Chinese Drama 2017

Oh My General (Chinese Drama Review & Summary)

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• Genre: Historical fiction, Romance, Action, Politics, Comedy
• Date Released: 2017
• Origin: China
• Cdrama: 60 Episodes

Cast:

• Ma Sichun as Ye Zhao
• Sheng Yilun as Zhao Yujin
• Ding Chuan as Hu Qing/Fox
• Wang Churan as Liu Xiyin
• Lu Xingyu as Ye Zhong
• Wang Li as Qiu Laohu
• Wang Xuan as Qiu Hua (Female military/bodyguard)
• Pan Shiqi as Qiu Shui
• Zhang Jiayi as Zhang Gui
• Xiang Hao as Guo Yuanjing
• Yu Bo as Fan Zhongyan
• An Yongchang as Concubine Yang (Zhao Yujin’s concubine)
• Zhang Xinying as Meiniang (Zhao Yujin’s concubine)
• Zheng Shuhan as Xuaner (Zhao Yujin’s Concubine)
• Zhang Zhilü as Xiao Xiazi
• Song Yunhao as Emperor Zhenzong
• Tian Niu as the Empress Dowager
• Lu Fangsheng as the Emperor Renzong
• Zhu Yongteng as the Prince of Qi
• Xiao Han as Noble Consort Zhang
• Zhang Yao as the Princess Dowager of Zhao
• Zhang Wen as the Princess Consort of Zhao
• Chou Shuokang as Little Sparrow
• Wang Ce as the King of Western Xia
• Liu Dini as Empress Yeli
• Zhao Lei as Crown Prince Haerdun
• Zhang Junming as Prince Yinuo
• Gao Shuang as Yeli Yuqi
  

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Episode 1

I just found this historical drama today on youtube.  I was wondering why it had escaped me.  I realised that I was not into historical drama in 2017.  I was enjoying Kdramas too much.

Anyway, I had just watched the first episode of this drama and I was blown away.  There is an abundance of humour.

I love it.  I love the female general and she also had another couple of beautiful sisters serving under her.

The fight scenes were exciting, very well executed.

Ye Zhao had been in the military since she was 16 years old and that was eight years ago.  Ye Zhao came from a family of soldiers.

In order to be able to enter the military, she dressed as a man and fought like a man.  Over the years she rose to be the general of the Ye Army.

Under her, they were able to take back the 16 areas previously lost to other factions.

The Emperor thought that she was a man and was about to give her an even higher position and a lot more soldiers under her when she had sent a message confessing that she was a girl.

Her having deceived the crown is actually punishable by death but knowing that the empire is indebted to her she was quickly pardoned.

The Queen Dowager proposed that Ye Zhao should be married off to one of their family, and she had someone in mind.

The person the Queen Dowager had in mind was Zhao Yujin, who was a bit of wastrel, spending his time in brothels, dancing like a woman.  He was effeminate.

The Queen Dowager reckoned that the girly Zhao Yujin would complement the butch girl Ye Zhao.

The Emperor had made Zhao Yujin the Duke of Nanjing as a wedding gift.

Episode 2

Zhao Yujin was absolutely horrified thinking that he was about to marry a man.  He was telling everyone that he was all man,

His mother is equally as horrified because she heard that the general was a monster with hairy legs and ferocious appearance who skin those she meets alive.

Ye Zhao was absolutely ecstatic that she was marrying a handsome man.

Her sister in law had been training her to be a girl of manners.  But it was a losing battle,

Episode 3

This is rather a bittersweet episode because Hu Qing, her gorgeous most trusted wingman, was deeply in love wit Ye Zhao.  He had been in love with her for a long time and was getting really to make his move but the Emperor issued his edict first.  Too late.

He did gift her a wedding dress and said he will now stop liking her.

It was the wedding day.  While Ye Zhao was happily looking forward to the ceremony Zhao Yujin was doing everything to escape.

During the ceremony, he told the emperor that he does not want to proceed with the wedding after all.

The emperor was livid and instructed to have Zhao Yujin beheaded. Zhao Yujin’s mother was so upset and begged her son to just get on with the wedding.

The bride and groom first bowed to the sky and Earth (the heavens), then to parents and finally to each other.

They then retired to their bedroom for the final part of the ceremony, where the groom had to remove the red veil from his bride’s face/bed.

