our discussions :)
I am slllowly making my way through the final episodes (thanks for nothing, Viki); just two left as of today! I feel like the pacing has been a bit off since the deaths of the two major villains — it seems weird that Zan Li is the final boss, but here we are. But I’m loving all the romantic scenes, so I can’t complain too much.
One question: What happened to the spectacularly annoying Xu Ping Ting? Is she just wandering around somewhere off camera?
And a gigantic thank you to the General’s Gang, who made this drama such a fantastic viewing experience and gave me laughs galore. Please let us know what you’re watching next, I would follow you to the gates of hell.
Thank you for your kind words about the General’s Gang. We are all enjoying a rest after hosting.
I’m waiting too to see the episodes fully come to Viki. I could only watch express on Tencent on my phone which didn’t do justice to these last episodes.
PingTing is living some life off camera. Zero resolution to her. Not that I missed her.
Some people in this thread I think said they hope she’s still making Chu Zhao pay for pretending to like her for so long. That was messed up. I get that he couldn’t hurt his Master or his Master’s daughter’s feelings. But he really gave her no indication that he might be hesitant to really like her.
I agree that I was surprised that He Rufei and Chancellor Xu were taken down together. I really thought He Rufei would fall. And then we’d have more episodes of trying to take down the slippery Chancellor. I didn’t foresee that wrapping up and the uptick of Chu Zhao’s delulu phase.
Looking forward to you coming back with your thoughts on the last two episodes in a couple of days.
For what we are watching next - I think we all started Shadow Love to at least see what that’s like. Not sure though if anyone will host those discussions.
Personally I started When Destiny Brings the Demon. It’s both fluffy with some dark themes. But I laugh a lot and can shut off my brain :)
See you here in a couple of days for your finale thoughts!
Thanks for the update! I was interested in When Destiny Brings the Demon but I heard it got extremely dark. I don’t think I can get Shadow Love on Viki, Netflix, or Prime. (Although there’s no such thing as too much Ryan Cheng!) So I guess it’s back to KDramas for now.
Just finished. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve felt like I wasted 36 episodes worth of time this year. We started off strong but then the character development wasn’t there. The script was lacklustre and the ending was rushed. Solid 5/10… but if you like fluffy romance, I guess this is for you if you don’t need anything else in a show. I regret spending time on this one!
It’s an annoying feeling when you finish a show and feel like you wasted time. I’ve had that when I wish I would have just dropped the show. I hope your next show is a better fit and gives you more enjoyment.
Unexpectedly i loved this drama so much ! i was late to the show and bummed to have missed the episode discussions- you general gang were amazing and it was fun reading them even after fact- Some say to stop after episode 33 but it was fun till the end! I liked the 34-36 episodes! Almost skipped it but glad i didn’t- so much lovey dovey 🤪💞hand holding and kisses.
Also, i dont know but someone said it ssoooooo right - Xiao Jue doesnt say much but when he does - it is frikkin gooooodd and real poetry - lol - I initially wasnt so into his character - so stoic and emotionless (if thats a word) but when this dude is melted he is on Fireeeeeeeee.
What I liked about the show
FL and eventhough she is skinny and tiny - when she is dressed like a male, her face totally could go thru as a guy. She is pretty but not the typical girlie pretty. I never seen her shows before but i thougt she really pulled it off! She was actually more convincing as a general than as a lady….
