Chapter 6: More Appearances

Mulan lay in bed waiting for Shang to come back in. He had gone out once again to talk to his night watch.

As anxious and upset as she felt, she was glad to see him when he came into the room and she turned to him, smiling. He had an odd, puzzled expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Shang?"

Shang shook his head. "There are a lot of strange things going on here."

"I know."

He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.

"In more ways than one," he murmured. He turned to her. "I saw Su-Tan out there again, in the dark. She was outside in the square, with another child…I could have sworn…" he trailed off.

"What?" she asked, trying to hide her guilt and nervousness over the fact that she knew it was his little brother.

"I thought it was Chen. He was also…in one of those hooded black cloaks, with the hood up so I didn't see his face. That seems to be the latest style around here," he muttered.

Mulan stared at him, mutely, afraid to say anything.

"It wasn't him. I went up to the boy and called to him and when he turned…it was another boy. He was the same size as Chen, but it wasn't him."

Mulan nodded. She knew it had to have been Ming. Chen probably snuck out to get some air. The talented monkey guardian had probably seen Shang coming and sent Chen away, then fooled Shang by transforming himself into a different boy of the same size.

"There seems to be a lot of that going on," he said, thoughtfully.

"Is Su-Tan alright?"

"Yes. I escorted her and her friend back inside."

xxxxxxx

After checking in with Shen-Li in the morning, Mulan went off to talk to Ming. They discussed the details of the plan that they would carry out that evening. Then she turned and spoke to Chen.

"Chen, I know it is hard to be in here all day, but you have to be careful."

"That was why I went out at night. Besides, Ming was with me."

"I know. Still. I don't want you going anywhere without me. Okay?"

"Okay."

Mulan turned to Su-Tan. "Su-Tan, would you do something for me?"

She nodded.

"Do you have Shio?"

Su-Tan nodded and got the little wooden dragon out.

"May I?"

She handed Mulan the toy.

"Thank you. I'm going to put a message in here for Shang. I want him to know at least a little bit about what is going on. I need you to wait in my room and give it to him when he returns there. You will be safe. Just wait there. Give him Shio and point out the bottom to him. Would you do that for me?"

She nodded.

"Thank you, Su-Tan."

Mulan went to the outer chamber and found a pen and paper. She returned to the hidden room and wrote her message. She laid the paper out then, letting the ink dry.

"After Ming and I pull this thing off this evening, I will have to be in hiding. I will try to make it back here; but just in case I can't, Ming will return and he will watch over all of you."

"What about me?" Su-Tan asked.

"After you give Shang the message, you can come back here."

She opened the false bottom of Su-Tan's dragon and picked the paper up, looking it over. For the most part it had dried. She blew on the odd splotches of ink that were still wet, then folded the paper and put it inside the little toy.

"Here, Su-Tan. Do you know how to get to my room?"

"I think so."

"Okay. Go there and wait for Shang."

Su-Tan went off into the outer chamber with her toy dragon and headed off for the room where Mulan and Shang had been sleeping.

Mulan turned to Mi-Ying then. "Okay, Mi-Ying, you know what to do?"

She nodded.

"Ming, I know you are going to be busy carrying this out. But please keep an eye on Mi-Ying, too. I don't want anything to happen to her."

"She will be alright, Mulan."

xxxxxxx

Shang went back into the palace after leaving things to the night watch once again. He went to his room to wash up before going to dinner.

He was shocked to find the little girl Su-Tan in his room when he walked in. She looked up nervously.

"Su-Tan? What are you doing here?"

Su-Tan wordlessly held out her little wooden toy dragon toward his hands. He looked at her for a moment, puzzled. Then he took it from her.

"Uh, thank you."

She pointed to the bottom, pressing the button that opened the toy up. He turned it over and reached in, pulling out the paper that he felt inside.

He opened it and read it.

Dear Shang,

There are some strange things that will be happening here, and unfortunately I am involved. I cannot give you all of the details. But please know that the things that will be happening tonight and after this are not as they appear.

Please also be careful with Shen-Li. I have my suspicions about him.

Mushu is here again, watching over me. Do not worry.

