By Pooky
Chapter Five:
Mulan wasn't angry when Shang told her that she had been given time off from her duties. In fact, she was thankful and had been hoping for a little time to herself. Her nightmares did not fade the night after the execution - her last night in the Palace before she left - but grew even worse and more detailed. Finally, she had given up on sleep that night altogether, climbing out of bed to read one of the books Shang had recommended. But even that had not soothed her, not when she found herself looking left and right for Shan-yu every other moment.
Shang had found her that way, curled up on the sofa and shaking with her book thrown down. He seemed to forget his composure completely when he ran to her, trying to make him repeat what she was seeing in her mind. She couldn't though, it was too difficult to speak of still. Instead, he tried to distract her, telling her there was still no suspect as to whom the assassin was yesterday afternoon. Mulan had the sneaking suspicion that it was Taiping, trying to be rid of her, his distraction. It only made sense that she would so willingly send Mulan away when the attempt had failed. She did not voice these musings to Shang, having no idea what sort of feelings or affections he held for this aunt. He made no clear speculations of his own.
He did bring good news though, their marriage had been hastened and was to take place in two weeks. But instead of spending the time with Tie-lin as he had suggested, Mulan elected to take one last visit to her family before her marriage. During the shortened betrothal, they had been given a home outside of Louyang, in order to speed the correspondence and exchange the necessary gifts between families without the delay of travel. She was sure that seeing her family would restore her to some peace of mind. There would be time in the future to spend with Tie-lin, considering that Shang had said Marshal Yu had given Tai-shan estates in Louyang, and as inseparable as the two men were Tie-lin was bound to be her only company. But after her marriage, her family would be moving back south.
And so hat was the morning she left Ch'ang-an, in relative peace compared to the next time she would see it.
~ * ~
When the day finally did arrive, Mulan found herself facing the ultimate nervousness. She had not been this nervous when she had ran off to Wu Zhong even, but now her hands were shaking as she bowed solemnly to her parents. When the carriage arrived, heralded by all the cadence of the procession, Mulan could hardly keep still. But her grandmother quickly draped the crimson veil over her face and restrained her with a hand on her arm.
"Now I know he's handsome, Mulan," her grandmother teased as she always did. "But you've got to practice some composure if you're going to impress his family." Mulan swallowed, there was a sobering thought. She couldn't impress bumbling villagers, let alone the nobility. "Just remember, if you can wield a sword, you can serve the tea today." Mulan was glad the veil hid her blushes. At least she had not spilled a drop when she had served it to her parents a few moments before
The door creaked open, her grandmother led her into the sunlight where all of her relatives had gathered outside to meet the procession. Through her veil she could see a familiar tall figure standing there and then more behind him. She sighed, gathering her thoughts and letting her hands fall to her sides, hoping the elaborate red dress provided by Taiping herself was not too gaudy. Her grandmother had styled her hair ornately, around her bridal crown, and Taiping had sent a handmaiden as a gift who worked an impressive image with a make-up brush. Still, the old Matchmaker's words followed her you may look like a bride, but you will never bring your family honor!
Mulan wanted to hide, she was marrying the Emperor's nephew!
"Honorable Fa Zhou," her heartbeat quickened when she heard Shang speak. "Madam Fa." It was going to be alright, she reassured herself, he wanted this marriage. He was the one who had seen her at her most bumbling and stupid moments, the one who had seen her dirty, injured and bruised, the one from whom he accepted comfort. He could not possibly be ashamed of her.
A woman she did not know took her arm and led her to the carriage, through her barely translucent veil Mulan could see the ground had been covered with red mats, as her feet were not allowed to touch the naked earth. Once inside the carriage with Shang beside her, Mulan had the urge to peel back the curtains and peek at what relatives of hers would be joining the entourage, but Shang stayed her hand.
"You can't look outside," he scolded her, as if she were still a recruit. She smiled. "You aren't supposed to subject yourself to evil influence. Speaking of which, are you feeling better?"