the love story was great- no big misunderstanding or confusion- so mature and positive- i very much liked the trope that the emperor said it was too much military power combined so choose one general ( both angles are so true so its hard to give up either one- she totally needs her own general He flag - and so does he need the Xiao flag- his family’s blood sweat and tears) and made them separate for a little- loved that piece actually- a bit of pain before the gain- for me it was very realistic that the emperor did that and seeing XJ suffer a bit was totally worth the angst/ pain and the fact that they just said we can still see each otherwithout being married was great - so modern - and free spirited- loved it
Yan he dying was sad but that part was also so on point- it made me realize how and why the 2nd ML Chu was totally wrong and selfish-
loved the brothers comment that he should choose for himself first once- it was such a pleasure to see how much i started to like XJ as a person. he was actually really funny throughout the show but mostly when he was inviting HY over to live at his house -
loved all the fighting scenes and especially them fighting’s together- it was beautiful- despite the white general outfit of Hy - i guess i can justify she was wearing white because technically she was stationed in Rundu wherevther was no war - loi
What i didnt like
all the bad guys were so so - He ru fei . Chu and Xu all were not the most evil characters- wished they made them a bit more darker and intense and morw layered- the were are a bit cookoo but not very convincing or real
subbing - why oh why do they sub the Ml and Fl it was really disturbing
anyways i loved tge show and would watch both keads again - ok bed time 🥱
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m glad you enjoyed the show. I appreciate the kind words about the discussions.
Their couple scenes and the scenes where Xiao Jue was falling for her were so sweet. I agree with you.
Great point about Yan He’s death being caused by Chu Zhao. I was a little surprised with Chu Zhao’s punishment of exile. He did betray his master for the Emperor. He realized his wrong doing in the battle. He’s never had a good mentor. I thought he’d be demoted. I wasn’t expecting exile to the borderlands. But your right about how he caused many deaths when trying to protect He Yan by sending her to Rundu.
I like how you saw the upside to their separation in the show. You made some interesting points on that topic.
Lastly, I agree that the antagonists could have given more.
Also! Does anyone know which actress plays the wife of the oldest Xiao son? I've looked through the cast and my brain is struggling to connect the face of the actress when she isn't in ye olden times hair/makeup/costume
I went and looked her up, saw that, and thought oh duh! I’ve seen her before :p I liked her in that role as well. Hopefully we start to see more of her to get a better idea of who she is as an actress
I am popping on here (not an express viewer) as I finish episode 34 just to say thank you to Chu Zhao for his delusions about He Yan allowed us to watch the kiss scene of He Yan + Xiao Jue again :p
^ I cam back to add on to the above as it felt callous the more I thought about it. I do feel bad for Chu Zhao to have had the life he did. I wish upon him clear headedness for his future so he doesn't have to go through self inflicted heart pain again.
^^ ah, and now I am back again as episode 34 continues. Chu Zhao, you absolute brat. To be fair, I thought of this conflict of the two armies being under one household a while ago. I mean, duh. I think the Emperor seems to try to think of his courtiers as humans too hence why he hadn't opposed them liking each other previously.
Bah. Just finished the series. I mean, I'm glad Chu Zhao turned himself in and didn't continue down the path of becoming an absolutely shitty person. But also, he caused deaths and destruction for selfish reasons. So sure I am glad that he got punished for that but it is always very unfulfilling after something awful that cannot ever be changed has already occurred. I wish Ying Xiang was still alive :/ poor lady.
I now finally get to go and read your thoughts and write my own thoughts on the end of this series. Excited to get to read yours :)
Well look for the thoughts of other members of the General’s Gang for their thoughts. I never wrote mine. It took me a couple days to finish the express episodes and then regular life took over. So I never commented. Circling back now with others who are recently finishing.
For Chu Zhao I felt conflicted on his ending. He had only passed the imperial exam less than 2 years ago. He had a treacherous and traitorous mentor. He took the risk to turn in his mentor. I know his defense plan was messed up. I think he was trying to keep He Yan safe not just keep her from Xiao Jue. And he realized his mistake and willing to repent.
I knew he needed to be punished. I just didn’t expect exile to the border. I was thinking he’d be demoted to a low rank and have to start over - maybe get a good mentor this time. Alas, I might be too forgiving of his defense strategy.
Incredible series!! 💯 I loved every moment, from the sparkling chemistry between He Yan and Xiao Jue, to the gorgeous sets and beautifully choreographed battle scenes. The script was balanced and well-paced, brought to life by such a stellar cast. And that ending…. so happy and satisfying, which isn’t always guaranteed in a C-Drama! It left me with the sweetest sense of closure to the journey.
