The instant her tent entrance opened late that night, Mulan knew the army captain would not keep her secret for free.
It had been revealed that Fa Ping was actually a female when she was slashed by Shan Yu's sword and passed out after the avalanche. The army doctor had discovered her secret and told Captain Shang. He had come in to her tent and stared for a moment then left without a word after she had sat up and told him she could explain everything.
He had managed to keep Chi Fu from finding out that Mulan was a girl after giving the doctor an order not to tell anyone else.
Had Chi Fu found out, he would have insisted on her death based on the law. So by Shang keeping her secret, he was protecting his bravest soldier from being beheaded.
Or was that the real reason at all?
Now here he was in her tent, late at night and everyone else was sleeping except the soldiers on night watch. Once his intention became clear, she tried to fight him off but to no avail. Shang was much stronger.
She didn't scream because he warned her not to lest other soldiers came in and joined him, and she refused to let him see her cry. She just stared at her helmet until she saw her terrified reflection staring back at her. Then she focused on the tent ceiling while her commanding officer raped her.
When Shang finally left, taking her innocence with him, she picked up her sword and stared at it. So this was the cost of secrecy. Worse than a beheading. She'd rather fight Shan Yu 100 times than face Shang again.
No other soldiers knew Fa Ping was really a girl. No one except her commanding officer. It appeared he intended to keep it that way and keep her all to himself.
That day, they broke camp and headed through the pass to the Imperial City. They set up camp just outside the perimeter. As the last fires were stamped out, she was filled with dread.
Yao, Ling and Chien Po remained outside their tents talking, so she stayed out and shot the breeze with them until she heard a stern "lights out, soldiers".
Shit. She had to go to her tent. Alone. But how long would she be alone for? When she heard footsteps approach, she knew last night's ordeal was to be repeated.
Mulan no longer doubted that rape was worse than death. But still, she didn't let Shang see her cry. She managed to leave bruises, bites and deep scratches on Shang's face, neck, and chest. He got his way, but not without a big fight. She was a skilled soldier and she used his own training techniques against him.
After he left, she reached for her sword but it was gone. Her daggers were also mysteriously gone.
The next morning, the regiment of soldiers was informed they would all remain on guard near the palace indefinitely. There had been possible sightings of Shan Yu and his troops in the mountains, and there was rumors that they had dug themselves out after the avalanche.
Mulan was put on watch with Shang during the last part of the evening, every night. It seemed he was always nearby, making her escape impossible.
To the rest of the Chinese army, she was Fa Ping, a courageous young male soldier who had single-handedly buried most of the Hun army in an avalanche after firing a cannon at a snowy slope as they had raced towards the remnants of the Chinese army. The other soldiers respected her.
But Shang, newly promoted to General, knew otherwise. He usually showed up at her tent soon after Ling, Yao and Chien Po took over the night watch, sometimes staying all night.
Week after week of this went by. Every night, Shang showed up at her tent. Probably anticipating she would use them on him, he had taken her sword and daggers out of her tent, and inconspicuously returned them to her for their night watches. When their watch was done and no one was looking, he'd take them again.
One night Mulan was able to sneak a dagger into her tent. As she tried to fight to keep him from taking it, she managed to superficially slash his chest twice and belly once. But he grabbed it, slapping and punching her and whispered "You can't escape. I will always win, so stop fighting me. " Then he held it to her throat. "Cut me like that one more time and I'll kill you."
Mulan would never stop fighting. That she knew. The Fa's never back down. Ever.
She had been determined to join the army. Now she was twice as determined to leave.
That night, after Monster Boy left, Mulan snuck out of her tent. Quietly, she made her way to where her three closest friends Yao, Ling and Chien Po stood night guard.
"I need a favor."
"Anything, Ping, what is it?"
"First of all, I'm actually a girl. My name is Mulan and I joined to save my father. Second, the general knows this and has been in my tent every night for weeks forcing me. Third, I'm pregnant. Fourth, I need you three to distract him tomorrow night so I can make a run for it. Sound the alarm that Huns were spotted attempting to enter the palace on the opposite side of where my tent is. Keep him there as long as you can. Check everywhere. Then play dumb when you hear anything about me deserting the army. Think you guys can pull it off?"
The shock showed in their faces, but so did anger and determination.
"Definitely. We can do that. We'll miss you, Mulan, but you need to get away from here." Chien Po gave her a half-hug.
Yao cracked his knuckles and looked at Ling. "We'll take care of this guy after you go, won't we boys?"
"Damn right we will." Ling agreed.
Chien Po gave a serious look to the other two. "On my ancestor's grave. He won't get away with this."
