Shadow Love Review

With the rising popularity of Ryan Cheng and the high ratings from international audience, it is hard not to give Shadow Love (与晋长安) a go. Even though I have just finished another drama of his, I still decided to go ahead and watched this one. It is another historical drama with a female military commander which may lead to an overdose for some after Legend Of The Female General. But I kind of like this second production better and my Shadow Love review below will have more to say on this.

My rating: 8.5/10
Episodes: 38
Type: Historical romance
Aired: August 2025
Images credit: iQIYI Facebook

The Cast Of Shadow Love

• Ryan Cheng Lei as Duan Ao Deng / Jin An
• Song Yi as Li Shuang
• Bi Wen Jun as Su Mu Yang
• Shi Ce as Lu Xin
• Gao Mao Tong as Ji Ran
• Rain Lu as Qiao Er
• Wu Yu Heng as Li Ting
• Darren Chen as Mo Yin
• Ji Xiao Bing as Su Mu Li / Prince Li
• Ni Da Hong as Emperor of Taijin
• Wei Zi Xin as Jin Wu Jian
• Liu Yi Hong as Ouyang Jun
• Cheng Xiao as Ji Tian Jiao
• Zhao Yuan Yuan as Empress Dowager Qin

Main Characters

Duan Ao Deng / Jin An

Ao Deng is Prince Annan of Yao. He is the younger brother of the Emperor of Yao, Duan Ao Ze. Ao Deng is also a general of the Yao Army. He is a skillful martial artist and military commander. Jin An is the name given to him by Li Shuang after he lost his memory.

Li Shuang

Li Shuang is General Zhenbei who heads the Changfeng Army of Taijin. She is the adopted daughter of Great General Li Wei who is also a court official. Li Shuang is a dedicated military officer with a heavy responsibility on her shoulder to protect her family and their army. She is smart and courageous.

Supporting Characters

Su Mu Yang

Mu Yang is the Crown Prince of Taijin and Li Shuang’s ex. He is a gentle and softspoken man. He has a crippled hand caused by his brother when young. Although he appears as weak, Mu Yang is astute and smart. He still has feelings for Li Shuang whom he grew up with although he is now a married man.

Lu Xin

Lu Xin is a physician and Li Shuang’s best friend. She is a carefree lady who is upfront about her feelings. She likes Ji Ran although it turns out to be a one-sided affair.

Ji Ran

Ji Ran is Li Shuang’s subordinate. He is a captain of Changfeng Army and has a serious demeanor. Ji Ran has secret feelings for Li Shuang. His comrades in the army include Luo Teng and Qin Lan.

Qiao Er

Qiao Er is the chief guard of Li Shuang’s manor. She is a very strong and tough lady despite her petite size.

Li Ting

Li Ting is General Li Wei’s son and Li Shuang’s adoptive younger brother. He is still young and hence, can be reckless and immature. He loves his sister and vice-versa but they tend to have problems expressing their feelings for each other.

Mo Yin

Mo Yin is a leader of Wuling Mountain which is well-known for healing practices. He is an eccentric man with a mysterious aura.

Su Mu Li / Prince Li

Mu Li is Prince Li of Taijin. He is Mu Yang’s elder brother. Mu Li is an ambitious man who wants to be the next Emperor. He is ruthless and blinded by power.

Emperor of Taijin

The Emperor of Taijin is Mu Yang and Mu Li’s father. He is a highly suspicious man who doesn’t trust his own men easily. He is also a selfish father who is only interested in prolonging his life and power.

Jin Wu Jian

Wu Jian is a dark sorcerer who has been expelled from Wuling Mountain. He is cruel and working for Empress Dowager Qin to help her attain power.

Ouyang Jun

Ouyang Jun is the leader of Feiyun Stronghold which is a group of bandits.

Ji Tian Jiao

Tian Jiao is Mu Yang’s wife and the Crown Princess of Taijin. She is also the doted daughter of Prime Minister Ji Lan who is trying to get Mu Yang to succeed the throne to cement his own power. Tian Jiao is a short-tempered and spoiled woman.