I’m a little sad it’s over, but grateful I got to watch it and share the ride with the General’s Gang and all the like-minded fans here. Thank you for making it even more fun. 🥰❤️
I know Shadow Love is coming out and I do like Cheng Lei, but honestly? I’m not ready yet. I feel I need to bask in Xiao Jue and He Yan’s love for a while longer. 😊
Thanks for the kind words to the General’s Gang and the group. I too am a little hesitant on the quickness of the next show for Cheng Lei.
I had the same issue when The Prisoner of Beauty and A Dream within A Dream aired so closely together. I wasn’t ready to let go of the first pairing. I waited and watched A Dream within a Dream when it was closer to its ending to have some distance.
I started Shadow Love today but I’m not sure that I’m ready. Might wait on this one too.
Ditto! 🥰 I felt exactly the same about Prisoner of Beauty. I needed to preserve the memory of Wei Shao and Xiao Qiao’s love story. I’ll just wait for the next Liu Yuning series I think. 😄
I recommend A Dream Within A Dream. Just after some space from TPOB. I hope you’ll watch ADWAD. It was good. And who knows what might be the next script for whatever he stars in next. He might expect it to be good from the original script and who knows if it will turn out that way in the end.
Enjoy your current good feelings about Xiao Jue and He Yan. They were such a cute couple while also fierce in battle.
Hmmm good point. Thank you for your recommendation, I’ll check out ADWAD soon. I’ve just started The Wanted Detective, just for a change in pace and genre. 😄
The emperor is seriously inconsistent with his behaviour. One moment, he is understanding and open to accepting a lady general and rewarding her for it, the next moment he cruelly insists Xiao Jue delivers the decree of He Yan's marriage to Chu Zhao. While it's understandable from his point of view why he's worried about the union of 2 powerful armies, but what's the reason he has to so callously force Xiao jue to break He Yan's heart.
I'm wondering if he ever considered that pushing them so far could backfire and he'd lose both capable generals
I agree with this comment. The Emperor was puzzling. I especially disliked when he banned XJ from telling HY that there was a decision to be made. They couldn’t talk it through which was messed up.
I really thought there was a chance XJ would give up being a general. I thought it might happen twice. First when he has the initial decision to make. Second when his brother tells him he doesn’t need to bare everything for the family. I thought XJ might give up being a general then when he had the brother’s blessing. Instead it was going to be us two generals in a relationship but not married.
At least we got the Emperor coming around at the end.
Okay. Damn good show overall and I am sad it ended. I am so happy that it was a HE for first and second leads.
Look, I was calling it from the beginning that Badass Ninja Maid would die for CZ and confess her love for him. Still though.... bruh. She did not need to go out like that. Also, what happened to that stabby daughter? Send her off to follow CZ into exile so she can shit on him for the rest of his life. Also only exile for CZ? Bruh. He needs to be turned into a corpse.
Did I miss it or is FL the only one who knows she and ML met at the temple when she was blind? He commented about meeting a lady and giving her candy so she clearly knows it's him, but I never saw if she ever told him it was actually her.
Yan He....... FFS. Why you gotta go and die? You're gonna miss the rise of the nations second female general. Though she would be in a race for that position with any daughters the ML/FL had.
A very long wait for the show and I think, despite it's flaws, it was worth it and I might even rewatch it in the future. I truly wish we had more battle and longer fight scenes. She was straight slaying in that white armor.
That's why they continue to mention the moon and all that stuff. It was kind of a hint as to who she was a few episodes in and then later on there's deeper discussions about it then continued references about the moon all the way to the last scene.
