The thread is open. @Kate and I are watching this.
Cast: Ryan Cheng (first time I’m watching a show of his. So far, he doesn’t need to emote anything) and Zhou Ye (her fine features make it hard for me to believe that she’s a battle-hardened general)
Episodes: 8 of 36 episodes are out. The episodes are unusually short, about 35 minutes long.
Start Date: August 6
Airs 2 episodes every day
Where to Watch it: iQIYI, Youtube, Viki (depends on the region)
Genre: A fantasy period cdrama
Two things:
1. The first episode can be a bit confusing to watch because of the editing so let me walk you through it. Spoiler alert.
The story begins in medias res.
We see our heroine, He Yan, plunging into deep waters, and we hear her voice musing on her lack of identity. Ever since she was a child, she was raised to be a substitute for her older stepbrother. She took on his name, He RuFei, and went to academy using his name. She was made to wear a mask to cover her face. She was supposed to “live without recognition and die without a trace.”
We learn later that the reason she was underwater was because she no longer lived in anonymity. She had a) become one of two protégés of a celebrated commander of the Xiao army, b) distinguished herself in numerous battles, and c) risen to the rank of a general at a young age. Her older stepbrother, He RuFei, was no doubt envious of her fame and glory so he came out of seclusion to claim her hard-earned honor for himself. He came to usurp – not a throne – but her military merits. Her very existence presented an obstacle to him.
Thus, he ordered his henchmen to kill her without a trace. (Note: Ordinarily, she would have been difficult to eliminate but her family had earlier poisoned her to make her blind and easy prey to an assassin.)
The plunge in the water was her metaphorical death and rebirth.
Now, her disappearance would have been total had she not decided to go rebuild her new life in the company of an old classmate, Xiao Jue. 😂
Xiao Jue was the son and the other protégé of that illustrious commander of the Xiao army. He and He Yan (using the alias, He RuFei) went all the way back as they were classmates at the same academy. They only went their separate ways when He Yan left the academy early to avoid an arranged marriage (to another girl, lol). She joined the army to carve a name for herself as a formidable warrior.
From all indications, Xiao Jue looked after her when they were in school together because her small stature and fine features made her an easy target for bullies. His father, the commander of the Xiao army, had taken a liking to her because of her diligent effort in school. So he gave her and Xiao Jue a matching pair of swords. He predicted that one day, the two of them would become twin stars of the kingdom of Wei and with their joint forces, they would protect the land and its people.
Unfortunately, Xiao Jue’s father didn’t see his prediction come to pass as he was killed in the battlefield. Though both armies of He Yan and Xiao Jue came to assist his father’s men, they were too late to save him.
Xiao Jue blamed He Yan for his father’s death because she didn’t arrive sooner with her contingency of soldiers despite being in the vicinity. Without waiting to hear her explanation for her tardiness, he took away He Yan’s sword, saying she wasn’t worthy of the sword.
He Yan wanted to show up at the Emperor’s court to speak in defense of her mentor, Commander Xiao, and to explain the situation. But out of the blue, her stepbrother appeared at their ancestral home and declared that he, rather than He Yan, would attend the royal court. He was stepping in, and taking over his identity and He Yan’s life’s work.
2. From Episode 2 to 8 (so far), the focus of the story is Ye Han’s amazing skills that blew everyone away in Xiao Jue’s recruitment camp.
It’s really been fun to watch her conquer her peers, one man at a time, given her expertise in weapons and combat, while pretending to be an untrained recruit. Of course, Xiao Jue wasn’t fooled one bit and suspected her of being a spy.
The title “legendary” comes from the heroic feats she accomplished during recruitment camp. However, her epic skills are also a “plot armor.” As the heroine of the cdrama, she always survives dangerous situation (e.g., poison, blindness, hired assassin, stabbing, falling off a cliff, drowning, wolf attack, etc.) and never loses a fight, even with Xiao Jue himself. She has a plot armor so thick and so strong that she’s like a caricature of a superhero.
Others may find this plot device irritating, but me, I find it relaxing because I don’t have to stress out about her fate.
Loose ends:
Question: When does Xiao Jue realize that she’s a female?
Answer: Early. Thank goodness! I dislike it when the story drags this gender secret. However, I don’t know when he’ll realize her other secrets: like their school relationship and her family ties.
