Chapter 10: Reunions
Mushu finally showed up that evening.
"Okay, Mulan, Shang is on his way."
"Was he able to see you?"
"I'm not sure. But he heard me. I spoke to him when he was half asleep. He thinks he was dreaming. But he is on his way, so he seems to have placed stock in the dream. I left him the black cloak and he's wearing it over his armor."
"And you told him to stay off of the road and off of the forest path?"
"Done."
"Would you talk to him again the same way tonight?"
"For what?"
"To let him know that Chen is alright. But without telling him where he is. If it worked once, hopefully it will work again."
"I'll try it."
"You left the pieces of the dress in the leaves of the trees like I said to leave a trail?"
"Done. And he knows about that."
"Good."
"I'll talk to the captain tonight and then go back to Chen."
"Okay. When the Xin family is getting close to our position come back then and let me know."
"You got it."
"Thanks, Mushu."
xxxxxx
Mulan climbed up into the tree with the thick trunk and branches that had been her bed and look-out post as she heard the rustle of the brush behind her. She peered down, trying to see in the darkness.
"It's Shang," said Mushu.
"Shang," she said, softly. She climbed down the tree.
"Mulan!"
They embraced and kissed passionately.
"Oh, Mulan," he murmured, his lips brushing against her hair. "I didn't know what happened to you."
"I'm sorry, Shang. They made me leave immediately. I wanted to talk to you before I left but they said I couldn't."
"I know. I figured that's what happened. But I was still so worried." He squeezed her so tightly she could hardly breathe.
"Shang, I'm so glad you're here."
"Mulan. Chen is missing. He's been missing since the night of the banquet. No one knows where he is."
Mulan held him, heartbroken as she saw how anguished and distraught he was, and tried to comfort him. She glanced up at Mushu.
"I'll say something to him tonight when he is sleeping," Mushu assured her.
Mulan gestured to the tree. "This is where I've been sleeping and keeping a lookout. I know you're frantic and upset. But I have a lot to tell you."
"I know. It's odd. I was having the strangest dream about it this morning. That's how I knew to come here. And then…this black cloak was left for me. I can't imagine who would have come into my room and spoken to me. I thought it was…it looked like…"
"What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. It was just a dream."
"Were you able to follow my trail?"
"The pieces of cloth. I couldn't see the color because it was too dark. But I could see the cloth in the leaves. I gathered them all just in case someone else tried to follow them. There's no longer a trail."
"Very clever, Captain," she said, grinning.
"Anyone could have found you, though. Someone could have come before me…"
She shook her head. "Not unless they knew what to look for. That's why the pieces of cloth were left above eye level. No one would be looking up at them unless they knew to look up."
Shang put his arms around her waist and kissed her again. "You are the smartest person I've ever met, Mulan."
She laughed. Then she became serious and told him about what the Emperor and Shen-Li had told her after everyone else was gone. She told him about Captain Tang. And she told him about the Xin family and how they were carrying messages back and forth between someone in the Henan Province and someone in the Imperial Palace.
"I felt like something was wrong all this time," Shang told her. "The whole assignment that the rest of us had seemed strange. And I knew Tang wasn't to be trusted."
She told him her plan as to how they could stop the Xin family, get the message that was on its way back to the palace and get it into the hands of the Emperor.
Shang thought it was a good plan. She told him that she expected the Xin family to be approaching their position in a few days.
"We should take turns being on the lookout until they arrive," Shang mused.
"Agreed."
Shang couldn't fathom how she had obtained all of the information that she had. She couldn't tell him about Mushu or Chen. So she just advised him that a lot of information had come from Shen-Li, who was keeping watch in the palace, and the rest had come from her own spying. Part of that was true anyway.
"I guess you can't say anymore."
"No. I can't."
xxxxxx
"What is it, Captain Tang?" Chi Fu asked as the captain entered the room shutting the door behind him and indicating that they speak quietly in case someone was listening outside the door.
"Captain Li is gone."
"Really?"
"Yes. He did not report to his post this morning and he is not in his room."
"Well, well. This is a development. My advice is that you should put out a warrant for his arrest the moment he is sighted. Set up checkpoints at all entrances to the city and give orders to all of your guards to arrest Captain Li on sight."