When the 3 took over watch that next night, Yao winked at Mulan when Shang wasn't looking. Shortly after she started to walk back to her tent, with Shang close behind her as always, the alarm sounded. Then she heard Ling yell for Shang.
As soon as the general was out of sight, Yao grabbed Mulan by the arm and pulled her to her tent and helped her tie up her things into a bundle. Chien Po came around the corner with Kahn and helped her mount up.
Then she and Kahn raced off while Yao and Chien Po ran over to where Shan Yu had supposedly been spotted. Of course, after a thorough inspection in and around the palace, he wasn't found. But the three soldiers made sure to check every possible hiding spot at least twice, with Shang in tow, just to be sure. Mulan should be long gone by now.
Shang headed off towards Mulan's tent after the alarm was over but came out seconds later and looked around. He walked over to where Kahn was usually tied, but her horse was also gone. He called out for Ping, but there was no answer and since everyone else but night watch was asleep, no one had seen her .
Angrily, he stormed to his own tent. The little bitch had escaped while he was occupied.
Yao high-fived his two comrades. "Boys, we did ourselves proud tonight. We helped Mulan escape so she can go home and have her baby. Next we'll deal with the general. Now we just better remember to play dumb when we hear anything about Ping deserting the army."
Mulan had been on the road over 2 hours by this time. She was still shaking. She couldn't believe she finally got to escape. She knew she could count on Yao, Ling and Chien Po and hoped to see them again one day.
Continuing to head toward home, she began to try to figure out her next move. Her baby would be born in about 6 months, she estimated. She would be 17.
Should she go home and make up some cockamany story about why she was pregnant or tell her parents the truth? If her father found out, he may try to kill Shang for dishonoring his daughter. If he failed, he would be killed for making an attempt on the general's life.
Mulan decided to tell them the truth when she arrived home. She told them how Shang had discovered she was a female and kept it to himself and started attacking her every night. That she was pregnant. How Yao, Ling and Chien Po helped her escape and had promised to deal with General Shang. Her mother and grandmother wept and pulled her close to them and let her cry in their arms.
Predictably, her father was livid. Mulan had never seen him so angry. He stormed out of the house and she saw him in the temple, praying. He stayed there for hours. He only hoped these three friends would make good on their promise.
Finally safe at home, Mulan slept soundly for the first time in months, next to her parents. Even though she no longer laid in terror waiting for Shang to appear, she couldn't sleep alone. Not yet. She slept all the next day and the next night.
Time went on. The Hun war ended. Mulan gave birth to a son that she named Zhou after his grandfather.
One day she had a visitor. Yao. She told her family about how he had been one of the soldiers who helped her escape. He told them how the general had been killed by Shan Yu after they found a way to make it happen.
"We had to make a deal with the devil to get rid of the bastard. But once Shan Yu had taken care of the general, we took care of Shan Yu."
Now a different man was general and there wasn't a corrupt bone in him.
"Thank you. I am forever grateful to you for helping my daughter." Fa Zhou told Yao, putting his hand and fist together and bowing low.
A few months later, they were married and he took her child on as his son. He was the only father baby Zhou was raised to know.
Fa Zhou wanted to know how the 3 soldiers got rid of General Shang with Shan Yu's help, then pulled off killing Shan Yu. So while Mulan was out for a ride on Khan, he asked him.
They had gone out into the mountains during the night and found where the Huns were camped out. They approached the night watch and said they wanted to speak with Shan Yu. When he appeared, they told him they needed him to dispose of their general for them after he had repeatedly raped and impregnated a female soldier who was their good friend. Of course, Shan Yu saw nothing wrong with the general's behavior and said so, but he jumped at the chance to take out a general of his enemy's army.
He would hide in Ping's tent. The three soldiers would tell General Shang that Ping had returned and was in his tent.
What Shan Yu didn't know was that the three intended to fire two cannons at the tent as soon as Shang went inside. They knew they would only have a few seconds once Shang was in the tent. If he came out again, they would be beheaded for treason. If Shan Yu left the tent he would probably start attacking the Imperial army.
It worked, but barely.
General Shang looked shocked when Yao told him Ping was back and had gone into his own tent. He got an evil smile on his face. Just before he went in the tent, Chien Po and Ling lit the cannons. They heard a shout and the tent door started to open when the cannons went off, killing both inhabitants instantly.
In one shot, Mulan's rape was avenged and China's worst enemy was defeated.
After that, the Imperial army was able to kill most of the Huns. Another soldier was made general after it was reported that General Li Shang had been killed by Shan Yu, and that they had fired the cannons after seeing the Hun leader sneak into the tent after killing General Li. Only the three friends knew the truth about how the general really died.