Question: Is there a love rival?
Answer: Yes. And he’s a cutie. He discovers she’s female at their second meeting because he’s fallen for her. I’m actually looking forward to his love angle (more so than the male lead’s, I must admit) because his feelings for her will come into conflict with his life ambition/revenge secret.
Question: Is this a melodrama?
Answer: No. I don’t think so. It’s not comedy but isn’t angsty either. The fight scenes are entertaining to watch.
@Packmule3 – thank you! This is a really helpful introduction. It has filled in one plot hole for me. The narrative back and forth is a little confusing and I have re-watched the first episodes to get everything clear.
I am a bit frustrated not to know why the forces of He Rufei were delayed but will be patient.
I’ll try to comment generally without revealing too much.
I was also surprised and relieved about the early, pleasantly abrupt realization for our ML that his precocious trainee is a woman. .
Like you, I prefer my heroes and heroines well-armoured for any contingency.
The other love interest is indeed a cutie! I am trying to work out how his character will evolve.
I have been thinking, too, about the casting of the FL – and wondering if the production was – very broadly- inspired to cast her by the example of the equally petite Zhao Li Ying in ‘Princess Agents’. In that drama, the lead female operates powerfully in the martial arts world and defends herself with her bare hands in a key scene involving animals. ‘Legend of the Female General’ takes this up a notch with that excellently choreographed mountain scene with our FL in rescue mode against the odds (trying not to spoil here!) and I really liked the action sequence and then the moments of quiet , raw vulnerability when comfort comes from an unexpected source and we see another aspect of the FL. She’s had a tough life and seeks warmth where she can.
@Monmor is also watching and @Welmaris has started so I hope we can enjoy together.
@Kate,
Spoilers are fine. We can’t discuss the drama well without spoilers anyway.
From Ep 1,
It appears to me that the 2nd male lead (Mr Chu?) is only using the Minister as means to his yet-undisclosed end.
He told his maid that he intentionally injured his left arm/wrist for the Minister. To me that could mean he was avoiding compliance or an order from the Minister and he was using the injury as his excuse. Or he thought he could use his injury to ingratiate himself with the Minister.
Either way, his loyalty to the Minister is only transactional.
His feelings for Ye Han will probably end up stronger than his fealty to the Minister. Which bodes well for our story.
To be continued later. Have to do other write-ups. 🙂
“@PC3, “find it relaxing bec I dont have to worry”, I am with you there. The pleasure of genre. To that point I see the trope “we can build a better army with guys from the gutters”.
Here’s a question, is there something I dont know about scary wolves in gaming imagery? Those bulky butch CG wolves dont look slinky at all. Is it gaming traditions, or some sort of mythology…it worked well with also that common heroic trick for surviving cold nights while lost or wounded.
@Kate
Me, too. Why were the forces delayed? Ambushed in a pass? Spy in the camp? Request for help intercepted? Flooded out at a near by river? Rain? Grain shortages?Snow in the mountain passes? All the soldiers had diarhea? I am sure I am missing some possibilities.?Held up at the previous battle?😁
@PM3 Thank you for the thread.
@Ibisfeather is also watching.
The “better army” being an underdog move.
@kate
The male lead did not seem to understand why she drew the wolf close. I like your understanding of it as a metaphor as well as a practical way to deal with being cold.
One further thought. The ML has not needed to emote much with the FL – I am assuming that is what you mean @Packmule3 in the introductory comments.
I am enjoying this tsundere behaviour and hidden smiles etc but I am also hopeful of us seeing much more of his range based on that very early battle and follow up sequence where he ran the whole gamut of grief and anger due to the loss of his father. The restraint works well at the moment that said – and the FL is very much the cheeky proactive one in terms of the boundary lines!
The second love interest is more open in his attentions which makes him very attractive in that key scene with the dance and flute etc and then of course Mr ML makes that rather charming gesture too recognising an unexpected rival. And the playing field is set out for all to see!
I am reposting the same comment @Packmule after I posted with another name.
I’ll post away freely. Thank you.
Your comment re the 2 ML is helpful because I have watched too many C-dramas where a charming character morphs into a toxic antagonist with an at all costs plan! I am hopeful this will not be the case now because I want to like him.