She nodded slightly. "A little." Her grandmother had been putting herbs in her tea to help her sleep too deeply for nightmares. The wedding preparations had provided a distraction at least, but sometimes when she was alone it was not so easy.
The journey to the heart of Louyang took three hours, but thankfully the temporary home her parents had been given was on the eastern edge of the city, lengthening the trip by a good two hours. For the most part, they sat in silence in the carriage, but exchanged a few words over the happenings at court. Li Dan had still not yet arrived, though Taiping had evinced no worry, saying he would come when it was time. Mulan suspected that Shang feared he would never arrive, to Taiping's complete knowledge, leaving her an opening to take the throne herself. He did not say this, but explained that Taiping's influence far surpassed that of Empress Wei, since the early days beside her mother, the Princess had exhibited a precocious mind for politics, gaining her both skill and influence. In her lifetime the Princess had stopped two rebellions, the one in Louyang and one outside the capital. People followed Taiping, Shang explained, they devoted themselves to her. The assassin on the platform still seemed to perplex him though. Taiping seemed to know, but was not willing to answer.
It was Shang who helped her out of the carriage when they arrived at the family's temple. Once again she was required to step on red mats rather than the plain ground. A mirror was flashed over her, a handful of rice scattered before her and she was made to walk over a flame before crossing into the family estate, cleansed of all malignancies. Only then did Shang turn to her in front of all the assembled relatives and lift the red veil from her face. When the audience gasped, Mulan suddenly wanted to snatch the veil back, but she dared do nothing but stand with her hands primly at her sides. He stood and gazed at her for a long moment, smiled, and then appeared slightly embarrassed at the sighs from the women, turning towards the temple.
Men lined the temple, Taoist priests in red robes, while all their relatives and her chosen female attendants gathered outside, her in-laws hoping to get a good look at her. She searched for Tie-lin, but could not pick her out in the crowd. Mulan stiffened nervously as the end of a red ribbon was tied to one of her hands and then one of his, joining them. They bowed to Heaven and Earth, to the Ancestors and then to each other, nearly completing the simple ceremony. The last thing to do was the thing she had been dreading all along, serve the tea.
Since his father - and all of his uncles but the absent Li Dan - were no longer living, the only ones to whom tea must be served were Shang's mother and stepmothers, Tie-lin, and his mother's brother. The honored relatives sat while one of the female attendants brought the tray holding the teapot and the exact number of cups. Mulan managed to fill the cups without disaster, but not with as much grace as she would have liked.
Lotus seeds were place in the tea, and two red dates, the sweetness of the drink hoping for sweet relations between her and her in-laws. She followed Shang's example as he knelt before his mother, keeping to his left. It was the first real look she had of her mother-in-law, a small elegant woman who was an older version of Tie-lin, the mystic Tan Liu. Second to her husband, this woman had the power to make her life miserable. She did not smile at her son as he knelt and held the teacup out to her with both hands, but her eyes betrayed some pride as she returned a red wrapped gift on the tea try and another for the attendant. Tie-lin was smiling openly as she accepted her tea from Mulan, leaving her gift that could only be jewelry. The other two wives were quite different, even Shang showed much resentment as he held the tea out for them. It seemed to hurt his pride to kneel at their feet. They wore much more make-up and jewelry than Shang's mother, and they were glaring at her. Mulan had the sneaking feeling she was not going to get on well with them.
After leaving the temple, they climbed in the litter again though it was only a short ride through the grounds to his father's house, taking no longer than a few minutes. Mulan looked at Shang, and he back at her. They were husband and wife now, and were both nervous as ever. Of all the things they had been through, it seemed so impossible, he couldn't be the same officer who had struck terror in her with a glance. That seemed like years ago.
