Chapter 15: Final Battles
Chen found his way into the passage within the palace walls and closed his eyes, trying to see in his mind the path to the secret exit into the forest that Mulan had taken him to the day before.
"Chen."
"Hi, Mushu."
"Where do you think you're going, Chen?"
"I have to help Su-Tan. She's going to be hurt."
"Chen, go back. It is not safe for you out there."
"I don't care. I have to help her." Chen began to run through the passage. Mushu leaped onto his shoulder, not letting him out of his sight.
"You'll come with me, Mushu?" he asked, hopefully.
"I have to make sure you're okay. You're as bad as Mulan. She would do the same thing. And she is going to kill me when she finds out about this. Then Shang is going to kill her."
Chen found his way to the right passageway. He ran to the end and exited out into the forest. He knew Su-Tan was headed out of the city and onto the road back toward where they had been. He climbed up one of the trees along the road so he could have a good view, then watched for her approach.
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The troops were now as prepared as they could possibly be, but Shang knew that the unexpected might happen. A message could have gotten through about Chi Fu and Tang, and the group may have retreated. Or their numbers might have been higher than Mulan thought.
Three figures in black cloaks caught his eye. One of the figures was a child. The three of them were coming from the square and they were headed toward the east gate. Shang suspected that it was Xin Shen-Shu and his wife and daughter. As he watched them, he became sure of it. Then the girl stopped and pulled her hood off for a moment and he recognized her. She pulled the hood back up and ran after her parents.
Shang tried to think quickly. They would need to be followed. He thought about Mulan. She would follow them and come up with a clever, somewhat unobvious plan to capture them. He tried to put himself in her place, to think like her. It worked. He signaled to his men that were to be stationed outside of the entrance. He quietly and inconspicuously gestured to the cloaked threesome, indicating that they would be following them. He quickly and quietly told Yao what he was thinking. They split into two groups of twenty each, on each side of the road. Shang led the group on one side, Yao led the group on the other. Then both groups headed out of the city, staying hidden in the brush and among the trees along the side of the road, following the three cloaked figures.
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"Mulan."
"Hi, Mushu. I didn't know if you were still around."
"I was with Chen. Um, Mulan…"
Mulan looked at him. "Oh, don't even tell me…"
Mushu nodded. "He ran off again. He found the way out to the forest that you took him in yesterday. He said he knew where Su-Tan was and that she was going to be hurt. He said he had to help her and that he didn't care if it wasn't safe for him. Sound familiar?"
Mulan cursed.
"I'll stay with him, Mulan."
"You have to, Mushu. I can't do anything. I am personally responsible for the Emperor's safety right now."
"Don't worry. I'll look out for him like I did before."
"Shang is going to kill me when he finds out about this," she muttered as she watched Mushu hop off and disappear.
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Chen peered out at the road through the leaves of the tree he was in. He watched to see who was coming from the city. Eventually he saw the three black-cloaked figures, one of them a kid like him. He knew it was her. He climbed down from the tree and waited until they came near. The kid was lagging behind the two adults and Chen rushed out, put his hand over her mouth before she could scream and pulled her back into the bushes with him.
"Su, it's me, Chen," he whispered when they were safely hidden behind the trees.
"Chen?" she whispered when he uncovered her mouth. Then she smiled.
"Stay with me, Su. You're going to be hurt if you don't."
She pointed toward Shen-Shu and Jia-Nin. "But…"
Chen shook his head. "You can't go with them. You'll be hurt."
"How do you know?"
"I just do."
"What do we do now?"
"We wait until they're gone. Then we can go back to the city. My big brother and sister can help you."
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Xin Shen-Shu and his wife hurried to the forest path to meet up with their comrades.
"What's the plan now?" Jia-Nin asked.
"We have to talk to Bao. We have to warn him that Chi Fu and Tang are dead and that they are onto us. We either need to call this off or we need to come up with another plan."
"They're probably on the lookout for us as well. They think you're in the city. I'm not sure if anyone knows where I am."
"I know, and…Su-Tan is lagging behind again." He turned around to call to her and saw that she wasn't behind them. "Where did she go now?"
"She was just here…"
"She ran off again," he said, beginning to curse angrily.
"I'd better look for her."
"Leave her. It serves the little brat right for running off. We have to wait for Bao and the others."
