"The Female General" Isn't Hua Mulan
I thought I was about to see a Hua Mulan adaptation. Instead, The Female General (锦月如歌, Jǐn yuè rú gē) is another fictional female general named He Yan (Zhou Ye). The story doesn't explicitly follow the Hua Mulan story. It's not about the invading Rourans. Instead, it's a story that your family can be your own worst enemy -- such as when He Rufei is a snake in the grass. He Yan disguises herself as her older brother He Rufei -- something that's actually MORE TRAGIC than Mulan's story. The love interest (and General Shang equivalent) is Xiao Jue (Cheng Lei). What I found kinda stupid is the way that Xiao Jue discovered Yan's true gender. The hot spring incident is directly taken from the Mulan (2009) movie. I even wonder if by any chance did Jue end up touching Yan's private part? Okay, that's kinda gross but it could've happened. Some people discover that Yan is actually a WOMAN as the show goes on. Jue's nobility is kept as he refuses to exploit...