Empress Dowager Qin

Empress Dowager Qin is married to the Emperor of Yao. She is an ambitious and a posessive woman who is into dark sorcery.

Synopsis

The states of Yao and Taijin are always at war. Duan Ao Deng, a prince of Yao, and Li Shuang, a female general of Taijin, are fighting each other along the border to gain an upper hand. At the same time, an ongoing ritual involving dark sorcery caused Duan Ao Deng to lose his memory He also could metamorphose into a powerful warrior and feels an inexplicable connection to Li Shuang.

Li Shuang takes him in after he saved her from an ambush and names him Jin An. He is very protective of her and the two of them soon fall in love with each other. But when Duan Ao Deng discovers his true identity, they are forced to become enemies again. Will they be able to put their differences aside to resolve the ongoing war between the two states which is driven by reckless and powerful personalities?

Shadow Love Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)

Shadow Love has a happy ending. Mu Yang is pressured by his officials to execute Li Shuang. She is accused of letting Jin An go when he is a prince of an enemy state. Mu Yang “executes” her to placade his officials. Secretly, he gives her a drug to simulate death and confers her the title of Empress posthumously to bury her in the royal mausoleum. This is to lure Jin An out to snatch her body away. By then, Jin An has given up his status as prince and become a commoner to atone for killing his own soldiers while he was helping Li Shuang.

Jin An ends up re-implanting the Jade Linglong in his body so that he has the powers to overcome Mu Yang’s guards and snatch Li Shuang’s body. Mu Yang lets her go as he feels that he owes her too much. So, from then on, Li Shuang is considered dead. With both of them now being commoners, they can lead a carefree life together.

3 months later, a peace treaty has been signed between Taijin and Yao. The Jade Linglong who has chosen Jin An as the host. The shadow puppet and blood master have merged which means Jin An is now his own master.

Lu Xin will marry Mo Yin and be the missus of Wuling Mountain. Li Ting is showing potential to be a great general. Ji Ran is now the Deputy General of Changfeng Army and vows to protect everything that Li Shuang has left behind. Ouyang Jun has taken in some orphans in memory of Qiao Er. The drama ends with Li Shuang and Jin An visiting Ouyang Jun and helping him with the kids. Jin An suggests to Li Shuang that they should have one of their own.

When Did The Leads Get Together?

Jin An and Li Shuang become a couple in Episode 15 after her daring confession and kiss while feeling drunk. Although she is shy and wishy-washy about it the following day, they are clear about their feelings for each other. They remain committed to each other athough Jin An has to remove the Jade Linglong from his body and will gradually lose his memory of her. They get married with a simple rite in Episode 28 before the removal.

Is There Any Breakup?

Jin An follows Mo Yin to Wuling Mountain to have the Jade Linglong removed in Episode 25. He leaves Li Shuang behind for her own safety. But Li Shuang is worried about him and goes to Wuling Mountain to look for him in Episode 27. But after the removal, Jin An’s memories begin to turn foggy gradually in Episode 29.

In Episode 30, Jin An regains his memories and knows that he is Prince Annan. But he cannot recall what happened in the stone cave when the Jade Linglong was embedded in him. Hence, he thought that his brother was killed by Li Shuang’s father during the war. He tries to kill her father in Episode 31 to avenge his brother’s “death” but unsuccessful.

As a result, Li Shuang breaks off their relationship. The agony causes Jin An to fall unconscious and when he awakens, he has lost his memories of Li Shuang and all that has happened in the past year. Li Shuang also learns Jin An is Prince Annan after the breakup.

Although Jin An could recall everything in Episode 36 and asks Li Shuang to stay in Yao, she declines. She is unwilling to risk the fragile peace between the 2 states and wants bygones be bygones instead. They reconcile in Episode 38 after he has given up his princely status and she is supposed to have died as arranged by Mu Yang.

Is There Any Love Triangle?

Ji Ran also has secret feelings for Li Shuang. Lu Xin, who likes Ji Ran, knows his true feelings and encourages him to confess in Episode 15 but he never did.

