Introduction
Legend of the Female General presents a Chinese historical drama with a strong and independent female lead, a captivating romance, and elements of action, intrigue, and critiques about societal issues in the time period.
This is the first of four recap articles in this series.
Drama Info
Drama title: Legend of the Female General (Native title: 锦月如歌 )
Alternative title: Jin Yue Ru Ge
Genres: Historical, Romance, Drama, War
Aired: Aug 1, 2025 - Aug 6, 2025 - Aug 20, 2025
Episodes: 36 | Duration: 35 min.
Director: Jeffrey Chiang ( 蒋家骏 )
Screenwriters: Chang Ye ( 长夜 ) and Feng Shu Wen ( 冯舒雯 )
~~ Adapted from the web novel "Rebirth of a Star General"(重生之女将星) by Qian Shan Cha Ke (千山茶客).
Where to read English translation novel: lazygirltranslations
Where to watch: WeTV, iQiyi, Viki, iFlix, Tencent Video
OST: Full album (fan audio - English sub)
Trailer:
Synopsis
When the He Family’s noble standing is at risk, He Yan, the oldest daughter, is forced to adopt the identity of her brother He Ru Fei, the family’s firstborn son. While attending school, He Yan meets Xiao Jue, an aspiring scholar, and the two develop a friendship. However, He Yan decides to join the military to fight on the battlefield. She becomes a celebrated general, and returns home to her family – only to find that the real He Ru Fei has returned, and he wants “his identity” back. He Yan manages to escape, joining the military in a new city and vowing her revenge. There, she reunites with Xiao Jue, but he suspects her of being a spy. Can she and Xiao Jue rebuild their trust – and help He Yan achieve her goals? (Source: Viki)
Characters
Character Chart
Main Characters
Zhou Ye ( 周也 ) as He Yan / He Ru Fei / General Feihong
Due to family pressure, He Yan disguised himself as his frail stepbrother He Rufei from a young age. After entering the military camp in male attire, he achieved numerous victories and was eventually appointed as the Flying Swan General by the court. Once He Rufei’s recovered, their identities returned to their original states, but He Rufei conspired to kill He Yan to cover up the truth.
After she was saved, He Yan returned to the military training ground, determined to break the shackles of fate. She donned male attire and rejoined the army, gradually establishing her reputation thru her past military experience and resilient character.
Ryan Cheng / Cheng Lei ( 丞磊 ) as Xiao Jue / Xiao Huai Jin / General Feng Yun
Xiao Jue is the favored second son of the Xiao family. He appears cold on the outside but is gentle on the inside.
Together with He Yan, he challenges treachery and cunning, defends against foreign enemies, and protects the country.
Supporting Characters
Chu Zhao / Zi Lan (Zhang Kang)
Prime Minister Xu Jing Fu’s disciple.
Chu Zhao is a young and promising inspector, elegant and well-mannered. He is in love with He Yan, and he is good at scheming. He is at ease in the turbulent court.
Song Tao Tao (Zhang Miao Yi)
Song Taotao was born into a family of doctors. She is frank and bright, dares to love and hate. She was very fascinated with poisons and wanted to compile a medical book on poisons that can be passed down to future generations. Because of her passion, she was once dubbed a “venomous woman”.
Song Taotao’s marriage to Cheng Li Su was arranged by their parents, but she refused and ran away. Probably it’s fated, because incidentally she met the fiancé she ran away from.
Cheng Li Su (Li Qing)
Cheng Lisu is gifted and has superb medical skills. He once studied under the chief of the Imperial Hospital. He seems to be unreliable, but he is decisive when things happen and knows how to adapt to changes in times of crisis.
He also occasionally gives some advice to his uncle Xiao Jue on emotional matters, but when it comes to himself, he is just not enlightened and has not yet realized that he has fallen in love with Song Taotao.
He Ru Fei (Bai Shu)
The eldest son of the family, He Rufei, was born weak and was predicted to die before the age of three. In his youth, He Rufei’s identity was replaced by He Yan, who entered the Xianchang Hall to study under the name of “He Rufei”.
After he reached a deal with Prime Minister Xu Jingfu, He Rufei planned to murder He Yan and steal the identity of “General Feihong”.