@Monmor,
My mind has been racing like that as well. My guess is that the key reveal will involve some bad character and plot. We will have to wait.
Have already started watching the entire opening credits without FF-ing. Gets me in the mood.
For me this practice only occurs as a sign that I have already fallen in love with the series.
One of the pleasures of watching on-air at viki with its song lyric translations.
ps.On viki east coast US I am only at ep4, until this pm when 2 more will load.
oops, the viki gods heard me and dropt at 8:30
@Kate,
I like the sword dance scene because of the contrast between her two admirers.
Mr Chu had great situational awareness. He realized that Ye Han lost her concentration and momentum and the crowd was beginning to heckle. So he stepped in and played his flute of his own volition. He wanted to help her from the sidelines even though they were still strangers to each other. He was concerned for her.
Xiao Jue is different because he was amused by her audacity to dance in front of a crowd. He didn’t mind rattling her. He was testing her when he threw the rose at her. I don’t think it entered his head to worry about her; he was THAT confident of her ability to extricate herself from tight spots.
@Packmule,
I liked that scene too – have re-watched a few times! I like the way too you have highlighted the contrast here.
Mr Chu has been putting 2 and 2 together with far less evidence than Xiao Jue and is more of the traditional pursuer. He is so bright and quick on the uptake and has been connecting the various appearances of the FL in different guises.
Xiao Jue’s response makes him very appealing in a more electric way. I enjoyed the debonair elegance of the rose thrown into her line of vision!
Worthy opponents.
@Packmule3 and others watching this, does anyone else wonder about the true identity of the male heir of the He family who suddenly appears, hale and hearty, after being sidelined his entire childhood? We’re told the real He Ru Fei had been sent to be raised at a temple due to a weak constitution. There do not seem to be any other male heirs in that line of the He family. Forcing a female to masquerade as a male her entire youth may have been the family’s attempt to survive politically. If the clan appeared to have no long-term future, they might have been pushed aside politically.
From what we briefly see of the father of He Yan, he lacks empathy and is unabashedly Machiavellian. His female child is only appreciated for her usefulness to him; when she’s no longer useful, she can be eliminated. Did he, not having a proper male heir, use her as a place holder until he found a surrogate son acceptable to him. In fact, his daughter, aware of her years as a substitute, became a liability, potentially revealing the truth.
@Kate, although the FL is small in stature, I’m willing to believe she became physically tough because it was either that or succumb to the abuse. In a battlefield, could small stature be an advantage to someone nimble, strong, strategic, and who possesses endurance?
This show confuses me on a number of things, and I hope that confusion is addressed in the script. Why is everyone out to eliminate Xiao Jue and the Xiao army? I have no doubt the ambush that lead to the death of Xiao Zhong and 30,000 of his men was a setup. If Xiao Jue has to rebuild the Xiao army and retake lost territory without support from the court, why is Magistrate Sun on the hook for failing to provide expected funding and provisions? Why do some characters have not one, not two, but three names (e.g. Xiao Jue, Xiao Huai Jin, General Fengyun).
Okay, about my last question: I queried Google about the use in Chinese culture of courtesy names. Now I understand better why on one occasion He Yan quipped to General Fengyun that she only had one name. In her guise of army recruit from a common background, there weren’t occasions where she’d need to be addressed formally and respectfully. Also, it now makes more sense to me that the penalty she levied on the recruits she bested in archery and spear contests was to have them address her as Boss.
@Welmaris,
Good point re He Rufei. Just re-watched the point where the FL is introduced to her brother. ‘When you came with your Mother – when you were three he was recuperating at the temple due to his congenital frailty.’ The show is signalling that much has happened before the FL even joined the family aged 3. Who was her biological father?
We also see the barely concealed misery of her mother when the FL returns from war before the big talk about her future.
There may be even more rottenness in this family than we are currently aware of. No doubt there is!
Re the FL’s physique – I am more concerned about her stature persuading others that she was actually a man. I get that she can build strength and resilience etc I thought she looked rather out of place, shall we say, in those early flashbacks to her life as a young general.
On another note, to @Packmule’s point, she does have beautiful porcelain skin and there the show is sacrificing realism for idol romance. Yes she was wearing a mask the whole time but you would expect military life to have given her a slightly more battle-worn look. She occasionally gets a bit muddied but mostly looks pristine and glowing!