Mu Yang meets Li Shuang again in Episode 17 after he was decreed by his father to visit her army camp to reward them for their victory in a battle. But Li Shuang maintains a respectable distance with him to his disappointment. In Episode 19, Mu Yang tells Li Shuang that he did plead with his father to marry her after he was decreed to marry Prime Minister Jin’s daughter, Tian Jiao. But his father threatened to kill Li Shuang if he defies the order. Thus, Mu Yang married Tian Jiao to keep Li Shuang safe. Neverthless, Li Shuang tells Mu Yang that they should put the past behind them and she doesn’t blame him for dropping her.

After Mu Yang ascended the throne in Episode 26, he asks Li Shuang to marry him in Episode 27. She rejects his proposal due to her love for Jin An which angers him. Mu Yang still wants her as his consort and makes it clear publicly in Episode 29. His jealousy causes him to order Li Shuang to lead troops to attack Yao and kill Jin An after they know Jin An is Prince Annan in Episode 31. But Li Shuang gets captured instead which Mu Yang regrets.

Eventually, Mu Yang has to let Li Shuang go in Episode 38. It is untenable to keep her by his side after the mandarins accused her of collusion with Yao due to her relationship with Jin An.

What Is Jade Linglong?

In Episode 19, Mo Yin meets Jin An while tracking down the Jade Linglong and knows it has been embedded in the latter. So, he reveals information about this artifact to Jin An in order to convince him to go to Wuling Mountain to have it removed. The Jade Linglong is Wuling Mountain’s treasure. It is both a medicine and a poison. It was stolen from the sect a while ago and they have been searching for it ever since.

Once the jade is implanted in a human, they will become a shadow puppet with extraordinary strength and self-healing powers. However, the jade is sustained by blood and the blood provider will become the puppet master. The blood pact that is formed will make the puppet completely obedient to the master with an instincitve urge for intimacy.

The jade could also make the puppet lose control of their will and feelings eventually and becomes a killing machine. But the master could also perish as their blood is what sustains the jade’s power. So, each time Jin An uses its power, Li Shuang will become weaker due to depletion of her blood and qi. The deeper the jade integrates with Jin An’s body, the worse Li Shuang’s health would be.

Mo Yin also tells Li Shuang the real situation in Episode 23 and the need to have the jade removed from Jin An to preserve both their lives. But the removal will also caused Jin An to lose all his memories of her.

When Did Jin An Regain His Memories?

Jin An has vague flashbacks about his past in Episode 24 while watching a shadow puppet play. It is a story about the battle between Prince Annan and Li Shuang’s father, Great General Li Wei. He regains his memories in Episode 30 after seeing the Yao Army flag in Li Wei’s possession. But he still cannot recall what happened in the stone cave when the Jade Linglong was embedded in him.

Wu Jian’s Past

Wu Jian is actually Mo Yin’s senior. He was expelled by their godfather/master for practicing forbidden techniques. This is revealed in Episode 20 when they meet up. Mo Yin is unaware that Wu Jian was the one who killed their godfather and stole the Jade Linglong from Wuling Mountain until his suspicion is raised in Episode 23.

In Episode 24, viewers are told that Wu Jian has been obsessed with Empress Dowager Qin for a long time. But she doesn’t accept him and thinks he is beneath her. During a fight with Mo Yin in Episode 25, Wu Jian is bitter that their godfather was biased towards Mo Yin who is was a better and more talented disciple. This pushed Wu Jian towards forbidden techniques which resulted in their godfather stripping him of his martial powers and banishing him from the sect.

In a flashback in Episode 27, Wu Jian was saved by Empress Dowager Qin after the banishment. He was weak and injured after having his powers stripped. Empress Dowager Qin needed Wu Jian’s technique to enable her to become the Yao Emperor’s favored concubine and get pregnant. She fed him a Brain Devouring Powder to control him as he then needs to rely on her regulary for the antidote.

