Shang's POV

After I got the palace guard in place, I was given some days off. I decided right away to visit Mulan. It was a 12 hour ride. That gave me time to think.

When we'd first started having sex, I'd seen her as little more than a plaything. I didn't care about her feelings at all, only about her meeting my needs. She had the strong desire to keep her father alive, and I had used that to my own advantage. At home, I had become accustomed to my father's concubines. Every night, I'd bring one to my room and had badly missed that. While being away at army camp, I'd longed to be with a woman again. I jumped at the chance to take advantage of Mulan's situation.

Gradually, I'd started to recognize she was a human being. Then when she comforted me so much after my father's death, I'd realized I felt love for her.

The realization of how badly I had acted was beginning to hit me. Was Mulan angry with me for this? I was angry and disgusted at my own lack of self-control.

I hoped to be able to ask her father for her hand. I knew I would likely be questioned about how I had discovered her gender and how I dealt with it. I knew she wouldn't intentionally offer any information about our agreement, but what if they figured it out? What if that medic had visited and told them what I was making Mulan do to stay alive?

Her father may be angry with me, very angry. I really wanted to see her again, so I decided it was a risk I was willing to take.

When I got to her house, she showed me where the stable was. As soon as we were inside we were in each other's arms, kissing for a few minutes. I started to push her up against a pole, but she told me to cool it. Her family could walk in any moment. It was not gonna be easy to keep my hands off of her, but I didn't have a choice. Now was an excellent time to practice some self-control.

While I cared for my horse, she briefed me on what her parents had been asking her and her answers. They had been grilling her about whether or not anything had happened between us. She told me what her story had been about how I'd discovered she was a girl, so we'd both have the same story.

She took me in the house and introduced me to them. Her mother invited me for supper, then drug Mulan off to the kitchen with her. That left me alone with Fa Zhou, who was looking at me with a rather solemn expression that I had a difficult time reading.

He suggested we walk outside. He walked with a limp and used a crutch, but stood tall and proud. Once we got to the stone bench in the garden, he sat down and motioned for me to sit as well.

"I thank you, General, for sparing my daughter's life when you discovered her secret. Tell me, why did you choose to go against the law?"

"She was my best soldier. Her first few weeks there, she failed miserably at everything. I had finally told her she needed to go home one night after she failed to keep up during a long run.

Up until that point, no one had been able to retrieve the arrow from the pole. But the next morning when I came out of my tent, she was sitting on the top with the weights on her shoulder and threw the arrow at my feet.

After that, she excelled at nearly everything she did. The rest of the men were inspired by her, because she was the youngest and smallest.

When her armor came off during a spar and I discovered her secret, she told me she had come in your place. I could tell how much she loves you. I would have done the same for my father. Knowing that, I couldn't bring myself to carry out the law. So I let her stay and she kept on being Ping, which was her boy name."

"So you let her stay without any conditions?"

"Yes, sir."

"There wasn't anything extra she had to do to persuade you to keep her secret for her?"

"No, sir."

"Nothing extra at all?"

"No, sir."

He looked at me silently, as if deciding whether or not to believe me.

"All my years in the army have told me commanding officers with females in their ranks usually behave differently, your father included, but I'll take you at your word."

"Thank you, sir."

So he knew of my father's behavior?

"Tell me, General Li Shang, why did you come here today?"

"I would like to marry your daughter and have come seeking your blessing."

At that, he studied me for a long moment. I swallowed hard under his intense stare. I suddenly remembered my father once talking about how this man was an excellent judge of character, and incredibly intuitive. I began to wonder what he saw as he regarded me.

"You have my blessing, if she is willing to marry you."

"Thank you, sir. I did speak to her about marriage already and she is willing."

"Before she joined the army, she didn't believe in herself at all. Now there is a confidence in her I never thought I'd see. This morning, before she even ate breakfast, she practiced martial arts, ran laps and tended the horse. Then she cleaned his stall and the chicken coop and bathed the dog. It used to be difficult to get her to do chores at all. I think army life was good for her. But I'm not sure how she is going to transition back into a woman's role. She failed miserably at the Matchmaker's and we'd given up hope of her ever marrying."

When we went inside, Mulan looked at me questioningly. I smiled at her to signal that everything was ok. She gave me a relieved smile back. She took my hand and we went outside.

"How long can you stay here?"

"I have 6 days before I need to be back in the Imperial City."

"What if we got married tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"We both love each other, so what's the point in waiting to get married? Besides, we both know there's certain activities we can't do here unless we are married."

"We can live here if we need to, can't we, until I get a permanent home near the Imperial City?"

"I think so."

We walked back into the house and told her family that we wanted to be married the next day. Her mother and grandmother looked surprised, but Fa Zhou did not. He told the others that I had asked for his blessing and he had given it.

We had a small ceremony the next day, with just her family and a few close friends. I had no more family left to come. My father had been the last of my family and now he was gone. I hoped that he was watching over us.

I finally felt like I had made everything right between us. At least, I thought I did. Maybe not everything.

I wondered if Mulan was angry with me for the situation I had put her in. When I asked her the morning of our wedding, she changed the subject.

Either she didn't want to talk about it at that time and in her family's possible earshot or she had strong feelings she wasn't ready to express. I sensed it was probably both.