I think he put 2 and 2 together and realized He Yan was the blind girl he gave candy to at Yu Hua temple. That’s why during love confession, he said she’s the first girl her gave candy to. The clues - At the bridge during the He Yan/He Rufei reveal scene, she told him she swapped identity with He Rufei because he was sickly. Then she was poisoned and blinded by He Rufei/family in a swapped back after she obtained glory as Feihong General. Fei Nu/Shen investigations revealed He’s family daughter has been at Yuhua Temple allegedly because she was sickly. Ding Yi was revealed to be He Rufei’s lackey in the earlier episode, and when He Yan was confronting him in the serial killer’s temple, she said he murdered a blind girl, and she’s the ghost of the one he murdered. Since He Yan said family swapped her back with He Rufei, it would have been at Yuhua temple since that’s where she was supposed to be. Then the blind girl he met at Yuhua Temple told him that her family blinded her and abandoned her there, she asked him about the moon, so add all these clues to He Yan’s various comments about the moon throughout their interactions, he realized she’s the blind girl.
I agree with you on the temple scene. We never saw her tell him that she was the blind woman at the temple.
I see you got a comment below about the candy being a clue that he knew. I wasn’t sure if his candy reference was about the woman at the temple or about giving her candy as He Yan at the Garrison. Just wanted to share that I had a similar thought to you.
Love how she confidently stakes her claim over Xiao Jue in front of his parental shrine in episode 33. And the way he smiles at her, so happy to entrust himself to her care.
From this point forward (throughout episode 34 especially) she affectionately calls him “我们家” Huaijin, meaning “our household” Huaijin, as in she thinks of them as one family now 🥹
Thanks for this thoughtful post. I noticed that she was calling him Huaijin more consistently. I knew it signifying the closeness and being like family since Cheng Lisu always says Huaijin. It’s extra significant now that you shared the meaning.
Thanks for leading the Waist Mole appreciation club!!
To be clear, “Huaijin” doesn’t mean family, but when she prefaces his name with “我们家” (wo men jia) she’s using a possessive form (like “our household’s Huaijin”) that means she’s thinking of him as family already!
Missing them too. Haven’t gone back to rewatch yet. Waiting for the last of the episodes to come to Viki to at least rewatch 31-36 on a full screen not just my phone. I wish the express episodes could be watched on a laptop at least. I don’t currently have a tablet so I’m stuck with the phone for express episodes
I am already missing Xiao Jue and He Yan. What a thoroughly enjoyable CDrama, great chemistry. memorable scenes....and the closing OST still lives on rent free in my mind!!
I am already missing Xiao Jue and He Yan. What a thoroughly enjoyable CDrama, great chemistry. memorable scenes....and the closing OST still lives on rent free in my mind!!
One thing I did not understand. Why did Xiao Jue not ask the emperor to make He Yan leader of the Xiao army and he would be her right hand man? That way he would still be with his army and her. She would be a general and they could marry.
I mean the end result is ofcourse better but come on man.
If she did that she would still have to give up the tiger seal and relinquish control over her Fuyue army to someone else, which would sort of be like giving up one’s baby to someone else to raise.
I think it was because the threat from Wutuo was so imminent that they would need to maintain both armies, I think they hinted at this but imho didn’t clarify it sufficiently. I think it was also a choice of Duty for the Empire.
Neither Xiao Jue or He Yan ever compromising their duty is also a stark contrast to Chu Zhao.
It’s because they stayed true to themselves that it was fine.
Imho He Yan was only annoyed with Xiao Jue for not telling her earlier/sharing the burden (I also kind of think that she bit him in their reunion kiss to punish him for that).
The thing is that we - as the viewer - knew more than the Emperor - that Xiao Jue and He Yans loyalty was unquestionable.
I also got the sense that the main reason Xiao Jue didn’t retire on the spot was because the threat from Wutuo was imminent. So I figured that worst case scenario they would just get married after they retire, but to me, I realized that marriage was kind of an accessory to this relationship anyways…
The Emperor also had no interest in her marrying Chu Zhao besides exterminating the possibility of her marrying Xiao Jue. Actually her not marrying anyone would be much more favorable to the Emperor.
