"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 Yan in any way -- despite the naked experience! 

The show also has the typical love triangle. Chu Zhao (Zhang Kangle) is also the secondary love interest. The love story isn't so direct. Jue is stuck with the dilemma. Would Jue report that he discovered Yan was a woman (and in the most accidental pervert way) or would he fall in love with her? The whole drama is too full of spoilers -- any future posts I'd write about this would have (spoilers) in the title!

For one, this was my "soft return" to Chinese films -- whether it'd be from Taiwan or the Mainland!