Chinese Drama 2020

General’s Lady (Chinese Drama Review & Summary)

AKA: The Young Lady of the General’s House 

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• Genre: Historical Costume Drama, Romance
• Release Date: 9 October 2020
• Origin: China; Adapted from a novel of the same title by Yan Bo Jiang Nan
• Cdrama: 24 Episodes

Cast:

• Caesar Wu as Chu Xiuming
• Tang Min as Shen Jin
• Cao Jun Xiang as Chu Xiuyuan
• Yang Wan Li as Bao Zi tou
• Lu Jia as Rou Rou
• Liu Yin Jun as Xiao Xiao
• Xu Hui Wen as Qing Qiu
• You Cong as Xiao Cong
• Jiang Hao Yang as Yuan’er
• Jin Le as the Ninth Princess
• Ke Nai Yu as Shen Xin

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Episode 1 & 2

Shen Jin is a very enterprising young lady; she sometimes goes into the town pretending to be a man complete with mustache, as her father, and be the judge and arbiter to the people with their concerns and woes.

She was still giving advice when a group of guards came looking for her.  She ran, she hid but in the end, they got her and she ended up being stripped, washed, clothed and made up to sit for a portrait painting session.

Apparently, the Emperor had issued an edict that one of Lord Jin’s daughters will become the wife of General Chu Xiuming.

At first, Shen Jin was unconcerned because she was quite below the pecking order as she was the third daughter with two still unmarried sisters before her.

Her two sisters though refused the marriage and said that Shen Jin had to do it.

Shen Jin in the end felt she had no choice because her loving mother will be bullied by her nasty sisters and their staff because her mother is only a concubine.

So she told her father that she will marry the general under one condition, her mother will never ever be bullied again.

Quickly she was put into a beautiful red bridal dress in a carriage to travel to her groom.

Her maid commiserated with her bad luck for having to marry the general who has the sobriquet of being a Demon General who had seen so much blood from all the killings he had done and led.

Her maid also said that Shen Jin will be the fourth or the fifth wife of the General.  He does not have a harem, his other wives had died.

Along the way, she almost joined the other wives when they were ambushed by bandits.  It was a very bloody battle and Shen Jin had to run for her life when she saw a masked rider coming to help the soldiers escorting her.

She realised that the man wearing the infamous mask was General Chu Xiuming.  He quickly finished off the enemy.

After a while, everything became quiet, too quiet!

She and her maid had been left behind.  Her maid asked, ” that is good, isn’t it?”  “We can go back home.”

But Shen Jin was that her marriage was an edict from the Emperor so she must go through with it.

The two ladies walked through the woods until they got to the General’s place.

It was rather barren and quiet. It took some time to find someone until she saw a room with a light on but was quickly turned off.

She entered the room and with her portable bamboo torch, she managed to have a look around.  Then she saw the General’s suit of armour complete with the mask. She was still looking at it when someone spoke from behind.

She had a look at him and thought that he was a lackey of the General because the man before her looks so innocent and handsome.

She told him that she was the General’s wife. The boss lady.  She confessed that she was marrying the general for the sake of her mother.

She then asked him for the exit as her maid was still waiting for her outside.

The handsome man pointed the exit to her when she suddenly heard voices and saw her maid panicking as a ferocious-looking soldier, who looked like the devil had just slain another maid by the gate.

Shen Jin introduced herself to the man as his new wife.  She was making so much noise that she ignored her maid at first to look behind her because the General was behind her.

The General was of course the gorgeous she met previously.  He is now more composed with his hair nicely styled. LOL

Shen Ji and her maid were put under house arrest.

The General, however, was rather surprised that his new wife was not making any trouble or even any noise,  She and her maid stayed quietly in their room.  They would not even eat for fear that their food had been poisoned.

Shen Jin though thought of a way to get out and to be able to speak with the General.  She took a fake poison pill that would look that she was dead.

Her maid tried to stop her but Shen Jin swallowed it.  Her maid ran out of their room into the General’s manor to say that her mistress had been poisoned.

The General and his men just saw Shen JIn being led away by two assassins.

He told his guards to leave things with him as he followed his wife and the assassins.

The poisoned pill was beginning to take effect on Shen Jin; she collapsed while the General was killing the assassins.

He checked on Shen Jin and found that she was dead.  He carried her back to his mansion and said that he will protect her mother.

Her maid was very upset over her dead mistress.

But suddenly Shen Jin sat up as if nothing happened which scared everyone including the General.

The General noticed the jade necklace she was wearing.  He asked to see it.  He then left with it and had her and her maid locked in the room.

The bodyguard said that the lock is so secure no one can unpick it without the proper key.

They were surprised to see Shen Jin holding the lock.

The General asked Shen Jin how she managed to open the lock.

She took out her hairpin and with just a few twists she unlocked it again.

The General looked at his guard as if saying “you said no one can unlock it without a key?”

The General told everyone to leave him and his wife.

Shen Jin asked the General back for her necklace but the General wanted to know who gave it to her.

She said she would tell him under three conditions.

First she will be to come and go in his mansion, go everywhere in the manor, including his room and study.