Next came the wedding banquet, which had gathered the guests in the main hall bright with red flowers and garlands and lanterns. It was approaching dusk now, through the patterned windows Mulan could see the green terraces and pavilions, the shimmering pools and walks. The house itself was as fine as the Palace, the patterned foreign rugs, the elaborate paintings and pottery, the jade carvings decorating the halls. It was enough to take her breath away. There were so many people, seated around small tables laden with delicacies and flowers, ornately gilded chopsticks and sugar sculptures, wine in fine goblets. She spotted Tai-shan, who smiled from across the room and made some sort of silly gesture, no doubt very very drunk. Oddly enough Mulan even spotted Ling, Yao and Chien-Po. But anyone could attend a wedding feast.
Mulan took her place beside Shang, who seemed well aware of what to do and was not put off by the people around him. She was sure he had seen plenty of cousins and military friends married before. The banquet consisted of eight courses, and then a desert, sweet dumplings topped with peanuts. During the meal Tie-lin made an effort to chat and offer congratulations, Shang's mother seemed to watch the two women with interest, as if studying Mulan and puzzling her out before she spoke. She was a quiet woman, Mulan could see that, but she seemed to be liked among the guests.
Finally she did speak, and even smiled. "Fa Mulan, after all I have heard about you I must say you surprise me." Mulan did not quite know what to make of that, but she smiled. "I have not seen my son in two years, but I am pleased he has acquired such a lovely bride. I am glad to gain a daughter-in-law now that I will have to give a daughter away."
"Thank you, Popo," she awkwardly mouthed the word for "mother-in-law" for the first time.
By the time the banquet ended, Mulan could see from the windows that the hour was very late. The sky had fallen into complete darkness, making the glow of the lanterns in the bushes seem all the more vivid. She wished for a walk in those gardens which appeared so lovely with their winding paths, but not tonight. Soon would come the second thing today which had her tense with nervousness.
She joined Shang in politely bowing and thanking guests before a good two dozen men and women their age - including Tai-shan, Tie-lin and her three friends - jumped up and surrounded them like an ambush, dragging them up the many flights of stairs to their bedchamber. Just as in the Palace, Mulan quickly became lost with all the stairs and turns, but soon found herself shoved through a door and then another, and then pushed onto the bed beside Shang.
In all the commotion, she had time to notice two things about her new room: One, it was enormous, and two the great red bed upon which she sat was strewn the seeds of lotus, oranges, dates and pomegranate, as well peanuts and ginger leaves. All of these were omens of fertility, which in the present situation, Mulan found very embarrassing.
It was Tai-shan, the accursed Tai-shan, who began the ritual teasing by gesturing at Mulan. "I never thought she'd clean up so pretty, Shang. I bet you can't want for us to leave." He turned to the others. "Who wants to make a wager? I'll bet he'll tear off her clothes faster than I can disarm him!" The crowd broke into wild laughter, and there began the most heartfelt attempt to provide a ceremoniously mortifying experience for her wedding day.
They laughed even harder at Shang's glare, promising his friend due revenge when the time came, and then remembering that would not be possible, since the bride would be his own sister. Mulan didn't think anything could embarrass Tai-shan anyway, some of the things that came out of the man's mouth made her ears burn.
An eager eyed girl tossed her head and laughed. "Look at my new cousin-in-law!" she declared cheerfully. "I may be afraid to fight Huns, little one, but I'm not afraid of the joys of fish in water!"
"Just kiss her, Cousin," another girl said, her smile slightly wanton. "Kiss her until her cheeks are red with passion!" A roar of cheers rose up for that idea. "Or should I fetch her armor to make it more exciting. It would be like making love to a man and woman at the same time!" The brazen statement seemed to shock everyone in the room, even the men, but shock was soon replaced with more laughter.
The first girl's eyes lit up. "And, Cousin-in-law, you can even borrow my boots!" Lifting a bit of impressively tapestried blue skirt, Shang's cousin twirled her foot proudly. Sure enough, she was wearing men's boots. He had not lied about his girl cousins, she certainly did seem to think this pretty fashionable.