"He has probably left the city. He wouldn't be coming back."
"He'll be back. I am sure he went to find that creature."
"What?" Captain Tang stared at him in confusion.
"Fa Zhou's daughter. They will both be back."
"We should tell the Emperor…"
"No. Tell him nothing. I am sure those two will be trying to get to the Emperor. You must see to it that they get nowhere near him."
"Do you think either of them know something?"
"I don't know. But we must take precautions. Besides, I have my own personal wish to see those two dead as well as the Emperor. Even if they know nothing."
"Captain Li's little brother is missing as well."
"Really? Now that's an interesting development."
"He may be with Fa Mulan. When we sent her out to scout in the Henan Province I had suggested that she take him as part of her cover. She declined and said she couldn't. Perhaps she had a change of mind and took him with her after all."
"We should try to find him first. He will make good bait to get Captain Li back here if he doesn't come on his own."
xxxxxx
Mulan sat in the tree and peered out toward the road, taking her turn to keep watch. It was the middle of the day already and Mushu had gone back to Chen several hours earlier. He had spoken to Shang as he slept again, reassuring him that Chen was alive and well. Shang had just mumbled incoherently in response, his eyes remaining closed.
Shang was dozing again now, stretched out on the thick branch to her left and leaning up against the trunk of the tree. He seemed to be exhausted.
'He's probably been up every night worrying about Chen,' she thought.
She felt guilty about him having to be so frantic, and she felt that maybe the predicament Chen was in was partly her fault. Perhaps if she had told Shang about Chen's gift, things would have turned out differently.
She knew there was no basis for her to feel this way, but she did nonetheless; and it had made her hesitant about telling Shang about Chen's whereabouts and inadvertent involvement in all of this. She didn't feel that she could begin to explain it to him now. Not until Chen was reunited with him.
She reached out and touched Shang's cheek gently. At least now he looked peaceful and contented as he slept. After a moment she forced herself to turn away from him and keep to her lookout.
xxxxxx
Xin Shen-Shu stopped his horse as he saw a couple of his men step out from their hiding places along the road toward Chang'an. When they realized that it was him they lowered their weapons.
"We have been watching this road for over a week. There has been no woman walking on this road from Chang'an."
Xin Shen-Shu narrowed his eyes, suspiciously. "Either someone in the palace is suspicious and gave us false information to distract us, or that scout figured out that we were here and didn't fall into our trap.
"You and your men remain here. Our forces are two days behind us and will be passing this way on their way to Chang'an. You will join them when they arrive and continue to the Imperial City with them."
The two men went back to their hiding places along the road and the Xin family continued on toward Chang'an.
xxxxxx
Mushu finally showed up again when Mulan was on her watch one night.
"The Xin family is camping about six miles down the road from here. They will be leaving in the morning."
"How is Chen?"
"Upset. He is worried about Shang. He thinks someone is out to harm him."
"Well, I'm sure Captain Tang and other people are planning to arrest him for leaving the city."
"And he thinks someone there is planning to harm you."
Mulan nodded. "Alright. I'll think of something."
"I'll go back to Chen. When we're approaching tomorrow I'll yell out to you."
"Okay. We'll be right by the road. Mushu, make sure Chen knows to stay quiet no matter what and to stay hidden when we ambush the carriage."
Mushu nodded then disappeared again.
Mulan went to Khan who had been with her all of this time. She fed and watered him and prepared him for his journey. She spoke softly to him and explained as best she could that she needed him to go on ahead to Chang'an without her.
He understood her somehow, as he always did. She ripped a piece of cloth from her clothing, made a small cut in her finger and let it bleed on the cloth, then lodged the bloody cloth in his reins. Then she sent him off for Chang'an. She hoped that it would look like she had disappeared and that her horse had just showed up, returning to the city alone; and that it would fool whoever wanted to harm her long enough for her to get to the Emperor first.
xxxxxx
Mulan waited behind the trees alongside of the road as Mushu called out to her. The carriage would pass her first. Shang was waiting further along the road.
As soon as the carriage passed her, she leaped out and ran toward it. The door had been left open by Chen and she caught up to the carriage and leaped in, leaving the door open.
