I recently binged the cdrama, The Double (2024) and liked the engrossing plot, the green flag romance, and that the female villains were well written. Picked up this author's other book and am pleasantly surprised to find this just as bingeable. Mo Shu Bai still sets the standard for a good romance for me but the love story between the main leads was very sweet and wholesome. I also liked the constant plot twists and numerous plot developments. I've read a lot of cnovels and it's been a while since family politicking and political intrigue captures my attention (I did skim the first 20 chapters of this LOL). I read her malicious empress rebirth novel (read about 50 chapters or so?) and didn't like it but this is good.

This follows the story of a girl who secretly takes on the identity of her brother, realizes she excels at the military, and becomes a renowned general. Due to circumstances, she is killed by her husband due to political scheming. She's reborn in the body of a young lady who has the same name as her. With this do-over, she gets revenge. She joins the army in disguise as a boy again (Mulan vibes) and catches the eye of the commander. She levels up in military prowess and proves herself.

Pretty similar premise as The Double, and it's full of my favorite tropes like hidden identity, secret past, fake marriage, etc. I really like that this author's heroines don't revolve around their relationships; in fact, they're constantly hustling for their careers and there are arcs where the heroines handle trouble by themselves with their formidable talents.

On to this author's other novels. Her revenge rebirth stories are really good.