Mulan looked around at her tormentors - sure her face was as red as her dress - for just one person to take pity on her. Shang was silent, enduring it all with a shocked patience. Her eyes settled on Tie-lin, who was holding Tai-shan's arm and smiling behind her fan.
"Just remember the Tao," she reminded with a smirk. "The hard and stiff belong beneath, while the supple and yielding belong on top."
The flame in her cheeks spread to her ears. Mulan's jaw dropped. Betrayed by Tie-lin.
When Yao stepped forward and clapped Shang on the shoulder, Mulan had the feeling it was going to get worse. "I'm going to bribe your servants, pretty boy, and if they don't hear her screaming your name then tomorrow we're going to come and beat you up." That was it! Mulan dove forward and buried her head in Shang's shoulder. She could no longer bear to look at any of them, nor to hear anymore of what was said. Her reaction rewarded her with the richest laughter she had ever heard. Strangely, it made her feel welcome.
"Oh don't worry, Mulan," Tai-shan was mocking her. "I'm sure Shang will be very very gentle. You'll have to worry about hurting him." He and two male cousins began laughing quietly to themselves.
"Alright," Shang declared after a few more moments of remarks she couldn't even bear to ponder. "Get out!" He wasn't angry, in fact she had caught him grinning as he tried to avert his eyes. They obeyed him with more laughter and bawdy jokes as they made their way out the door.
The cousin who had displayed her boots leaned quickly over Mulan's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Don't be so shy, Cousin-in-law, the bedroom is where a woman has real power." With that, she was the last to scurry out of the room.
It took a few moments after the others had withdrawn for Mulan to inch her head away from Shang's shoulder, but still there was no way she could meet his eyes, her cheeks were on fire. His hand stroked her hair soothingly, fondly, as if her reaction to their taunts had amused him. Amused him! The man who had uttered the brilliant "you fight good."
She finally did look up at him, slowly at first. He appeared happy, as happy as she had ever seen him and that sent her melting inside. His eyes were soft, sparkling with the laughter with which he had regarded her embarrassment. A smile even graced his features, and not just the hint of one as he had too often shown, a real smile. She smiled back, they were husband and wife now, bound by a vow, a sacred vow before Heaven and Earth and all their Ancestors. No one could break it, or take that away.
"You're blushing," he pointed out quietly, brushing his fingers against her russet cheek.
"So are you," she reminded him, not nearly as badly as she was though, but enough to tease him about. It was hard not to blush after the things their friends had said.
Mulan took a good look at her new chamber, lit with red candles and decorated with more red flowers. It was beautiful really. He kicked off his shoes and she did the same, removing the phoenix crown from her head. She wanted to take off the heavy red gown, but couldn't just yet. They were supposed to... She glanced at the big bed, her blushes starting all over again.
"You look so nervous," he was still smiling. "Like you did when you were fumbling for a name." Touching her cheek again, he added, "Only a lot prettier."
"It's been a long day," was all she said.
Moving closer, he sighed. "I know." They sat in silence for a moment, a nervous silence, neither wanting to seem too eager.
His arm encircled itself around her waist, lifting her face with his other hand, his eyes saying he would be hurt if she was afraid. Not knowing what else to do, she wrapped her arms around his neck, the first time she had ever been that close to him. His hand crept up her back, and she rested her cheek against his neck as he pulled her down on the pillows.
Suddenly she grew more nervous than ever, her entire body stiffening. She recalled the few things her grandmother had said on this subject, how one could get with child from this, how it could be painful if the man wasn't careful. Her heartbeat climbed, frightened of both of those things.
"Scared?" His fingertips were curled around her chin now, the soft part of his thumb stroking her lower lip. Pressed so closed to him there was no way to hide the tension she felt. "Don't be scared. It's just me."