His Fate

Wu Jian dies in Episode 28. He is killed by Mo Yin after sneaking into Wuling Mountain to forcibly extract the Jade Linglong from Jin An and then trying to implant it into his own body to be powerful. He is shot by Lu Xin with a needle weapon while doing so. As Wu Jian lays there dying, he begs Mo Yin to kill him quickly to end the suffering which Mo Yin did.

Empress Dowager Qin’s Ending

Clues on the Brain Devouring Powder that had poisoned Wu Jian led Mo Yin and Lu Xin to the Yao Palace in Episode 35. They stumble into Empress Dowager Qin’s secret chamber and find the Emperor of Yao chained up. After rescuing him, Empress Dowager Qin is arrested.

She is caged up in a dungeon in Episode 36. But she cannot be executed due to the Double Blossom Wine that she had given the Emperor. This binds both of their lives together. If she dies, so would he. Thus, she can only be incarcerated but not killed.

Second Couple

Lu Xin meets Mo Yin in Episode 15 when he notices her exchange with Ji Ran which interests him. She is trying to put her feelings for Ji Ran behind her then. They have a few interactions along the way when Mo Yin is in Lucheng to track down the Jade Linglong and keep an eye on Jin An.

In Episode 26, Lu Xin goes to Wuling Mountain to look for Jin An on Li Shuang’s behalf. Mo Yin is having trouble extracting the Jade Linglong from Jin An due to his strong attachment to Li Shuang and vice-versa. He cannot fathom what love is until Lu Xin explains it to him in Episode 27. This is when Mo Yin’s heart begins to feel stirrings for Lu Xin.

Lu Xin wants to remain in Wuling Mountain to study medicine under Mo Yin in Episode 28. Their relationship blossoms and Lu Xin finds Mo Yin not as heartless as she has assumed although they are always bickering.

Other Key Events

• Ouyang Jun becomes attracted to Qiao Er and pursues her in Episode 14. He confesses to her and she accepts in Episode 15.
• Qiao Er dies in Episode 22 after she was taken hostage by Prince Li. She slices her neck against Prince Li’s blade to prevent him from using her to threaten Jin An and Li Shuang. Ouyang Jun leaves Changfeng Army after Qiao Er’s death.
• Mu Yang kills Prince Li in Episode 25. Prince Li wants Mu Yang dead so that he can be the heir. But Mu Yang manages to turn the tables on Prince Li and ended up killing him instead in a fight. Mu Yang then lays the blame on Jin An to wash himself off the killing.
• The Emperor of Taijin dies in Episode 25 after learning that Prince Li has been killed. He dies of shock and poisoning after Mu Yang coldly tells him that it was Prince Li who had slowly poisoned him with elixirs.
• Mu Yang executes the Ji Clan incuding Prime Minister Ji and Tian Jiao in Episode 30. Prime Minister Ji was trying to control Mu Yang to make him a puppet emperor which angers him.
• Li Wei dies in Episode 35. He shields Jin An with his body from arrows shot by Empress Dowager Qin’s soldiers. He sacrifices himself to give peace a chance and to repay Jin An for “killing” his brother.

Shadow Love Review – Romance With Supernatural Elements

To me, Shadow Love is a much more interesting drama than Legend Of The Female General. The story is better written and doesn’t rely on just romance and fluff to attract viewers. While the love between the protagonists is central to the story, it is packaged well with other aspects of the plot to provide more excitment. It has a superatural twist to it to bring some level of originality to the overall drama.

Shadow Love also has an amnesiac protagonist. Although this is overly familiar in Chinese dramas (Serendpity is an example), I don’t feel it being a cliche at all in this production. This is because the male lead’s memory loss happens very early in the story. It makes sense and it has nothing to do with the usual falling off a cliff and hitting his head kind of scenario. He lost his memory because he is a victim of dark sorcery. This is why the start sets an intriguing tone for the subsequent happenings.

Once the romance is established, the countdown then begins on when the male lead will regain his memory and the consequences to follow due to his identity. No doubt this is predictable given the storyline. To me, the weakness is the storytelling towards the end especially where the second male lead is concerned.