Yin Xiang (Rao Jia Di)
As Chu Zhao’s guard, she is cold and taciturn, but she has a delicate heart. Against the backdrop of the undercurrents in Yezhou Guard, she guarded Chu Zhao with her keen alertness. She was quick in action on the battlefield, but showed a gentle side in private.
Recaps Episodes 1 to 6
Episode 1
This is the backstory of how He Yan’s identity was robbed.
He Rufei was the eldest son of the He family. He had a younger sister named He Yan, who was said to be recuperating at Yuhua Temple. From the time she could remember, He Yan always appeared in front of people as a boy wore a mask.
Although she was a girl, He Yan wielded her sword against the enemy on the battlefield of war, smoke, and the sea of corpses and blood. From an unknown soldier to the invincible General Feihong, creating endless glory and achievements for the He family.
In the 20th year of Qingyuan of the Great Wei Dynasty, Uto invaded the Great Wei again. Emperor Chengping ordered Xiao Zhongwu, the commander of the Xiao family army and the general who had won a great victory over Uto five years ago, to lead the army to meet the enemy. However, during the decisive battle on the Ming River battlefield, 30,000 Xiao soldiers were ambushed. He Rufei led the Fuyue army to arrive one step late. Xiao Zhongwu died in battle. His son Xiao Jue resented He Rufei and snatched the Qinglang sword from He Rufei’s hand. It was the famous sword that his father Xiao Zhongwu had given her.
The battle scene was quite epic!
He Yan returned in triumph and was introduced by his father to his brother, whom he had never met before, the real He Rufei. His father wanted He Yan to change back to being a girl, and He Rufei to return to his position and inherit the title. Xiao Zhongwu led his troops to a defeat, and 30,000 soldiers died at Mingshui. The court officials impeached Xiao Zhongwu for his military recklessness. Emperor Chengping ordered the Xiao family to bury Xiao Zhongwu as a commoner, and stripped the Xiao family of their right to lead troops.
Xiao Jue, as General Fengyun, knelt down in the hall to plead for his father. Emperor Chengping summoned General Feihong into the hall, but He Rufei claimed that there was no hidden story, and completely confirmed the fact that Xiao Zhongwu had worked hard to attack from afar and exhausted his troops. Xiao Jue lost his mind and swung his sword in the hall, splitting He Rufei’s mask. Under the mask was the real He Rufei.
After Xiao Jue was beaten twenty times, he took the initiative to ask for permission to lead troops to Que City to recover the lost land. He was willing to sign a military order and vowed not to return until the lost land was recovered. Although Emperor Chengping approved his request, he would not send him a single soldier. Xiao Jue made up his mind to clear his father’s name.
He Yan was drugged and blinded by his father and brother, and sent to Yuhua Temple, where the He family left her to fend for herself. This was not enough. He Rufei ordered his guard to kill his sister. Unexpectedly, Xiao Jue appeared halfway and saved He Yan. He Rufei tried to kill her again, his guard stabbed her and pushed her off the cliff into the water.
He Yan was not destined to die, and was rescued by a master called Liu Buwang, who also cured her eyes. From then on, she would only be He Yan and cut off her ties with the He family. She was determined to rejoin the army and take back everything that belonged to her in a fair and just manner. At that time, Xiao Jue was recruiting and training soldiers. He Yan changed back into men’s clothing and rode to the recruitment site.
Episode 2
Liu Buwang had prepared a male household registration for He Yan to join the army. However, she still needed to pass the physical selection. Luckily, it happened that the horse treated by Cheng Lisu, the chief disciple of the Taiyuan Hospital, was frightened and ran around the military camp with him. She saved Cheng Lisu, who fell from the horse, and then controlled the horse. However, Xiao Jue recognized that He Yan’s method of taming horses was unique to the Fuyue Army. He suspected that she was He Rufei’s spy, but he remained silent. The instructor recognized that He Yan was good at taming horses, so he chose her right away without further examination. Xiao Jue ordered his subordinate to investigate He Yan’s background thoroughly.
He Yan’s background was investigated and found to be authentic. She was familiar with the rules of getting up early in the army and was obviously a soldier. However, her performance in daily training was very poor. He Yan had been seriously injured and poisoned, which had almost exhausted her foundation. Her current physical strength and aptitude were not as good as others. Xiao Jue was very curious whether she was pretending or not.
