Chapter 13: The General

Shang's eyelids fluttered open as he woke from very deep sleep. He didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there. He was lying on his back on the floor and he glanced around. He saw all of the tables above him and realized that he was in the main room of the inn. The sun was just starting to come up and there was no one else in the room.

He closed his eyes again. He suddenly remembered Chi Fu being restrained by the men in the room. His eyelids flew open now and he sat up abruptly. A wave of dizziness came over him and he lay back down, waiting for it to subside.

What had happened?

He remembered sitting at the table with Chi Fu. And he remembered how sleepy he'd suddenly felt. He had been drinking rice wine, but he'd only had one cup. One cup of wine shouldn't have knocked him out so. Unless he was more tired than he thought. Or perhaps he had been drugged.

He realized with alarm that that was exactly what had happened. That would explain everything, including the odd taste he'd noticed in the wine. Pei had brought the wine to them. But he couldn't understand why Pei would have wanted to drug him. Were they trying to rob them?

The dizziness passed and he sat up, slowly this time. He looked around. The inn was deserted. He stood up slowly and went to his room to check to see if he had been robbed. His things were still in the room and his pack, which was sitting on the desk, appeared to be untouched. He rifled through it but found that nothing appeared to have been stolen.

He wondered about Chi Fu. What had happened to him? Were those men trying to rob him? He remembered the loud argument about Mulan. Was that why those men had attacked the councilman? And how did they know all those things about what had happened in the Imperial City and about her?

He went to wash up, and that revived him somewhat. Then he left his room and walked down the hall to the councilman's room. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He opened the door slowly. The councilman's things were in there, but he wasn't.

He went out and took another look in the main room of the inn and peeked in the kitchen. There was no one there besides him. The place seemed to be completely abandoned.

He tried to remember the events of the night before. There had been the loud argument about Mulan. And he remembered a comment about the Tung Shao Pass: that they were lucky she had been there to save them, given the precarious position the country had been in after the Emperor's lousy orders to the general in the Tung Shao Pass that cost the lives of the entire troop stationed there.

Had he imagined that he heard that? He knew that he had been drugged. Maybe in his drugged state he had imagined that comment, and the familiarity of the voice that said it.

It disturbed him to think that his father and the entire elite regiment of the Imperial army might have been killed because of the Emperor's bad judgment and poor orders. And the fact that someone in this village could know about that meant that things were not at all what they seemed there.

This was no ordinary village.

xxxxxxx

The general stepped out of the room where they had been interrogating Chi Fu and joined Mulan and Pei.

The general looked at Mulan and gave her a kind smile. She couldn't help but be shocked that he could have such a kind expression after the look she'd seen him give Chi Fu.

"It is an honor, Fa Mulan," he addressed her.

She was even more shocked that he said that.

"I am Lao Tzi. I am glad to see that you made it here safely and are well."

"Thank you, sir," she answered.

She felt somewhat nervous even though he was obviously kind and had surrounded himself with kind allies. There was something so powerful and imposing about the man. No wonder everyone here followed him without question.

"How is my friend Fa Zhou? It has been awhile since I have seen him."

"You're friends with my father?"

"Yes. We served together under General Li. He is an honorable and excellent warrior."

"He was," she answered, softly.

"That was quite a brave thing you did, taking his place like that. Reckless, but brave. He should never have received a conscription notice."

"I know. I tried to explain it to Chi Fu. He wouldn't listen."

The general nodded. "But you had an opportunity to really prove yourself, Fa Mulan. You obviously have your father's strategic talents."

"Thank you, sir."

"As I'm sure Pei and Guang-Zhi have already told you, those talents would come in handy."

"I would be happy to help. I am grateful to all of you for protecting me. I still don't know very much about the Emperor and all of the things he has done."

"Yes. I will talk to you and the captain about everything that has happened. You have a right to know if you are helping. And this matter involves the captain."

xxxxxxx

Shang sat at one of the tables in the main room of the inn, still trying to make sense of everything that had been happening in this village and feeling bewildered.

He looked up as, a moment later, Pei walked in the room with a man that he knew.

"General Lao?" he exclaimed, astonished. He stood up quickly and bowed.

"Captain Li."

"What is going on? I…" he trailed off and glanced at Pei. "I think that these people drugged me last night."

"Yes, Captain, they did," the general told him. "But it was for your own protection."

"My protection?"

"You would have tried to stop us from capturing Chi Fu."

Shang just stared at him, waiting for him to explain.

"We had specific plans for Chi Fu. And we needed to prevent him from harming you. We think he had orders to kill you after you caught up to Fa Mulan."

Shang nodded. "That had occurred to me. I thought the Emperor might have been sending me after her to dispatch with me."

"Well, he won't harm you or her."

"Mulan…how is she?" he asked, turning to Pei.

"She is fine, Captain."

"But her wound…"

"She is fine. We lied to throw the councilman off and to keep you both here in town."

"Where is she?"

"She's living and working here at the inn."

"Then I did see her yesterday," he murmured. "Is she here now?"

Pei shook his head.

"Captain, I have a lot of things that I must tell you," General Lao began, changing the subject. "There are things that you should know about your father and about what happened in that village at the Tung Shao Pass."