Whimpering something, she lay there under him, still and trusting. There was something about the weight of him on top of her, different from all the times they had sparred and rolled around at camp. Laying her head back, she took his head in both hands. "Shang, I want you to kiss me."
Raising an eyebrow, he grinned. "Where?" He began to pull the red silk from her shoulders. Mulan smiled broadly, she wasn't nervous anymore.
~ * ~
She awoke to her new husband shaking her. "Mulan?"
She stretched under the tangled covers, groaning. The soreness in her back and legs was quite unlike any ache she had received from a martial arts exercise. She supposed it was made worse by the fact that she was so small.
"Mulan, you're supposed to go to the altar at dawn. The sun has been up for a quarter hour. They're waiting for you, Third Mother will have it in for both of us if she could have slept in longer."
Throwing the covers off in a panic, Mulan looked around the room frantically for something to wear. It wasn't fair, she mumbled to herself, she had only been asleep for two hours at most. Her make-up was a smeared mess, her hair was ruined beyond repair, and she had nothing but her wedding dress as an outer garment.
"What am I supposed to do?" She demanded in a shriek. "Your mother is going to think I am a failure as a daughter-in-law!"
He leaned on his elbow, the red silk sheet wrapped around his bare chest. "Tell her you were up late trying to give her grandchildren, no one can argue with that." After her glare to show that she wasn't amused, he turned serious. "Call for the servants, they can work quickly."
He was not wrong at least, the servants helped her to the quickest and most thorough bath she had ever had, wiping off the horrid make-up and wrapping her still wet hair in a simple bun with a single flower comb. They dusted a light layer of powder over her face and a small bit of red rouge to her lips, stuffing her into a blue silk gown with a bit of embroidery. Within a few minutes, she was holding up her skirts and following her new servants down the hall, managing to make a somewhat dignified entrance to where the three women waited.
Between Third Wife and Second Wife it was hard to tell who was more irate. Both were slightly plump women, with Third Wife being the taller and prettier between them. Shang's mother showed no anger whatsoever but stood in her patient fashion as Mulan approached.
"I'm sorry, Popo," she apologized to her mother-in-law quickly, but felt no need to do the same to the others beyond including them in the humble bow of her head. She couldn't exactly give the excuse Shang had suggested, she couldn't think of any suitable excuse to give.
Her Popo gave a nod to accept the apology, with something that Mulan thought must be amusement. "I expected as much," she said smoothly. "My son warns me that punctuality is not one of your strong suits."
Mulan blushed, it was true, she had never been on time for anything important, not the Matchmaker and not her first official day at camp. "I'll try not to give you as many fits as I gave your son," she promised with a smile. She was going to have cross words with Shang for not waking her up earlier.
"You see?" Shang's mother turned to Third Wife, Xi Bao. "She is a fine daughter-in-law. Better she come late with genuine words than arrive on time with an overdone show of manners." Mulan did not quite understand this, it contradicted everything she expected of a mother-in-law.
Second Wife sniffed. "Her cheeks are flushed. That son of yours had better not have kept her." Mulan was relieved for a minute that the blame was shifted from her to Shang, but then the woman turned her glare on her. "You may be his pet General elsewhere, but you are still a daughter-in-law now. Tell him to wait."
"Enough," Her Popo said calmly. "She is here now, leave her be."
The other two women huffed a bit more, but soon they fell silent for Mulan to kneel and pay her respects to them and the Ancestors. After Shang's mother proclaimed her the Young Mistress of the house, each of the women gave her a small gift. Third Wife gave her a beautiful jade necklace, Second Wife a pair of earrings, while Shang's mother gave her the best gift, a long-haired cat with pale silver fur.
Sitting the animal in her lap, Mulan smiled. "I had a dog at home, Little Brother, I was beginning to miss having a pet." The cat was fine-boned and tall, with very long silky fur, it's slanted eyes a curious blue peeking out from a sharp wedge of a face. Mulan laughed as the cat began to purr, turning to pose with it's wide brush of a tail.