Inconsistent Character Traits

Shadow Love is largely entertaining to me. It is only towards the end that the second male lead’s story is cut short and/or simplified. He is a weak Crown Prince initially. He is his emperor father’s sacrificial tool and is often targeted by his brother who also wants the throne. Therefore, when he finally has power, it also brings out his dark side which he has kept hidden when he was weak.

This wavering between good and bad towards the end is not adequately fleshed out to me. One moment, he is shown to be going over to the dark side. And the next, he is back being the good guy. A scene or two seems to be missing to smooth out this transition.

Basically, his character traits are inconsistent throughout the drama. It feels as if that the script has to change him back quickly into a good person to wrap up the story as we head into the last few episodes. Nevertheless, the drama offers a refreshing story with emotional depth to keep us hooked.

Emotional Depth

What I do like about Shadow Love is the deep connection between the male and female protagonists. Theirs is a story well-told. The bond is established through a twist of fate and the development of their relationship is gradual. It is easy to understand why they are attracted to each other. The trust between them is rock solid and they are even prepared to die to protect the other.

This growing attraction does not happen all of a sudden or in a vacuum. Each incident that puts their lives at risk strengthens that trust and feelings. Hence, you will feel attached to them as a couple as the story flows. You can feel their happiness as well as pain when the inevitable test to their relationship comes. This emotional depth is partly what makes the drama compelling.

Of course, the 2 leads have to play their part well as a pair of lovers. For this, they are able to generate the sparks needed for the romance to flourish. There are intimate scenes in the drama which I think is sufficiently hot. At the very least, they don’t look awkward together. The chemistry is definitely there which helps to elevate some of the more sensual and flirty scenes as well. Naturally, their acting is also on point for everything to gel together.

Acting

I only started noticing Ryan Cheng after watching him in My Journey To You. He was good there but needed to share the spotlight with Zhang Ling He and Esther Yu then. In Shadow Love, he has brought his acting to another level to me. He showed his versatility here by playing 3 roles that are all a different version of the same man. The first one is a prince and capable general. The second is a masked supernatural warrior while the third is a normal guy who is simply in love with his woman.

The way he switched among these 3 roles seems so effortless and natural. He can be commanding, cold, ruthless, sweet, and mushy at different times depending on the version that he has to play. I think Ryan Cheng has proven that he can handle more complex drama roles and is not just another pretty face.

Song Yi has done a historical drama with Luo Yun Xi in Follow Your Heart but there was no explosive chemistry there to ship them as a couple. She has better chemistry here with Ryan Cheng and I think the role also suits her well. She has the aura of a female general but it doesn’t overshadow the feminity and warmth that the character also has to show. The last quarter of the drama with all the heartaches is when Song Yi really shone with her quiet tears and you could practically cry with her during those scenes.

My Verdict – Watch!

I think Shadow Love is one of the few dramas of 2025 that will linger in your mind after the curtains have come down. It starts out with a great hook with dark sorcery and blood pact drawing you into the story. It is intriguing and the plot feels fresh. As a result, you will chase after each episode all the way to the end. While there are lulls in the middle, they don’t last long and the story picks back up quickly.

It is also easy to relate to the 2 protagonists and root for them especially with their palpable chemistry. The leads certainly played a part in making the drama more enjoyable. It also helps that there is depth to the romance with the love story being sensibly written. The way it is tied to the dark sorcery and power struggles makes it a complete package that feels like an epic.

On the flip side, there may be a bit of exaggeration when it comes to the obsessed and crazy villains. In addition, the second male lead’s story could have been better executed towards the end to minimize any inconsistencies to his character traits. But these weaknesses are largely overshadowed by the leads’ compelling love story that they end up being inconsequential to the overall enjoyment of the drama.

So, for this Shadow Love review, I would rate it 8.5/10. Watch it for the plot and the actors’ chemistry. The story flows smoothly with the romance and power struggles striking a good balance. More importantly, all the subplots fit well together to keep us engaged to the very end.