I love you very much. I will see you again as soon as I can.

Mulan

Shang stared at the letter for a long time, reading and re-reading it. Su-Tan stood before him, watching him nervously and fidgeting.

"Su-Tan, do you know where Mulan is now?" he asked gently when he finally looked up from the letter.

She shook her head. He folded the letter back up and put it in his pocket. Then he closed the toy dragon back up and handed it back to her.

"Thank you."

She nodded and he watched her as she began to sidle around him cautiously, watching him as if she was afraid of what he might do. Then she reached the door and hurried out.

Shang washed and went to dinner. He was joined by Yao, Ling and Chien-Po.

"Is something wrong, General?" Chien-Po asked.

"There are a lot of things wrong," Shang sighed, his thoughts on Mulan's letter to him. "And I think Mulan is involved in it all. I guess it's part of her job now. I don't know what I can do for her."

"Well, you know that we'll help, General," Yao said.

"Yeah, Mulan is our good friend."

Tonight was apparently a special night. Ying made an appearance as they ate their dinner then left with his guard. Shang was puzzled as he looked at Ying's strange-looking guard. The man moved in a strange, awkward manner; he shook his head and forgot about it, though.

He thought about what Mulan had written about her suspicions of Shen-Li. Did she think he was involved with the death of the Emperor? He was supposed to have been his most trusted advisor and closest friend. He had pretended to be the Emperor when Chi Fu was out to assassinate him and had gotten stabbed by him in place of the Emperor. Why would he have turned on him just a few months later?

Shang's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of shouting. He saw Shen-Li running out the door. He leaped up and ran after him to see what was going on. His three captains joined him.

"General, in here," one of the guards called to him from the doorway of one of the rooms down the hall.

Shang ran in. Ying was sprawled out on the floor bleeding, a knife in his chest. A different guard was holding the arm of a hooded, cloaked figure that looked like the person he'd seen in the square with Ling and Su-Tan after the Emperor's funeral.

"Mulan?" Shang exclaimed.

"She is the only one here. She must have done this," Shen-Li stated.

"No," Shang answered. "I don't believe it. Mulan would not have done this."

"Yeah, and look. There isn't any blood on her hands," Yao commented. "If she stuck the knife in him, wouldn't there be blood on her hands, or somewhere on her?"

"Where did his guard go?" Shang asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be protecting him?"

"You mean that weird-looking guy?" Ling asked.

"I didn't do it," came a whisper from under the hood.

Shen-Li approached her and yanked her hood back. "What the…?"

"It's a child!" the guard that had found her exclaimed.

"A child?" Ling said. "Hey, is that the girl who looks like Mulan? It is! Hello, Mi-Ying. Remember me?"

"Mi-Ying?" Shang exclaimed.

Mi-Ying was trying to be brave but she looked terrified.

"I didn't do it," she repeated, trembling visibly.

"This girl is a child," Chien-Po said to Shen-Li. "She didn't kill anyone. It must have been that strange guard that came into the dining room with him."

Shen-Li turned to the guard in the room. "Go and get Prince Ting. And do not mention this to anyone else."

"Mi-Ying, what are you doing here?" Shang asked, striding over to her.

She bowed her head. She was shaking uncontrollably now.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Mi-Ying," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I just want to know what you are doing here. Come over here and sit down."

She looked up at him, still not speaking, and he led her to a couch in the room and coaxed her to sit down. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

Shang was suddenly hit with the realization that she didn't come alone.

"Mi-Ying, is Chen here with you?"

She raised her head slightly but didn't answer.

"Where is he, Mi-Ying?"

She hesitated for a moment. Then she said, tearfully, "With Su-Tan in her room."

The guard returned with a distressed-looking Prince Ting and his own guard. Shen-Li told him what had happened.

"The only one in here when we came in was this little girl. The general and his captains think that the man who was guarding him did this."

"This is not to get out to anyone yet," Prince Ting ordered. Shang could hear the slightest tremble in Ting's voice even though he was trying to be in control. "It will be made known that the installation and presentation of the new Emperor is being postponed because he wishes to have a longer mourning period. Shen-Li, that guard that was with him is probably long gone. But see if you can find him."