Chen's eyes widened when he saw her and he was about to speak, but she covered his mouth and whispered for him to stay quiet. She glanced at the little girl that Chen was with. She was asleep now, thankfully. With any luck, she wouldn't see what they were about to do with her parents.
"Chen," Mulan said softly. "This is very important. You must stay hidden and quiet, no matter what happens, no matter what you hear, until I tell you otherwise. Okay?"
Chen nodded.
"And don't worry. Everything will be alright. I know Su-Tan is your friend. I promise, she won't be hurt and you won't be hurt. Right now, I want you to stay with her and hide yourself and her. Keep her hidden, even if she screams, okay?"
Chen looked confused for a moment, but then an expression of understanding crossed his face. Mulan knew that he had read her mind and knew exactly what was going to happen next. He grinned and crawled over to Su-Tan, pulling a pile of blankets over both of them.
"You know what to do, Mushu?"
"Cri-Kee's going to do it. Go ahead, Cri-Kee. Do your stuff. And make sure it's Su-Tan you go to, not Chen."
Cri-Kee chirped, then hopped over to the pile of blankets and disappeared underneath. A moment later, Su-Tan screamed.
Outside, Xin Shen-Shu and Xin Jia-Nin stopped their horses at the sound of the scream and Mulan leaped out of the carriage as soon as she felt it stop, closing the door quietly.
"Su-Tan!" the man shouted, angrily.
The woman dismounted from her horse. "I'll go to her."
"You better, because I'm going to kill her if I go back there. She's holding us up."
As the man turned to watch his wife go, Shang leaped out and lunged toward the man, taking hold of his horse's reins with one hand and pointing his sword at the man's stomach with his other hand.
"Dismount, if you please."
The man narrowed his eyes.
"Dismount now, while there is still breath in you," Shang repeated.
The man obeyed. He made a sudden move to try to disarm Shang, but Shang had anticipated his move. He had already flipped his sword in the air, catching it by the blade, and he slammed the hilt into the man's head, knocking him unconscious.
Meanwhile, Mulan had no trouble knocking out Jia-Nin. She opened the carriage door and went in, grabbing some rope. She tied Jia-Nin up, then went to Shang who was standing over the prone body of Shen-Shu. They tied him up as well. Then they loaded both of them into the carriage.
"I'm putting gags on them so they can't scream out," Mulan said, taking two sashes from their robes. "Wait up front in case anyone comes. I'll be right there and we can go."
The moment Shang had gone, Mulan pulled the pile of blankets off of Chen and Su-Tan and threw them over Su-Tan's parents, hiding them before she saw them. She turned back to the two kids and smiled in amusement as she saw them with their arms around each other. Chen had a little girlfriend already.
Su-Tan looked nervous when she saw Mulan, but Chen whispered to her that Mulan was his big sister.
"Chen, where is the dragon?"
Chen pointed to it, directing her to the latch at the bottom. She opened it and pulled the paper out.
She gestured for them to be quiet, then left the carriage, closing the door behind her.
She joined Shang in front. He was waiting by Shen-Shu's horse. He smiled as she approached.
"They had another message to bring to the city from the Henan province," she said. She held the paper out so they could both read it.
Chi Fu -
Received latest message from you. Moving out in two days. Xin family already left today with this message. We will arrive a week from when we leave and will be prepared for your orders
- Bao
"We have to get this to the Emperor," Shang gasped.
They pulled the hoods of their black cloaks over their heads so they could pass themselves off as the Xin couple. Then Shang mounted Shen-Shu's horse and Mulan mounted Jia-Nin's horse and they headed off for the Imperial City.
xxxxxx
"Any developments out there yet, soldier?"
"Only that Fa Mulan's horse showed up in the city and she wasn't with it. We found a piece of cloth with blood on it though. You said that Xin Shen-Shu was arranging an ambush for her. It must have been successful, Captain Tang."
"Maybe," he replied. "Or she may be more clever than we thought. It could be a trick. Continue to keep an eye out for her. Bring her to Chi Fu when you find her."
"Yes, sir."
"What about Captain Li?"
"Nothing yet, but we have checkpoints set up at all entrances. The guards are searching every carriage that comes to the entrances and we are stopping and questioning everyone on foot and horseback that enters the city."
