Chapter 16: Moving Out
After everyone dispersed, a messenger was sent immediately to pass along information to the next village and on through the villages to Fong in Chang'an and to advise that messengers be sent to the east and west to pass the dispatch along through those networks. Instructions were given to the point person in each village, advising them to organize their forces and be prepared to meet at the designated place outside of Chang'an once the word was given.
Mulan went to her room to sleep for a few hours. They would be preparing to leave in the morning. They would be meeting up with Gao-Rong in his village and they would be joined by people in the other villages along the way.
"I hope you're going to give me credit for your idea, Mulan," Mushu chided her as she washed and readied herself for bed. "It was because of me telling you about my fake Imperial officer that you even came up with that straw dummy idea."
"I know it, Mushu. But no one else knows about you. And I can't tell them. Besides, I don't want Shang finding out that you gave him a fake letter from his father to get us into the war."
"He won't do anything. He's your friend now."
"Yeah, I guess he is. But he still might do something to you if he ever found out," she teased.
There was a knock on her door then. She threw her clothes back on and crossed over to the door, Mushu and Cri-Kee hopping over with her.
"Who is it?"
"Shang."
She opened the door, smiling. "Hi."
"Who were you talking to?"
She just stared at him, trying to feign ignorance. "What?"
"I heard you talking…"
Cri-Kee conveniently hopped into the palm of her hand at that point, so she brought it up and showed him the cricket.
"A cricket?"
She nodded. "This is Cri-Kee. My grandmother gave him to me before I left home, for luck. Well…it was supposed to be for luck for something else, not for joining the army. But he came with me and he's been with me all along."
"Oh."
"You came here to find out who I was talking to?"
"Oh. No. Um, I just…I heard you talking when I got to the door."
"Oh. Well…was there…?"
"I wanted to...well, you may be recognized in the Imperial City. I was thinking that you should disguise yourself as Ping again when we go in."
"I thought the same thing, and Pei and I were talking about it earlier. That's what I'll be doing."
He nodded. "Good."
"Thank you, Shang."
He nodded again.
"Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mulan."
She shut the door and grinned at Mushu, who was standing there staring at her with his arms folded.
"What? I didn't do anything. He came here."
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They had been up half the night talking. It was late now and Shang was tired, but he couldn't fall asleep.
He lay awake thinking about General Lao and everything he had told him about his father. He could hardly believe that his father knew about the organization of this rebellion. He had never said anything, and he had never stood in their way; maybe his father had agreed with Lao and the others but just didn't get involved. Maybe he couldn't be involved; after all, he had been away a lot. His father had always been off somewhere, fighting in the wars that the Emperor declared. Except for when the Huns attacked and all forces were needed, Lao hadn't been out fighting like his father; he'd been stationed in the Imperial City, guarding the palace and becoming aware of everything that went on there.
It was also hard to believe that he was now involved with this movement against the Emperor, when just a few weeks before he had forced himself to put aside his grief over his father and lead his troops to defend that same Emperor. And it was amazing how Mulan had stumbled into this whole thing; and that he had, too, in coming after her. General Lao believed that once they had the new Emperor in power he would reverse Mulan's sentence, as well as Shang's. He hoped that would be the case.
He thought about Mulan. He was relieved that she was all right and had been protected by these villagers. And he was pleased that there were so many people that agreed with him that she didn't deserve to be executed. They knew what she had done and honored her for her bravery and selflessness.
She was no longer disguised as a boy in this village. She didn't have to be. And he'd been able to take a really good look at her as a girl. She really was lovely. And funny. He grinned as he thought about the cricket she had shown him. She didn't even have the cricket in a cage; it could have run off easily yet it didn't. It stayed with her. A faithful steed that protected her and a lucky cricket that went everywhere with her. It somehow seemed very characteristic that she would be surrounded by such special creatures that would be so loyal to her.