Re Xiao Jue – I am also puzzled about the timing of the Que City flooding which is attached to Xiao Jue by various characters. That is one reason that people justify having him killed off. But when did this flooding happen and what is the evidence for his involvement? The second ML is part of the anti-Xiao Jue narrative. He reports that he has monitored XJ and that this is what XJ has done. Has he been misled or is he misleading for his own purposes? He is certainly not concerned now about proxy attempts on Xiao Jue’s life.
All that being said, someone is making strategic use of identity confusion in this narrative so perhaps the XJ who carried out the flooding was not indeed XJ.
Another theory re He Rufei. Perhaps He Yan was the sacrificial pawn sent to fight to protect the perfectly healthy but valued male heir. The congenital illness was a ruse.
He Rufei for whom much has been sacrificed is now a spoiled and entitled male who expects the world to revolve around him and may also resent the fact that he has had to be hidden away.
Intrigueing questions
Either on screen or in a recap I read the relationship is said to be one of stepsiblings. To add to the confusion. Also the mother declined to go and talk to her daughter despite the maid’s encouragement. So it is possible she is not even her parents’ child or this reflected the mother’s feelings about the situation. Perhaps her father married her mother so he could use her as a substitute heir. And yes I wondered how a sickly child at birth now shows up so hale and hearty. Is he really the son?
The second male lead-what is his agenda? Is he working for the prime minister who spoke to XJ in the punishment rain scene {it is always raining in these scenes}, telling him he had permission to go to yengshou but he would be given no soldiers.
I was surprised at the mass murder scene–I have noticed these type of scenes in recent cdramas. Here though it had a clear purpose in the narrative.
Is magistrate Sun worried his ledgers will reveal something about the prime minister’s possible corruption?
I am finding my reaction to her interesting. When normally I would be fearful for the FL in certain situations, here I recall that she is as trained as the ML in fighting and strategy. Dovetails with her statement that women can chose to be strong and able to defend themselves, a something along those lines.
And why does her father not have more sons? Does he have concubines? The usual trope would be to have more wives in order to have more sons.
Comments on adventures at the House of Magistrate Sun – smoke and mirrors and grotesque reveals.
On the negative side – for my personal taste there was a bit too much going on overall. Too ornate a plot. There were the very publicly botched attempted assassinations and the He Ru Fei’s servant/assassin creeping around – very obviously – trying to kill the FL while she maintained the pretence of blindness. The hidden ledgers. Mutterings and whisperings. Then the grotesque discovery of bodies.
It all felt a bit much to me in terms of competing storylines
But I did enjoy the way the show used all this and played with the second bout of temporary blindness (how absurd really!) to bring the ML and FL together in plot-created closeness.
XJ could be tender towards HY because of the role she was playing and it was lovely to see the barriers coming down albeit in controlled conditions.
We also had a re-run of them bathing together in different circumstances! LOL. XJ retained his cool despite having the FL at very close quarters in the bath. I loved the timing of his final comment … ‘Get out!’… after she was getting too used to this type of proximity! She has brought up as a man so has some social boundary issues and is instinctively at ease with XJ because she trusts him. She knows what sort of man he is from her time with him at the academy etc
Then there was the revenge by the FL on her assassin and the reveals there to the listening XJ. I am sure he was not thrown off the track by her rather too smiling reassurance that she was merely ‘in the moment’. He has some evidence now of a significant backstory and motivation for the FL.
All good – I just hope the plot avoids getting too busy in future episodes.
@Welmaris Thank youfor the info about courtesy names being not used for lower classes. I have been wondering about it bec it is such a pain to memorize two for one character.
So now I guess there is more to learn about pragmatics in the use of them? Within family?
Ep 10 onwards
Another small point – a direct comparison between the 2 MLs. The conversation about the female victims takes place twice in quick succession. Mr Charming 2 ML reveals his ruthless need to focus on the plan. Mr Brusque also tells the FL in another conversation that he will not change direction.
Both men are challenged by their female colleagues to take seriously this gross crime against women.
It is XJ who takes action despite his apparent reluctance in the face of the FL’s arguments. Given the way he plays his cards close to his chest it is most likely already part of his plan and he is simply testing her determination here. She contributes significantly too with her insights into the wealth of the victims and men attending the tax related meal.