Shen-Li bowed and left the room.

Ting turned to the guard that had found Ying. "See that the body is taken care of."

"Yes, your Highness." The guard turned and went to get assistance.

"Who is this girl?" Ting demanded, turning to the crying Mi-Ying.

"I think she is a friend of one of the children that lives here," Ling answered before anyone else could. "She was probably wandering around and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Very well. Take her to wherever she belongs and see that she has adult supervision. General Li?"

"Yes, your Highness?"

"I will be summoning Shen-Li and the rest of the council. After I meet with them I wish to meet with you and with Captain Li. I will send someone to your room when I am ready for you."

"Yes, sir."

Prince Ting left the room with his own guard.

"There are some strange things going on here," Chien-Po commented.

Shang nodded. Then he turned to Mi-Ying.

"Come on, Mi-Ying. Let's go to Su-Tan's room."

"Don't kill him, General Li, okay? He was only trying to help her."

xxxxxxx

"Mulan, I think that you are off the hook," Mushu was saying as they returned to the room where she and Shang had been sleeping. They spoke as softly as they could in case anyone was listening in from anywhere.

"They're looking for the 'guard'?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm sure you drew attention to yourself, Mushu. That was a weird-looking puppet you pulled together. Where is it?"

"I left it in one of the passageways in the walls."

"Mulan, now what?" Chen asked.

"We're going to see Shang when he gets back here and the three of us are going to talk, Chen."

"Uh-oh."

"Here you are."

Ming appeared in the room suddenly and sat on the bed beside Chen.

"I heard it went well," she said. "And it looks like I'm not involved at all."

"It went very well. No one suspects you. Mi-Ying totally threw them off and Mushu, though he doesn't have my particular talent, is apparently very good at making man-sized puppets that talk and move."

"Yes, he is," Mulan agreed, grinning.

"They think it was the weird-looking 'guard' that did it. Everyone is now busy chasing after a phantom."

"Is Mi-Ying alright?"

"Li Shang was taking her to Su-Tan's room. He knows Chen is here in the palace now. He thinks Chen is there."

"What is going to happen now, Mulan?"

"I don't know, Chen. Ying will remain in hiding and somehow observe the behavior of the people left standing. I think he is trying to figure out what is really going on here and discover who killed his father."

"His father?"

"The old Emperor. You met him, Chen. He was the nice old man in the yellow robe. He liked you."

"Oh, him. He's here."

"No, not anymore. He was killed. That's who the funeral was for a couple of days ago."

"No, he's here. I saw him."

Mulan stared at him. "What? Are you sure it was him?"

"Yes."

"When did you see him, Chen?"

"Last night, in the hallway."

"In the hallway?"

"Uh-huh, he looked like a servant."

Mulan gazed at him intently, trying to figure out if he had really seen the old Emperor or someone that he mistook for him.

"Is that the only time you saw him, Chen?"

"And in the secret tunnel in the wall."

"When?"

"The day we got here. I didn't see his face really. But I knew it was him. He's a nice man."

"Chen, you are absolutely sure that is who it was?"

"Yes."

Mulan looked at Mushu and Ming.

"This is unbelievable. Is he seeing a ghost roaming the palace?"

Both guardians shrugged.

Mulan frowned at both of them.

"I saw the man that Chen saw last night," Ming explained. "But I don't know who he was. He seemed to be alive, though. Not a ghost."

"Besides," said Mushu. "If he was the ghost of the Emperor, wouldn't he still be dressed as the Emperor? If he was going to be a dressed ghost, why would he be dressed as a servant?"

"Is it possible that he's alive?" she asked the guardians again even though she knew they probably wouldn't know.

The two of them shrugged again, just as she expected.

"Who found the body when he was killed?" Ming asked.

"I'm not really sure. That was never really explained. Just that he was poisoned and that the servant who brought him the poisoned tea died himself by taking poison too."

"He knew me, Mulan," Chen told her. "He smiled at me."

"That's right," Ming said. "He gestured for you to be quiet, too."

Mulan groaned and buried her face in her hands. "This whole mission just gets weirder and weirder with every passing moment."