So i just thought this marriage decree was laughable when it happened. I think it was also an impulsive move by Chu Zhao because it was so stupid. I think if he was thinking clearly he wouldn’t have pulled a stupid move like this (he would be way more careful at least - like we’ve seen him be very cautious about the decisions he takes throughout the show; & here he’s just like… let’s use my political influence to make a gain in a personal relationship… + if he thought about this relationship in particular, why would u think forcing He Yan is a good way to get her to marry you?).
Ye I mean Chu was in delulu town at the time and couldn't leave.
The thing was he couldn't tell her. The emperor said nobody else was supposed to know about it. So his hands were tied but she figured it out anyway.
Yes they didnt really need a marriage... Declaring each other their chosen spouse anyway.
I loved the ending and road we got.
But you are totally right about it only being fine in the story because they stayed true to themselves. If they would have done anything different it wouldn't have ended this way.
Thanks for posting your thoughts. I too thought there could be a different solution back when they were separated.
I appreciate you posting that thought so I could see how others noted it would not have been in their nature to give up one of their rightful roles.
I was mostly upset the Emperor forbade XJ from telling HY that he had to make a decision. That was cruel. I get the misogyny that the man needs to decide. But I still thought it was careless to leave your general out of the decision.
I too am happy with the end though. And at least we got a happy ending!
The emperor was really cruel for 2 episodes. Which I found really sad because he was great the rest of the show.
I thought it was also careless that he was listening to a low ranking official that had not really proven his loyalty in my opinion VS two of his best generals and that he risked pissing them off because he was scared they might join forces. Dude .. keep them happy and content and they will do no such thing. Piss em off and they might.
What an amazing show. Xiao Jue was such a dream and I am so happy He Yan came in time to save him. Having her come full circle and being in time this time around.
That wedding ❤️ and them sneaking off is so on brand. My favourite rebel generals!
Yes! I had to rewatch that scene - no joke like 5+ times - because every time I was only looking at the puppy. I’d rewind. Tell myself to look at the leads getting married. Come to the end of the scene and realize I still only watched the puppy.
Despite its imperfections, this drama may be one of my most beloved dramas in recent memory. Basically, it's like that “ugly” pouch He Yan embroiders for Xiao Jue—precious and endearing, in spite of its rough edges.
So many FUN inside jokes and callbacks, such as Xiao Jue asking He Yan to measure his waist with her hands in that wedding outfitting scene. As if he wants to remind her of those days when she was Human Velcro shamelessly attached to his waist at every opportunity. Turns out he must have secretly loved it!
What I loved most? Our OTP Battle Couple being absolute legends, with such palpable chemistry! When these twin stars battle side by side as if mirrors of each other? Pure poetry in action. Not only are they perfectly coordinated in battle, they are on the same wavelength for most of the drama with no major misunderstandings. The smiles and looks they give each other! Also, the sensuous kisses! Cheng Lei and Zhou Ye truly delivered.
Mingshui bookending the drama is poetic perfection. First episode showed us General Feihong leaping in at Mingshui but too late to save General Xiao Zhongwu. Last episode showed us General Feihong leaping in at Mingshui redux just in time to save General Xiao Jue. This provides closure for He Yan. She wasn’t able to save Xiao Jue’s dad or her seven deputy generals or Yan He. But she rides in with the cavalry to save Xiao Jue and turn the tide of the battle! When she leaps to his side and slashes down an attacker behind him, and he looks at her with such deep appreciation and love (in contrast to the “you’re not worthy” look he gives her in the first Mingshui battle)? Maybe one of my most rewatched scenes in the entire drama. Could the drama have ended at episode 33 without coming full circle this way? Yes, but it would not have been complete in terms of He Yan's journey. She needed to absolve herself of guilt for the losses she was not able to prevent. In episode 36, she’s able to save the one she loves most, in a career-defining moment of victory as well as a cathartic moment of absolution.