Zhao Yujin just couldn’t do it.  He left in a huff and went to Mrs Yang’s room who would not let him in.  He then went to his other two concubines who both begged him to save them from the wrath of the devil incarnate.  They really thought that Ye Zhao was the monster they heard about.

Zhao Yujin ended up staying the night in his study, where Ye Zhao found him.  She told him to just remove the veil and forget about the conjugal intimacy.

Zhao Yujin was forced to remove the veil and was actually surprised to see that Ye Zhao is not bad looking.

Ye Zhao then left him where he was.

Episode 4

Ye Zhao is getting to know her mother-in-law, who was not really happy with her.  The mother-in-law wanted a sweet, feminine and docile girl for her son.

Ye Zhao won over the three concubines.  She made Mrs Yang as the main steward and secretary of the household,

The other two concubines are both very pretty but still young and naive.  They love watching Ye zhao practising with her martial arts.

Popo, her mother-in-law, had instructed Ye Zhao to bring home Zhao Yujin, who have not been seen for a week.  Popo told Ye Zhao to beg on her knees to Yujin to come home.

Yujin was saved by Hu Qing from unruly customers at the bar. They got talking why Hu Qing is still single when he is a very good looking able man.  Hu Qing said that he already loves someone but she married someone else.

Yujin asked ‘who is that slut?’

Hu Qing “She married an asshole”

Episode 5

Ye Zhao had really tried to get along with Popo but it always went wrong.  She tasked her commanders to find ways how to get along with mother-in-law.

Episode 6

Ye Zhao trying different tactics to get her husband to like her.

She threw a party for her Ye Army in a brothel which did not know is frequented by her husband.

Her husband danced gayly to show how winsome he was.

Ye Zhao flew to him and gave him a snog, which he seemed to have hated.

When he came home, Ye Zhao was waiting for him with a divorce paper, which surprised him.

Episode 14

Ye Zhao and Yujin are now sharing the same bedroom.

Episode 15

They’ve finally consummated their marriage.  Yujin was rather put out that when he woke up the next morning Zhao was practicing her kung fu. He’d rather continue where they left off the night before:)

Concubine Yang, though was quite happy at first that Zhao and Yujin are getting along, she feels rather redundant as Yujin doesn’t visit her anymore.

Cousin Yixin came to visit Zhao. Yixin was at first very upset because she had a crush on Zhao since they were young.

She’d always thought that they will get married one day thinking that Zhao was a man.

Episode 16 -17

Cousin Yixin had come to stay at Zhao and Yujin manor.

Yixin was so jealous of the close relationship between the two, she began to make Yujin suffer.  Yixin is an expert with herbal medicine and using this knowledge to make Yujin ill.

Thank goodness Fox knew what was happening but unfortunately he did not tell Zhao in the strongest possible way of what he thought what Yixin was doing.

I supposed because Zhao was not really ready to listen because she feels guilty for leading Yixin on when they were growing up.

Episode 18

Xiyin was really causing havoc at the manor.

Zhao and Yujin devised a plan to make Yixin stop.

Zhao and Yujin pretended that they were fighting because Yujin wanted to make Xiyin his princess and will divorce Zhao.

Yuxin did not like this because she does not really want to hurt Zhao.

And she saw how much Zhao really loved Yujin.

So Yixin went back to her room and locked herself in.

The maid went to get Zhao, who was with Yujin who got upset because Yuxin said that she was trying to separate him from Zhao not because she fancied Yujin.  It was because Zhao is so outstanding she deserved the best man not a playboy and layabout like Yujin.  Zhao told him not to mind it.

Anyway, the maid told Zhao that Yuxin locked herself in.  Zhao immediately went to see her cousin and found her hanging.

Episode 19

Xiyin did not die.  Zhao had to give her a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation which upset Yujin because he said all of Zhao’s kisses should only for him.

Anyway, Xiyin thought to behave for now but she will bide her time to cause havoc again.

Episode 20

Zhao finally sent Xiyin back to her hometown.

Xiyin was very upset with Zhao.  They parted not in good terms.

Meanwhile, some soldiers were found to commit treason and insubordination.

According to the army rules, the rebels misdeed means beheading.

One of the rebels who is arrogant and rebellious was a nephew of one of the Queen,

Episode 21

As soon as she heard, the Queen went to the emperor to implore him to intervene.  But the emperor has just been made aware by Fox of what the nephew did.  He killed an innocent soldier and under military code that means beheading.