"I'd better go and look for her. Even though she's not our child, we promised…"
"You promised, I didn't. Besides, she couldn't have gone far. We'll look for her later. They'll be coming along the forest path. We must be here to catch them before they come out onto the road."
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Chen and Su-Tan remained hidden behind the trees, watching the Xins. Chen was wearing a hooded black cloak like her, and they both kept their hoods up so they wouldn't be seen.
Mushu was keeping a lookout for them and he told Chen that several men from his brother's army were there.
"Whatever you do, Chen, stay hidden there with Su-Tan. Do not come out. Do you understand me? No one is to see you."
Chen nodded at Mushu. He already knew that the army was there; he was aware of Shang's and his army's presence.
What he didn't know was that he and Su-Tan had already been seen.
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Shang stayed in a tree on one side, watching the forest path where the Xins were waiting for their comrades. He had a clear view of Yao, who was in a tree across the path, also watching the forest path. They could make eye contact and signal each other easily. Shang had explained the drill to his group, and Yao knew the plan and had explained it to his group. They were just waiting.
Shang quickly glanced down toward the two small figures in black hoods that were hiding behind the trees, praying that they would stay there. They hadn't moved so far. It appeared that Chen was at least smart in his recklessness. Like Mulan. He was angry at Chen for running away again; but he had to admire his bravery and his willingness to put himself on the line to help this little girl.
He turned his glance away from them and back to the forest path. He would deal with Chen later.
Yao signaled him that he could see the group approaching on horseback. Shang signaled for Yao to be ready to cue his men. Then he turned to his own men and signaled the first group that they were to act on his cue as soon as the group was in the right spot.
He waited until the entire group on horseback was in the right position, then he nodded to Yao. They both signaled the first wave of men in each of their groups.
Twenty-five of the men stationed in the trees jumped down from both sides and onto the men on horseback, fighting them and pulling them to the ground. Several of the horses were starting and whinnying hysterically. Yao managed to somehow coax two of them to run off into the forest, and several of the horses began to follow. Two men had the Xins at sword point.
Shang waited until each one of the rebels was covered by one of his men and relieved of all weapons. He then signaled for the rest of the men to come out. They appeared and covered the group of rebels with bows and knocked arrows.
Shang stepped out and approached the leader of the group, his sword out.
"Please don't even think about trying to escape. My men are excellent swordsmen. And my archers are crack shots. And now, if you would accompany us to the Imperial City."
Shang signaled for Yao to lead. Then he went to bring up the rear. He turned to look in the direction of the two small figures.
"You can come out now, Chen."
"Uh oh," he heard Chen mutter.
Chen crept out timidly with Su-Tan.
Shang gazed at his little brother sternly. "Walk with me. And anything I tell you to do, you do it. Is that clear?"
Chen nodded.
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Shang and Mulan sat with Chen and Shang scolded his brother for running away again.
"Chen, did you hear nothing of what I said to you last night?" Shang asked him. "You could have gotten hurt or killed!"
Chen looked at Mulan.
"Don't look at Mulan. I'm talking to you. Why did you run away again, Chen? Didn't you learn after the first two times you ran off?"
"I knew where Su-Tan was and that she was going to be hurt."
"Then why didn't you tell Mulan?"
"She had to stay with the Emperor. I had to help."
"Why didn't you tell me, then?"
Chen looked at his feet.
"From now on, if you think anyone is going to be harmed, tell me or tell Mulan and let us handle it. You could have ended up in the middle of the battle."
"But you won't believe me."
"Yes, I will, Chen. I didn't understand before, but I do now. What you did was very brave and noble, but you are too young to be going out like that and risking your life. I don't want you to do that again. From now on, you tell me or Mulan. Do you understand me?"
Chen glanced at Mulan and she smiled at him, indicating that she had told Shang everything. He turned back to Shang and nodded. Shang put his arm around his brother.
"What's going to happen to all those people, Shang?"
"The ones we caught, you mean?"
"Yes."
"They have been sentenced for treason. They are imprisoned now, and the leaders will be executed."
"Are we going to go home soon?"
"Soon. Tomorrow Grandfather is coming back here and so is Mulan's family. There is going to be a ceremony for us and for my troops."
"What about Su-Tan?"
"Su-Tan will be fine. The Emperor has made her a ward of the palace and she will be brought up here. She will have a much better life now."
"Will I be able to visit her?"
"I don't know, Chen. If it's okay with the Emperor, then you might be able to."
