| Native Name: | 花木蘭 |
| Alt Name: | Hua Mulan |
| Genre: | Period drama, Comedy |
| Creator: | Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited |
| Director: | Lau Wai Wah 劉偉華 |
| Starring: | Mariane Chan Wong Hei Law Kar-ying Mimi Chu Gigi Fu Shirley Cheung |
| Opentheme: | Highly Praise Women 揚眉女子 by Sally Yeh 葉蒨文 |
| Theme Music Composer: | Jean Michael Ou |
| Country: | Hong Kong |
| Language: | Cantonese |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
| Producer: | Ling Jun Gwong 凌俊光 |
| Location: | Hong Kong |
| Camera: | Multi camera |
| Runtime: | 45 minutes |
| Company: | TVB |
| Network: | Jade |
| A Tough Side of a Lady | |
| T: | 花木蘭 |
| S: | 花木兰 |
| L: | "Flower Wood Orchid" |
| J: | faa1 muk6 laan4 |
| Y: | Fa muk lan |
| P: | huā mù lán |
A Tough Side of a Lady is a 1998 Hong Kong, ancient costumed comedy drama produced by TVB. The drama is a rendition of the legendary folklore of Hua Mulan, a brave girl who took her ailing father's place in the army to fight in battle. The series stars Mariane Chan as the protagonist Mulan and Wong Hei as a character created for the series. The series was aired as a Lunar New Year drama. Original broadcast of the series began on January 12 till February 6, 1998, on TVB's Jade channel, Monday–Friday during its 7:30–8:30 p.m. timeslot.
With her father (Law Kar-ying) in the army, filial oldest daughter of the Fa family Muk Lan (Mariane Chan), has the burden of taking care of and providing for her family because her mother is dependent on others, her younger sister is immature and her younger brother is a weakling. By day she works hard selling fabric at the street market and endures through the nights to weave fabric to sell the next day.
When they receive news that their father is finally returning home the Fa family is overjoyed. Muk Lan's father tells her that while he was in the army he had made a marriage arrangement for her to marry a man named Tsui Sam Gong (Lau Wing-Kin), Muk Lan did not mind the arranged marriage since she has secretly admired Sam Gong for a long time. However Sam Gong rejected on the idea of the arranged marriage because he was already in love with Long Siu Siu (Gigi Fu), the daughter of the local government official. To avoid marry Muk Lan, Sam Gong decides to join the army.
During this time the Fa family meets Ho Go Sing (Wong Hei), who rents half of the Fa family house with his forgetful mother (Mimi Chu). Muk Lan and Go Sing starts off on bad terms as she sees him as a stingy conman and tries to evict him and his mother, but the Fa family takes pity on Go Sing's mother and decides to let them stay.
After returning from the army Muk Lan's father was to be compensated by the government for his services, but he did not receive his compensation as the local government official together with his son decided to keep the money for themselves. One night while the government official and his son was transporting the stolen money they noticed Muk Lan's father and thought he had witnessed what they were doing. Thinking Muk Lan's father had seen all their illegal activities the government official decided to draft Muk Lan's father to go to war. Muk Lan's younger brother was to enlist in the army in their father's place since their father was ailing and could no longer serve another army term, but Muk Lan's goes in his placedisguised as a male because her brother is a weakling and could not take the hardship of army life. Go Sing also happens to be drafted into the army the same time as Muk Lan. He, Muk Lan and Sam Gong all end up serving in the same unit in the army.
While dressed as a male in the army Muk Lan meets Siu Siu and saves her life. For Muk Lan's heroism Siu Siu ends up falling in love with her. Sam Gong finds out that Muk Lan is the one Siu Siu loves and becomes Muk Lan's sworn enemy. He tries to sabotage Muk Lan while both are serving in the army.[1] [2]