To recuperate, He Yan left the tent in the middle of the night and found a hot spring to soak in. Unexpectedly, another person also came to soak in the hot spring, and he was Xiao Jue!
Episode 3
Xiao Jue and He Yan fought in the hot spring, since she didn’t want him to see her. It was not until He Yan went ashore and put on her clothes that Xiao Jue recognized her. After fighting with He Yan yesterday, Xiao Jue knew that she was by no means a novice. Although her physical strength was poor, her moves were smooth and flowing. Xiao Jue was determined to catch He Yan off guard.
Xiao Jue threw a bait at He Yan about the Nine Banner Battalion founded by the old Marshal Xiao. The Battalion was full of elites, wearing majestic black armor. The bait was that the Battalion would select the best soldier from the recruits every year to fill the spot. He Yan speculated that Xiao Jue wanted to lure her into the trap.
Episode 4
Instructor Shen Han announced that they would compete for the flags on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, that is, 15 flags would be planted on the entire White Moon Mountain. These recruits were divided into different teams. The team that got the most flags within the specified time would win, and the military pay and military points would be doubled.
Before the flag-snatching began, each team had to patrol the mountains first. He Yan’s teammate encountered a pack of wolves. She rode her horse to rescue her teammate and let him ride back to the camp. She stayed alone to deal with the pack of wolves and fell into a mountain corner. He Yan’s left arm was bitten by a wolf, and she took off the chest-binding strap and tied it to the wound. She hugged the dead wolf’s body to keep warm, waiting for the rescue.
Seeing that no one went into the mountains to rescue He Yan, Xiao Jue personally went into the mountains to rescue her. The terrain in the mountains was very complicated. Knowing that He Yan could not come up by herself, he put down the rattan and pulled her up. He Yan, who was exhausted from killing the wolf, fell asleep on Xiao Jue’s back. Xiao Jue was shocked when he realized that He Yan was a woman! After this, Xiao Jue didn’t let Cheng Lisu examine her body, but gave her his golden sore medicine. Cheng Lisu told He Yan that his uncle only gave the medicine to two people, she and the wretched He Rufe (He Yan)!
Episode 5
During the Zhongyuan Festival, many people put river lanterns on the river. He Yan and Xiao Jue had a sweet time together folding and floating river lanterns to pay tribute to the deceased. He Yan put river lanterns to say goodbye to He Yan in the past.
He Yan and her team won the flag-snatching competition. Everyone thought that He Yan would enter the Nine Banner Battalion. However, Xiao Jue chose the other guy, Lei Hou, and had Instructor Shen Nan announce it.
Episode 6
He Yan was disappointed with Xiao Jue’s decision. She got drunk and called him out, asking him why he didn’t choose her to enter the Nine Banner Battalion. He Yan understood that Xiao Jue suspected her of being a spy, but he had already tested her with negative results. She took the Qinglang Sword without permission and broke Xiao Jue’s zither in half. He Yan then passed out.
A magistrate, Sun Xiang Fu of Yezhou, invited Xiao Jue and Li Su to a banquet. He Yan found out that the invitation messenger was none other than Ding Yi, her brother’s guard and her killer! But he was Magistrate Sun’s man now?
Li Su didn’t want to go to the banquet, because the magistrate’s wife wanted to arrange his marriage. Xiao Jue received a tip that the banquet might be a trap from Chu Zhao. Since Li Su didn’t know martial arts, Xiao Jue took He Yan with him and his guard Fei Nu to go to the banquet as Li Su. In Yezhou, He Yan took the opportunity to investigate Ding Yi, but Xiao Jue saw her leaving the inn where they stayed.
Conclusion
That’s easy, Xiao Jue finding out about He Yan being a female by Episode 4! I cannot believe nobody thought before with such a pretty face, haha. Drama production companies usually treat gender-benders very carefully to pass NRTA review. And for romance dramas, usually the Male Leads will find out that the Female Leads are indeed females quite early.
However, I believe that Xiao Jue finding out that He Yan was He Rufei will be more difficult to accept, due to their past dispute. Let’s continue to what awaits in the second part: Legend of the Female General: Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 16!
