Female General, Eldest Princess, by 请君莫笑 ("Please Don’t Laugh")

[blueshiftofdeath]

Female General, Eldest Princess (Original: 女将军和长公主) is a Chinese f/f webnovel following a woman disguised as a man in the military and the eldest princess. It switches between the two stories, until they completely intertwine. Fans have done a great job of translating it into English and compiling it here.

I really enjoyed this; I found the plot super interesting and ended up binging it. If you love drama and political intrigue, it'll probably be up your alley. The romance is complex and very slow-burn, and ultimately really satisfying to me. It's also very specifically lesbian, which was a little surprising to me as one of the main characters successfully passes as a man for a huge portion of the story.

Two issues I think may bother some people though are some descriptions of the main characters; the princess is multiple times described as beautiful specifically for her pale skin, compared to the general's tan. There's also multiple occasions where the narration will say that so-and-so had certain qualities (such as having a tender heart) because of her womanhood. Personally, I felt able to pass these off as the belief system of the characters given the historical setting, but could imagine it being a bigger turn-off for others.