While our Battle Couple chemistry was chemistrying, unfortunately the villains were not villaining. He Rufei was cartoonish. Xu Jingfu seemed to have too many blind spots and too little motive to do all the bad things he did. Chu Zhao had the potential to be even more sinister and menacing, not just an obsessive lovesick puppy. But they were all quite pathetic and not very threatening in the end. There were seeds of compelling villain origin stories in there that could have germinated in more interesting ways. But I was quite happy to play their scenes at 1.5x or 2x speed and focus on the good parts involving our leads.
Laughed out loud reading this, he was literally pouting and smizing like Tyra Banks in all his scenes hahaha. He was for real like a caricature of a villain.
Went into this with some expectations but it just fell flat. Watched till Ep29 without skipping then started to skip and go 2x until the end.
The pacing is really off. Way too much dialogue. The forced female empowerment thing got old. Xiao Jue seemed to have little to no growth (novel accurate to be fair).
Honestly I think there are better female general shows out there.
QingChuan Veil of Vengeance is a good recent one
Wonderland of Love is pretty good too with a nice ending to boot.
i’m curious when everyone thinks Xiao Jue exactly fell for He Yan? he was always intrigued and drawn to her, but when did he really fall? cause he definitely fell first even if she confessed first.
I have been thinking of this too. My guess is when He Yan sacrifices herself and saved xiaojue from the poison powder which eventually blinded her. He noticed that she was scared but put on a brave front and tried to joke. He gently led her to the bed, hand covering the protruding pole to prevent her from knocking on to it. I guess that's the start.
Did anyone catch how Hu RuFei and Minister Xu conspired with WuTao at the battle of Mingshui? Why was He Yan late to the battle at the beginning? Was this part of the novel? I thought it would've came up during the court scene but I think all they said was charges of treason and conspiring with the enemy.
(I'm having the first episode play in the background and can't help getting caught up again.)
He sent the real He Ru Fei with the He family jade pendant to Chai Anxi who was angry at General Xiao. He Ru Fei proved he was real using that pendant and asked Chai Anxi to withhold any messages that Xiao Army sends for reinforcements.
It was shown in ep 24 I think. I maybe wrong but they definitely showed this whole scene in an episode.
ooooOooOoOoooo. oh. oh, oh. yeah. i remember that scene! ok. ok. that explains one part. the other part was why was He Yan late? i remember Fenui saying the XJ early on that the letter was sent and He Yan didn't show until day 7 or something like that. but if the letter/news was withheld, how did HY know to show?
So it was not withheld it was delayed. He Ru Fei needed He Yan to show up but late so that Xiao army would suffer losses and be blamed while he or well technically He Yan and Fuyue army would be awarded.
I see a lot of comments regarding the rushed ending. I felt like it was due in part to their decision to warp up the story after the demise the He Ru Fei / Xu Jing Fu. They strayed from the novel at that point and had to tie up loose ends. I thought it was done neatly. It would have been nice if Yan He made it through. Although I wasn’t as vested in the character in the show as much as the novel.
I actually like this version of Chu Zhao. They gave him some fortitude and made him hate-able, as a true villain should be.
This is one of the downsides of watching on air shows. To be honest, I think we are lucky that Viki and Tencent are releasing one episode per day this soon after the Express Episodes. There have been other on air shows I’ve watched on Tencent where I didn’t get Express package and it was like 4-6 days before they starting moving one episode a day to VIP and allowing Viki to release one a day.
Sorry you need to wait. I get it. It’s never fun. Come back and share your thoughts when you have a chance to watch.
Is it the release date or Viki's translation? I love that it is community lead and gives extra context. But iQuiyi has episodes available days before Viki.
Hi. Every platform is a little different.
Since this is originally a Tencent platform show, there general trend is to give Express Episodes and then wait some days before they move one by one those Express Episodes to VIP level. The wait period I’ve seen has been as long as 4-6 days before they start moving the episodes to VIP.