He thought about the strategies that Mulan came up with that night. The girl was brilliant. Even when he knew her as Ping before they left Wu Zhong, he had realized that she was exceptionally smart. But he became convinced that she was a genius after the incident in the Tung Shao Pass. He thought that she had gone completely out of her mind when she ran off, charging toward the Hun army with that cannon. But she had turned the entire outcome of the battle around. Shang and his small band of foot soldiers were destined to die against Shan-Yu's huge army that day; but instead, because of her brilliant, unbelievable move with a single cannon, the entire Hun army was buried, except for Shan-Yu and a handful of men that managed to escape. And Shang and all of his men lived.
He didn't know where she got her ideas. And now this new plan that she'd come up with tonight was incredible. Lao remarked that it was the kind of idea that her father would have come up with. She had obviously inherited her father's talents. The plan was so elaborate it was ridiculous, and required, in part, the labor of all of the people in those villages that were lucky enough to have the task of creating her little ruse. But it was brilliant.
He had never known anyone like her in his life.
He remembered the night in the Tung Shao Pass when he had held her father's sword above her head. He shivered as he thought about what would have happened if he had gone through with carrying out the Emperor's law. He would have had to live the rest of his life filled with remorse for killing her and China would be under the rule of Shan-Yu. Many of them would be dead. And she wouldn't be here now, her sharp, agile mind working selflessly to help other people.
He was glad that he would be seeing her and working with her again now.
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General Lao and Guang-Zhi had left immediately after they all dispersed the night before. That morning, everyone else set forth in several small groups, Mulan riding alongside Pei and Shang as they all headed north. Their destination was a village very close to Chang'an that she had bypassed originally when she had been riding south, sticking to the forest at that time. Everything had been worked out very quickly and everyone from all of the villages along the way would converge in this one place. They would be waiting there for word from the groups in the northern-most villages to the east and west of the city advising that they were prepared; then they would be moving to the southern entrance of the Imperial City where they would wait for signs of chaos in the city signaling that it was time to go into action.
Mulan was glad that she would be with Shang everyday now. Of course, it was the last thing she should have been worrying about. They were trying to pull off something very difficult and if they were caught they would all be executed. But she enjoyed talking to him during the ride north and he was very attentive to her.
Despite the danger they were in, she couldn't help but be happy that he was there and that she could see him and talk to him all the time.
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Gao-Rong and Wen greeted Mulan warmly when she met them again at Gao-Rong's inn with Pei and Shang, and Wen suggested that he should take a look at her wound and the stitches. She went with him to his home. As she suspected, everything was fine now and the wound was healing nicely. It wouldn't be long before the stitches could be removed.
They set off toward the meeting spot after just a day in that village, joined by Gao-Rong. The others from that village had already gone ahead.
"You didn't pass through any of the villages we're going to now, did you, Fa Mulan?" Gao-Rong asked as they rode north.
She shook her head. "I stayed hidden in the forest when I could."
"These people will be very glad to meet you."
Mulan nodded, remaining silent. In every village they'd passed through already, people had greeted her as 'Fa Mulan, China's heroine' and 'Fa Mulan, the woman warrior that saved China'. It was a welcome difference from other treatment she'd received; such as the death sentence, of course, and the attitude she'd received from Chi Fu and others like him. But it was still rather overwhelming for her.
As flattering as it was, she was relieved to leave the villages. She felt undeserving of such praise. She hadn't been trying to be a heroine or anything else. She had merely done what she thought was right.
One evening, Mulan sat with Pei and had a long talk with him. She had been curious about the fact that the moment she and the captain were both in his village, they had decided to implement the plan.
"It was a window of opportunity and we seized it. We were able to handle Chi Fu, who reported everything to the Emperor and would have gotten in the way. And we had your strategic talent to help us. As well as Captain Li."
"But what if I hadn't come? What if the Emperor never sentenced me to death?"
Pei shrugged. "It would have happened later. When a different window of opportunity appeared. But I'm glad it worked out this way."
"Yes. So am I. I haven't really thanked you. You were so kind to me when things were really bad for me. You let me rest. You gave me a job. I will always be grateful to you."
"You're a good-hearted person. You saved us all at great sacrifice to yourself. You deserved nothing less than what we did for you, Fa Mulan."
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A/N: More chapters to follow shortly.