Either way, we get deep insights into the under the surface quality of both prospective suitors and – of course – the strategic brilliance of XJ in managing to achieve his goals while handling the apparent inconvenience of the murders together with his compassion.
The partnership between FL and ML bodes well and they know it by now.
ep7. sword dance. So far, who has realized she is a woman: Wang Jue, because of the missing breastband, Dr. Cheng, because he is a gynecologist masquerading as an army surgeon to escape his betrothed, and now Zu Chao, who put together her three disguises and pulls out as real her physical form as a dancer (technically could be the reverse?).
Is there anyone else? the spy? Lei Zhou? Her best short buddy in the goofy gang? I feel as though I missed someone…
The assassin? but he knows for different reasons.
You mean Ding, the chancellors man? What reasons?
oh, right, he was the assassin when she was blind before…
such a cliffhanger ep.8
Ding Yi is He Rufei’s bodyguard and hired assassin Who tried to kill her when she was at the Temple. He was borrowed for the trip to the Magistrate’s
@ibisfeather,
As of Ep 7, Dr Cheng hasn’t figured out that she’s a woman. He only made that joke about being a gynecologist.
Only two men know her sex.
1. Xiao Jue as of Ep 4. Because she rested against him while they were riding on a horse.
2. Chu Zhao as of Ep 7. Because of the sword dance.
Two men however think she and Xiao Jue are in a gay relationship.
1. The spy recruit Lei Hou
Because he was lurking outside XJ’s chambers. He told FeiNu afterwards that he didn’t expect that sort of thing in the camp. 😂😂
2. XJ’s bodyguard, FeiNu
That’s why FeiNu wanted to share a room with her in the inn, and warned her not to go anywhere at night. 😂 He thought she’d sneak into XJ’s room and pester XJ.
@Ibisfeather,
Ding, who was He Rufeu’s personal bodyguard re-assigned temporarily to work for the Yezhou magistrate and assassinate XJ, only recognized who He Yan was when she told him.
In their last fight scene in Ep 9 in that creepy crypt with the statues and buried corpse, He Yan taunted him that she was a vengeful ghost that no icon could restrain in the underworld. Then she slashed his eyes, and reminded him that he once killed a blind woman.
Ding then called out her name in surprise. “He Yan!” She asked him why he was trying to kill XJ. When he refused to betray his boss, she slit his throat.
This scene in Ep 9 is good exposition (but a confession trope) because:
a. XJ confirmed that her name was indeed He Yan.
b. XJ realized that she was blind before.
c. XJ heard her tell Ding that she cared for him and was loyal to him because they were “companions who survived life-and-death situations together.” He wouldn’t know what she meant by that. But since she said it with such conviction, he would take her word for it.
Of course, she tried to downplay it later.
@Welmaris,
What I’m seeing is a pattern. The fathers gave preferential treatment to their heirs, not the spares.
The He father hid his supposedly “fragile” son in the temple.
General Xiao sent XJ to military school bec the older son was more artistically inclined.
The Yezhou magistrate spoiled his only son rotten.
Mr. Chu was looked down on by his relative because his mother was a single mom and his uncle (that is, his mother’s brother) only adopted him.
He Yan isn’t the biological child of Mr. He. She and her mother entered his household when she was 3 years old. Like Mr Chu, she was “adopted” by Mr He.
When she was a general, she certainly had endurance. But she was stabbed and she fell off the cliff. After a month of being in a coma, she wasn’t 100% back to her true form so at the recruitment camp, she tired easily, dropped her long spear, couldn’t pull the bowstring back, etc. It would all come back to her.
I think I’ll have to open threads for this cdrama according to missions.
Too lazy to edit.
How did XJ discover that He Yan was female?
He Yan had fallen down a hole with the wolf. She removed her chest binding and used it as tourniquet for her bleeding arm.
When she rested against XJ, he discovered she had the “Samantha and Rachel” twins in front of her. (lol. Remember that line from “Business Proposal”?)
It is the sense of the two of them building something new and strong after both being betrayed and having their lives left in tatters, that really appeals to me in the narrative.
She is truly his equal and will stand beside him in battle as a fellow general.