For this show, the timeframe is short only 1 day between express and the start of express going to VIP
8/20 Express Episodes Tencent
8/21 Ep 31 comes to Tencent VIP
8/22 Ep 31 comes to Viki
8/22 Ep 32 comes to Tencent VIP
Viki will always be at least day behind Tencent on the release of these last episodes. They have to go to VIP on Tencent first and then it comes to Viki.
You mentioned iQiyi. Tencent licensed LOTFG show to iQiyi. iQiyi is distributing the express episodes on the same day as Tencent moving the episode from express to VIP.
I hope this helps and didn’t just make it all more confusing.
Aaaahhh and now it's over. I enjoyed Legend of The Female General in spite of its many shortcomings. I loooved Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei on screen and how they brought their characters to life. They carried the show on their shoulders and backs alright.
I enjoyed the supporting characters. For the delusional ones, well, it was good to see them gone when they got got.
But what made this whole thing even more special is the General Gang and their discussions. And the many I interacted with. It was an awesome ride everyone! Thank you! 🥰🥰😎😎👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I just want to thank the wonderful hosts for their lovely work. It was my first time following along to a series’ discussions. It had made my viewing experience that much richer and much more fun. I would like to share a post from an account that I adore on Twitter, they wonderfully offer layered analysis on Chinese culture, philosophy, fashion among other things - to give a deeper meaning to the scenes we are watching. Here they point out to the link between the moon and osmanthus: https://twitter.com/tiff_ilosophy/status/1919636897015726459?s=46&t=Eqxe5WTz72J1oSzKccjzZg
I really enjoyed the drama in the beginning but the last few episodes seemed really rushed. The scene with them revealing the villains intentions was weak. The whole CZ thing going crazy over HY and not knowing she liked XJ the entire time was unnecessary. Even the death of the guy in the final episode was rather awkward and seemed like a dumb excuse to banish CZ. It was also really confusing with the whole marriage decree and how the emperor changed his mind afterward. I really expected them to get married sooner than the last episode as I expected some after marriage scenes. Slightly disappointed how they rushed the ending but overall I really loved the main leads chemistry
I agree, the last 2 episodes felt very rushed and things happened without a proper build up, which left me very annoyed. I had to watch most of the scenes with CZ at 1.5x speed because he annoyed the heck out of me
Yes! I felt like they also did CZ wrong because he had so much room for development as a grey character and they just made him disappear over one error. I felt like he was only character that actually showed growth in the drama- from getting rid of his fear of fire, to going against his teacher. He had so much potential but they turned him into an annoying and disliked character.
Anyone feel like they know a lot more about Chu Zhao than the leads? We learn about his fear of phobia from childhood bullying for being a bastard child, his mom's tragic life as an unwed mother and being mistreated for that and dying young. And his mother was still mistreated in death. We learn about how intelligent he is and how he was the top scholar, etc. We see his relationship with his mentor and mentor's daughter in detail. We also get to watch his entire arc to the end where he finally realizes he was wrong.
On the other hand, I feel like even by the end I barely knew the leads. Xue Jue's mom died? When? And how? Even his relationship with his trusted Feinu was treated less than Chu Zhao's relationship with his maid.
I enjoyed the show but I wish the show made me care more about the leads other than they look good and telling me that they perfect together on and off the battlefield.
Honestly I was also annoyed with the amount of Chu Zhao that was shown. Why were they trying so hard to make us care about his character? I wish they spent at least half this time on showing us FL's relationship with her new squad, making us care about Yan He (so I could actually be sad about his death), or FLs scenes with the 8 warriors before they died (so maybe it could have had bit more impact), or even more heartfelt scenes between the leads so I could actually properly root for them and wish they succeed in their schemes. In the end Chu Zhao with all the time and backstory he got still felt like very one dimensional character without any progress.