Second, she can ride his horse through the town, she promises not to run away.

Third, she’s still had to think about this.

He agreed to all of it.

She then said that the necklace was given to her by her mother.

What is the mystery over this?

He then took her riding in his horse and they do look very handsome together.

It was a good watch but I am not sure about some of the scenes.  It felt so stilted.  Doesn’t have that flow, it has more to do with the camera rather than the acting.

As they were delivering their dialogues, you suddenly think, who should I look at?  Who will speak next?  There is no cohesion in the latter part of the second episode.  The directing also was not consistent.

Caesar Wu does make a handsome general but very young looking and Tang Min is engaging as always.

Episode 3

As soon as Shen Jin saw the General leave the building, she went to his room to search it high and low for her jade necklace.

The General left the manor to investigate something concerning the jade necklace.

Chu Xiuyuan, the General’s second in command came searching for him but found Shen Jian instead.

Xiuyuan was really concerned that the General has gone AWOL.  He told Shen Jian that the Eagles clan had attacked the City Gate.

Pao Zi Tou his doing his best to lead the resistant but some of the Eagles have already ready the manor.

If the Emperor get to hear that the General was absent, Chu Xiuming will be charged with negligence of duty.

Shen Jin knew she that this was a very complicated and grim situation for her new husband so she told Xiuyuan to work with her to delay the Eagles until the general comes back.

Shen JIn dawn on the General’s suit of armour and face the Eagles who were able to get in.

All the works in the manor worked with Shen Jin but making it looked like the soldiers are coming.

Poor Shen JIn was in pain with how heavy the armour was and she dropped the sword because she can’t lift it up.

The Eagles knew that she was a fake general but it was too late for them because the real general had finally turned up and killed every one of them.

Shen Jin was later celebrated for her ingenuity and bravery by the manor staff.  They got so merry, Shen Jin ended up drunk and loitered into the General’s bedroom.

She told him drunkenly that he owed her and as such, she should move into his room because he has a bigger bed, larger area, and nicebed.

When the General entered the bedroom, he was so surprised to find Shen Jin in her red bridal clothes again complete with the veil.

The General approached her and said that it seems she misunderstood.  He allowed her to move in but not as a bed mate.

She has to sleep on the couch at the back.

He was again surprised when Shen Jin agreed with such alacrity.  She said she was fine with it, being married in name only.

This did not mean that they would get on because they started a marital battle, an upmanship against each other.

The rumour that the General was absent during the Eagle’s attack got to the Emperor.  So he had investigated by sending a painter to the General’s manor to observe.

So as much as they started to hate one another, Shen Jin and the general had to pretend that they are in love.

Episode 4

Jin received a letter from her mother with a pattern of something which the General saw.

He immediately wanted to know where she got it from.  When she told him that her mother sent it to her, he then said that they will go out somewhere for a ride.

Jin refused until he agreed that she can sleep on the main bed and he will be the one to use the couch.

The General had not problem with it.

They rode the General’s horse which took them to a gravesite.

Jin was puzzled why they had to be by the gravesite. Then the General turned the knob which was incorporated as a design of gravestone.

Suddenly the ground opened into a catacomb leading into a pair of huge door.

The General said Jin could open the lock.

Jin said, “no worries’. She further added that she and her father do not get on and her wicked sisters would often locked her in a room.  Since then locks fascinated her and she had never encountered a lock she can’t unlocked!

And this door lock is not different.  After plucking a strand of the General’s hair which Jin used to bind her hairpin, she used it to tease the lock into the opening and it worked.

Then they ended up in a room that had been armed to protect itself.  After getting through the arrows flying around where 1 hit the General at the back, they came into a tomb.

The General used the necklace she stood from Jin.  The locket opened the tomb.  There was a box, which contained another smaller box, which encasing an even smaller jade box.

The General grabbed the jade box and pulled Jin to safety as the room started to crumble.

Jin and the General had a tender moment.  The General is lacking love in his life and was very moved by Jin’s concern of the many wounds in his back.

He said no one had ever shown any interest in his well-being before.

He could not help himself, he kissed Jin.

Jin afterwards run excitedly to the marriage chamber to wait for her husband to consummate their marriage.

But she waited and waited and waited…

Episode 5

She waited until she fell asleep.

When she woke up she saw her jade necklace which was taken from her by the General/husband and under it was a divorce agreement.

She was raging and went to see the General. She told him that he can’t just divorce her.

The General was adamant and told her to leave because he was going back to the borders.

Jin was still furious. She made a plan.

The General was welcoming the new recruits to his army when he saw someone rather familiar.

He was enraged.  She is a woman; she has no business being in the border where they could be attacked at any time.

Jin, however, reminded him of the recruitment rules.

Jin trained with the other recruits.

Bao Zi Tou and Chiu Xiu Yuan ensured that she got a lighter training regime and if it gets rather awry, they were there to save her. In fact the General was keeping a keen eye on her.

The General got so worried, he wanted her to sleep in his tent or bathe in his tent but she refused.

She did ask him to grant her request.  Give her alcohol.

She got drunk and ended up in a lake with the worried General.

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