"They come from Byzantium," Shang's mother explained. "They like to leap and run about, very entertaining animals. I have two of my own. When my son first wrote to me of you, this is what I imagined, you hopping about and defying everyone. A cat is very yin."
Only when Third Wife spoke did Mulan stop smiling. "Your parents were so desperate for a son that you had to name the dog Little Brother?" She broke into smug laughter.
"Look who's laughing!" Second Wife folded her arms. "You have such bad luck that Heaven took your son away from you."
Third Wife whirled on her. "Well let's see if she does any better!" She pointed at Mulan. "Look at her! She's so skinny she looks like she's been starved for months, and no wonder, she comes from such a simple background."
Mulan raised her head angrily, but everyone fell silent when Shang appeared in the doorway.
She wondered how he could have dressed and cleaned himself up so fast. He stood there in full armor and cloak, sword strapped to his side, with a gold scroll in one gauntleted hand. Only the beads of water in his hair betrayed the hurry he must have been in. For all his dour look they may as well have shared no wedding night at all; he had no smile even for her. In a streak of silver, her new pet leapt onto his shoulder, sat upright and coiled her bushy tail around Shang's neck, as if trying to glimpse the contents of the message he held. Ignoring the cat, he strode forward, oblivious to Second and Third Wife's glares.
"Li Shang," Second Wife began in a sound scolding. "You had best tell that precious bride of yours to keep that creature in her room. You know I hate them, always sniffing about trying to see what I'm up to."
"Li Shang," Third Wife was not to be left out. "Punish that bride of yours, I had to rise an hour earlier for nothing." Shang's own mother was silent, neither joining in to complain, nor defending Mulan or her son.
Shang seemed to treat them the way that he treated Chi fu, and with no love lost. He simply gave them a nod to acknowledge that they had spoken but otherwise ignored him. They seemed to find his silence infuriating.
"A message from Ch'ang-an," he announced somberly, and kneeling at her shoulder, he unfurled the scroll so she and the cat could read it. The letter was written in the form of a poem, too cryptic to make any sense at all, but she supposed that was the idea. "It's from Princess Taiping," he explained too quietly for the other women to hear. "Empress Wei has her under house arrest because she refuses to take the blame for my uncle's death. She can't execute Princess Taiping, a civil war would break out. But if she makes her lose face, she may gain enough power to win the court and seize the throne, they way Empress Wu did. We have to rescue Taiping, we're going to need an army, just like in Louyang five years ago. The Palace guard is loyal to Empress Wei."
Mulan's eyes grew wide. The day after her wedding and already the squabbles of the court had come to haunt her? Was there no such thing as peace? "Whose army?" she whispered back.
"My cousin's," he sighed. "Li Longji, very famous military man, camped outside Ch'ang-an. And later the newly appointed General Meng. Those are her orders." Orders? Since when had they become her personal generals?
Second Wife huffed loudly, stalking over to pull the scroll from Shang's hands. "What is this about?" She demanded hotly. "We don't have time to watch you two whisper to each other all day."
Rolling the scroll up quickly, he held it away from her, smiling with a false sweetness. "Second Mother," he feigned an exaggerated concern. "Do you know that if you were to see this, you could be executed?"
"Who's going to tell?" She laughed coldly.
He lifted his eyes slightly in the direction of Third Wife and shrugged. Second Wife's face tightened in anger. Having had enough, Shang rose. "Come on, Mulan, get your things, we have to leave for the capital immediately."
When Mulan came to the main hall again dressed in her armor, only Shang's mother was waiting there. She wore a look of concern, but otherwise spoke calmly. "You are in a dangerous position, daughter-in-law, Remember to always be like water. Sometimes you must overcome with yielding, other times attack with force. Skill is in the timing." She said this with a small bit of rebuke, for this morning Mulan supposed.
"I'll remember," Mulan inclined her head, then ran off to find Shang
with the horses.