So the Emperor told the queen that it was out of his hand.

The queen was very upset and got more annoyed when she found out that it was too late. General Zhao had already carried the punishment.

The Queen added Zhao to her hit list which was growing because she started fighting out of jealousy with Noble Consort Zhang, who had become the king’s favorite.

The Queen was so jealous of Consort Zhang that she physically hit her.  It got so bad that the king intervened and got scratched and slapped by the queen.

This cost her demotion.  She was stripped of her empress role.

Episode 22

The demotion was not cut and dried yet.

During a morning court meeting with the ministers, the emperors informed them of demoting the empress.

Minister Fan, who had just been brought back from the province by Emperor, implored the Emperor to rethink his decision.

The Emperor was so annoyed that he dismissed the meeting.

Ministers Fan, Guo, and Han staged a kneeling strike by the palace.  Minister Fan said that it was unprecedented to demote an empress and he believes that this could damage the newly enthroned emperor.

The emperor was not listening and issued a mandate that if the three ministers would not cease and desist their insubordination, there will be prize to pay.

Minister Han could not afford to lose his job so he went.

Minister Fan persevered because he really believes that he was saving the emperor from himself.  He did not get a thank for it, instead he was sent back to the province.

Episode 23

Zhao gave the Emperor a chance to say goodbye to Empress Chen, his mother who had been kept a secret from him.

Anyway, Yujin told her off and said that what she did could potentially punish her all clan.

Zhao gave him a letter to read when he gets home.

It was a divorce agreement.  This only made Yujin love her more.

Meanwhile, the Emperor had a nightmare about Empress Chen. He instinctively knew that she had died.

He finally found out that she was his mother,  He ordered a grand funeral for Empress Chen.

Episode 24

National budget is going up exponentially and the Emperor said that they should make cuts.

A minister said that most of the expenses were from the royals who were not holding any imperial offices.

The Emperor said that he will stop freeloading among the royals and issued an edict that between 15-25 royals must take the imperial examination and the result of their exam will determine their stipend.

Zhao, who was part of the morning court meeting realised that the ministers were dropping her husband to it with glee and she was not having that.

She convinced her husband to take the exam to impress her.

Meanwhile, MInister Fang had been recalled once again from the province to take charge of implementing the change that the Emperor wanted to make.

Minister Fang recommended Mr Liu to tutor Yujin.

Episode 25

Yujin passed the exam which meant he will have a salary/allowance for life.

There is something intriguing going on.

The foster daughter, Hong Qiang, of Minister Fang, is religiously copying his writing.  I don’t trust her.

Episode 26

The emperor is determined to reform the empire and asked Minister Fan to establish new rules and laws to be obeyed by both the commoners and royals alike.

Minister Fang was reading the new commandments about ministers losing their job if they are not up to it.  Also that promotion will be base solely by talents and it would be harder to get a government office because it would be based on skill not who you know.

As Minister Fang was reading the rules, in the background the Noble Consort was being asked by her brother to get him a post.  He would not stop begging until the noble consort agreed.

So as soon as the Noble Consort saw Minister Fang, she asked for a position for her brother.

Minister Fang was absolutely flabbergasted and went immediately to the Emperor to confirm with him if the new commandments applied for both royals and commmoners.

The Emperor said yes.  It should be carried out and everyone must abide by it.

The Minister Fang said that the Noble Consort just asked him now for a post for her brother.

The Emperor said that it looks like the district the brother wanted was a very very minor one.  He implied just to give it to him.

Minister Fang went mental and started harassing the emperor who was taken aback.  Minister Fang said that it is either it is carried out or not at all.

So the Emperor had to agree and had a talk with the Consort, who immediately apologised.

Episode 27

Hong Qiang was hired to copy Minister Fang drafted new reform laws.

Meanwhile, Xiyin and her made ended up near a temple.  Xiyin said that she wanted to be a nun but a lascivious big wig wanted to make her his concubine instead.

Xiyin and her maid escaped but ended up falling from a cliff.

Her maid let go of her hand and fall to her death in order to save Xiyin.

The concubines suggested to the Emperor to send Yujin and Zhao to undersee the relief distribution.

Episode 28

Yujin realised that that Emperor had conned him into paying for expenses for his retinue, including two ministers the emperor asked Yujin to take with him.

 

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