He is not her mentor, saviour or a prized military husband, but his equal in strength as a top general.
I really enjoyed how she used that whip!
I am so looking forward to when he realizes who she is and that, as he rufei, she did not betray him in the past.
The 2 swords that his father conferred on them auger well For their future.
Oh fei nu! Thanks pc3, that is exactly the innuendo I vaguely remembered.
Dr.Chengs joke? Will have to go back. I really missed that one.
During the mass murder plotline in this show, I almost expected a familiar forensic scientist to make an appearance; alas, we were not treated to a crossover with The Coroner’s Diary.
@Kate, although you find this FL’s battle worthiness suspect due to her small physique, there are female warriors in this, and other recent Cdramas: they’ve been relegated to undercover missions. The existence of female bodyguards and assassins implies there is martial arts training available to women, if covert. He Yan wants to come out of the shadows, serve openly, and be judged according to her skills.
@Welmaris,
Yes I don’t disagree with any of that. That is the joy of this show. Coming into her own. In fact, I have said that elsewhere. She is certainly battle worthy as we can see as the episodes unfold.
I simply did not think that she would persuade others of being a man in those very early battle scenes. She didn’t have the look or stature of a male general.
@kate @welmaris
Even though she has the intelligence and warrior ability to be a general, I have to keep reminding myself that she is disguised as a male. I find myself looking at her clothes And thinking about How clothes make the man, because she is very girly to me. For me , it has to be suspension of disbelief.
I think it was good that he realizes she is a woman as early as he did, which surprised me.
She was coming across as flirtatious in her interactions with him. No wonder there was suspicion of a g** relationship.
This was partly why I had to keep reminding myself she is supposed to be male.
Maybe she can be more convincing as a general when leading troops, as she would have been with her own army in the past, I would imagine.
If she were more masculine in appearance, the narrative would lose opportunity to show the many times she is demeaned as a fighter, for example, in the scene with the tribe general before she whips him.
Background to the feminine appearance. The popularity of the bridal carry and the excessive height difference betw. FL/ML has meant an entire decade of female star actresses being selected from a pool of shorties.
So much talent wasted. And very little choice if you are a writer/director/casting director. The standard FL needs must be attractive and the pool to choose from have baby faces and are dwarfish overall.
I go with MM and the kindly tolerant suspension of belief on our part.
@IF I had a similar thought- that there may not be many actresses of taller height And larger frame to Choose from.
We also need to suspend our disbelief That the other soldiers would not at least wonder if she is a woman. I guess they are of the mindset that she must have passed the physical just the way they did.
I wonder if there is some kind of AncienEnt chinese herb that can suppress a woman’s cycles? Her appearance gives her away.But what about The rest of her biology?
ep.9
very nice fight.
beyond modern red mole flirtation. j’adore the ML, but poor thing, he has met his equal. So much for debonaire.
I find it interesting that many of their interactions have to do with water. He saved her from falling into the pond When she was blind and ding yi was attempting to set her up to drown.
There are the hot springs and the bath as @IF mentions. And I think another instance of rescue related to water.
The symbolic use of the moon is notable in the scenes where she is staying in a small room next to his.
mmmmm, MM. I am feeling the rain, such downpours….
Falling in love = falling into water? no, more like…AS pc3 said, rebirth in the primordial waters.
but still, a feeling of emotion, deep emotion. love it.
back to ep.10, i will never be done at this rate.
@ IF Water can symbolize so much, Including femininity.
Plot points on which I’ve had to suspend disbelief:
–No questions surface from members of General Feihong’s army when the switch between He Yan and the real He Rufei takes place, even when there’s marked differences between them in personality, voice, height, and physique. Aren’t there others in General Feihong’s army who worked closely with He Yan, or were they conveniently killed in the same battle that ended the life of Xiao Zhong Wu (who, if he was a general worthy of his rank, would have noticed, had he lived, the changes in He Rufei).
–Almost everyone judges people by their appearance, which means a change in clothing and hairstyle is enough to make someone incognito.
–Elaborate hairstyles can be arranged quickly and perfectly with no help, when going undercover requires a costume change.
–A stealth outfit is always on hand when needed, even when traveling.
