Test of Time
Chapter 11
Close, Yet So Far
"Bah!" Cao Cao spat and slammed his fist into the pommel of his saddle. "It's that lunatic Zuo Ci again!"
"I think he has a thing for you." Xiahou Dun chuckled and scratched at his beard.
Cao Cao stared a death glare at his cousin and most trusted general. "Not funny."
"I'll go chase him off if it bothers you that much." Dun sighed and looked over at his newest general. "General Li, perhaps you'd like to join me. I'll need someone to back me up when the old coot confesses his love for Cao Cao."
"Shut up!" Cao Cao snapped and pointed an angry finger at Dun. "Or you'll lose that other eye of yours!"
"Sensitive." Dun chuckled and cantered away before he could be damaged in any way shape or form. He looked over his shoulder and saw the new general follow up beside him.
"So who is this man?" Shang asked, not recalling the name from the stories.
"Zuo Ci? Some Taoist nutcase who thinks it's comical to taunt Cao Cao and tell him he's corrupt and evil." Dun yawned. "I think he hits the opium a bit too much and has a bad gambling habit, the man has a death wish."
"Oh." Shang frowned as the came upon the old man. He was skinny and bizarre and it seemed wrong to attack a defenseless man. That was until a deck of cards blew Xiahou Dun out of the saddle.
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"Well…"
"You don't!" Ma Chao exclaimed in triumph. "So the old man was right! You did go to him for his blessing and were running away to have Himiko marry you!"
"What?" Zhao Yun stammered.
"We were?" Mulan looked first to Zhao Yun, then to Ma Chao. Then her eyes wandered back to Ma Chao's naked, sweaty chest.
"No!" Zhao Yun snapped. "He just assumed, just like everyone else!"
"Except those of us who thought we knew you." Ma Chao snorted then looked back to Mulan who was distracted again.
"You want to stay?" Zhao Yun asked, his voice cracking as he spoke.
"Well…."
In the trees above the trio, a hyper teenager clung to a branch. She hummed to herself and adjusted her sun-shaped headdress. "Cao Cao will be pleased, yes! Then maybe he'll see how much I love him. Yes." Himiko jumped across the tree branch and scurried back to the ground. "Stupid Shu bishies will tear each other apart for her…and she doesn't even look that good! Tee heeee!"
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Shang had never really seen anything like it, it was pure magic. The deck of cards swirled around the man and stung like a swarm of bees when they hit. Thankfully Xiahou Dun was taking most of the punishment, but it seemed like the one-eyed general was enjoying it.
"What do you want now, you decrepit sexual predator?" Cao Cao finally arrived and sat upon his jet black steed, sword raised.
"Cao Cao…" Zou Ci smiled "You prepare once more to move your armies to battle Liu Bei….he threatens you. He knows you are not righteous."
"Righteous? Virtuous? What do they really mean? Then mean weakness." Cao Cao growled. "You can not rule a country if you are weak."
"I see you have a new officer?" Zou Ci shifted the conversation and eyeballed Shang. "So does Liu Bei. Cute little girl too, Zhao Yun's new bride-to-be."
"Excuse me?" Shang mouth dropped open. Bride to be?
"Yes. It will make him the fiercest Tiger General of them all, now defending someone he loves. Or is that as you said…a weakness?" Zuo Ci countered and cocked an eyebrow at Cao Cao before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"He…." Xiahou Dun grunted. "Is weird."
"Mulan…." Shang whispered and looked up at Cao Cao.
"Then this is personal for you as well, General." The Lord of Wei nodded and trotted away. Hell had frozen over, Zhao Yun had a woman?
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"It's just that it took me so long to realize what I am. As humiliating as it was at first, I can't imagine ever being proper. I only wanted to honor my family…now all I want is to be myself. There is no middle ground…"
"Mulan, what is it that you want?" Ma Chao prodded.
"I don't know." She slumped her shoulders. "I want to be happy, but that is so selfish. I don't even know what I want."
"Perhaps we should talk about this…before we send you home?" Zhao Yun gulped.
"Okay."
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Mushu paced around the tent and grumbled to himself. "Good thing we're at war! You better show that Zhao Yun what a kidnapper gets! In your, show-tune, stripper-dance sort of manner."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Shang asked.
"It means you get a bit dramatic when you're making a point. Plus you have this whole army taking their shirts off, it's a fad now. I just wish the girls would catch on…"
"Mushu." Shang chided and blew out the candle. He lay on his back in the cot and stared at the tent ceiling. Mulan was not the kind of girl who would just go along with a wedding, so what was he supposed to do? Storm up to the man she had spent her life obsessing over and demand that he return her to him…because he asked first? Well the bottom line was he didn't ask, he told her the conditions that were going to have to be met before he would allow himself to ask her. So really, she was free to make this decision.
"What are you planning to do?"
"I don't know."
Mushu crawled up on the cot and stood on the man's chest. "I don't like that tone mister. I'd like to hear a bit more enthusiasm here!"
"You know her best." Shang sighed. "You have to think there's a part of her that wants to stay. Certainly she deserves a hero like Zhao Yun more than a simple soldier like me."
"That thief?" Mushu snorted. "A dead guy? Are you listening to yourself?"
"I guess we'll see."
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"So this Shang…he didn't really ask you to marry him?" Ma Chao raised an eyebrow.
"Not really…it was contingent upon him becoming a General and…."
"So he makes you wait because he wants to be a higher ranking officer?" Zhao Yun squinted in confusion. "I don't get it."
"Well…I sort of was a more accomplished soldier than him and…"
"Oh." Ma Chao smiled. "He had to prove that he was man enough for you. Sounds like he even knew you were better than him."
"It's not like that!" Mulan frowned. "He's very brave and intelligent and he taught me everything I know."
"Do you love him?" Zhao Yun finally asked.
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