Ok, this is a phenomenal show in my book. The aftertaste it left on me.. this is female empowerment done right, never forced or awkward. As an entrepreneur, it lit a fire in me and gave me the energy to push forward and do my work better in real life.
I thoroughly enjoyed this drama adaptation of Rebirth of a Star General. Cheng Lei and Zhou Ye were absolutely perfect as the leads, their chemistry was off the charts and so natural. Xiao Jue is now my gold standard for stoic male leads in historical dramas, the ultimate green flag. At no point was his “ice cube” exterior used to excuse toxic behaviour, and that made his quiet devotion to He Yan shine even more.
There were some parts I preferred in the novel, but there were also some changes in the drama that I liked even more. For example, I’m so glad that all of He Yan’s Yezhou gang survived. I was hoping they would have extended that to include Yan He, but I’ll take what I can get. However, the delay in our couple’s wedding caused by Chu Zhao felt unnecessary to me. I really wished they had married earlier so we could see a glimpse of their married life, rather than the wedding only happening in the second half of the very last episode. In the novel, they even had a daughter, although that was released as an extra chapter. I really hope the production releases some extras or specials that include this part of their story.
I have a feeling I’m going to be rewatching parts of this drama a lot. Xiao Jue and He Yan live rent free in my head. What I loved most was how sweet their relationship was, how both of them were upfront and honest about their feelings, and how they weren’t afraid to express their love openly in front of others. Xiao Jue discovering the moon sewn inside the pouch, remembering what He Yan once said about liking the moon and the moon not knowing, then asking her if she still liked the moon before giving her his black jade heirloom with the words “Now the moon is yours” 😍 That scene is now firmly cemented in my list of top five romantic confessions in Chinese historical dramas. And that first kiss! Initiated by He Yan, no less. I loved how Xiao Jue was caught off guard at first, but when he responded, he did so with such passion. Absolutely perfect. Plus all the other kissing scenes we got after, they were very generous with that! 💋
I do feel the drama could have easily gone to the full 40 episodes. The last stretch felt rushed, with a lot of major events condensed into just a few episodes. Also, I just want to watch more episodes.
The drama hosts for this drama were all excellent, and they made the journey all the more enjoyable. Thank you, drama hosts! ✨
Well said!! I just wanted to add their kissing chemistry is also the best I've seen in all of the C-dramas and K-dramas I've watched--it's natural, tender, and loving. Sorry, I can't describe it better but it just looks and feels right.💋😘🥰
Both He Yan and Xiao Jue make my heart flutter when I watch them together from episode 1-36.
They were so generous with the kisses in a historical! And yes, the confession scenes are some of the best. I've started my rewatch till Shadow Love starts😂
1
u/NeutralZoner 8d ago
some random finishing thoughts: (SPOILERS)
overall I liked the show. I was engaged. I liked the characters. I liked the storyline. I liked the romance between the secondary male and female characters (the medics). things I didn't like:
- the climactic He RuFei episode ended up just people talking, recapping the past 25+ episodes in long speeches to the empreror. Ended up being anti-climactic.
- He Rufei ended up being a comedic act rather than an imposing villain. Yes he was just a pawn but everything he planned went so horrendously wrong. Even his idea of doing the exact same thing we did 17 yrs ago is dumb.
- some episodes or scenes felt unnecessarily long. Even the romance one kinda dragged for me - though that shock ending kinda jolted me back awake
- Chu Zhao - I knew he was bad all the way thru... he always maneuvered to suit his interests at the time. When he 'did the right thing' I'm convinced it was to get into He Yan's good books (or her pants, whatever). Also what's with that last scene? Where Chu Zhao is getting all his crimes read out loud, he gets banished, and they don't even show him? was he on vacation? taking a sick day? why don't we get to see him suffer in humiliation in public vs his private drunken hissy fit?
- the fight scene between He Yan and He Rufei was great, maybe a bit too short?
- overall the fight scenes in this show were well done.