–If a portion of a face is covered by an eye mask, a sheer veil, or a kerchief over the mouth, the wearer will become unrecognizable even to those who should know him/her well.
As for the question about how He Yan can pass as a man despite physical challenges of the female body, such as monthly cycles, I wish we were given an answer. She would likely have begun menstruating during her years at the academy, where only males were students. I can’t recall how this issue was dealt with, or if it was addressed, in the Kdrama Sungkyunkwan Scandal. If a female engages in long-term strenuous physical activity, like elite gymnastics, their hormones may be affected and their cycles naturally suppressed.
@welmaris I wondered , too if the strenuous life of a soldier might have suppressed her cycles. I also wondered above if there was an ancient herb that could suppress cycles.
Often generals have maids or servants of some sort. Did she? It would have been risky for anybody to know. I was imagining someone Helping her who might have been with her and kept it secret.
I don’t think I have seen such practicalities addressed in any Drama with cross dressing.
@welmatis😃 At all the points you brought up where suspension of belief is needed.
I’ve opened other threads for this cdrama for specific episodes if you wish to avoid spoilers here on this general thread.
But it’s okay, too, if you continue the discussions here. Do whatever is convenient for you. 🙂
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Thank you @Packmule – appreciated!
Hi! I think this might be the right place for another gender comment. The voice actors just showed up on the mdl listing.
Most of the prominent men have VAs (probably common in hist.cdramas, but not Cheng Lei/Ryan Cheng.
He Yan and Song Tao have voice actors, so the annoying breathy so-feminine voices which completely contradict He Yan’s disguises make me feel better about Zhou Ye’s acting and really mad at whoever makes these decisions.
That said I dont know how much longer I can take the pony-tail tossing cuteness. Soon she will be pinching a fold of his sleeves and swaying back and forth while looking at Cheng Lei sideways?
@ibisfeather,
Who’s Cheng Lei? Did you mean the nephew/Dr Cheng LiSu?
If I remember the details correctly, the original actor who was playing the doctor was involved in a dispute after his car accident so he had to replaced by the current actor. Since filming was already done (or mostly done), the new actor’s face had to be edited graphically into the scenes by AI and some of his scenes cut out.
Or something like that.
The news creeped me out. Can you imagine what havoc that kind of technology can do in real life? You can be digitally inserted into any location (say, a crime scene) without your knowledge or your consent. 🤦🏼♀️
@monmor, HY’s menses is discussed briefly in Episode 15. She shrugs, and says she’s managed it for so many years while posing as a man that she’s used to it. No cramps? No inconvenient surprises? No difficulties managing hygiene? She really must be a wonder woman!
Episode 16 spoiler
There’s a scene in Episode 16, played for humor (at first) that has many elements of our leads as a wedding pair: bright red of HY’s dress, bridal chamber, and red veiling. The tone turns serious after a stumble lands XJ on top of HY…but of course someone barges into the room to break the mood.
@welmaris I’m not there yet but it’s good to know the show at least thinks of addressing the issue.
You addressed it much better.😁
Let me open a thread tonight for eps 16 onwards. I know what to call his-and-her missions because XJ clearly outlined them.
Hi @pc3 — Cheng Lei is Ryan Cheng’s real name, the ML actor.
Me too on the creepy new possibilities of life in the 21st C. Is Pandora’s box the right metaphor?
I like the new actor who now plays Dr. Cheng Li Su though.
I always get confused that all the bad things fly out of the box but Hope alone stays behind. Are those young people now in the midst of all these changes sure that they know better and that nothing bad could ever happen to THEM — are they a good parallel for that silly girl? I dont know honestly, but hope for the best.
Catastrophizing is both the weakness and the weary strength of the old.
It’s good to keep in mind that XJ and HY’s missions aren’t random but are organized to build their relationship.
It must be noted that XJ’s missions are military-related while HJ’s missions are focused on a) helping XJ rebuild the Xiao army and repel attacks on him, and b) regaining her “couple” sword which XJ took away from her when she failed to arrive in time to rescue his father.
Here’s the link.
Legend of the Female General: The Missions
I wrote about my thoughts on the moon on a separate thread so I could update more conveniently.
Link: Legend of the Female General: The Phases of the Moon
Okay, I’m back. Just give me time to get over this jetlag. I think I stopped at Ep 21.