AN: Half for my own sanity and half so I can update more fics. I'm trying to go for an update a month depending on the number of unique hits a story has. If a story gets a really high amount of hits I might come out with two chapters for each month. I hope you continue to enjoy my work 😊

Chapter Eleven

So, going to the imperial palace and being on the board of advisors. That wasn't something that a girl from a village in a distant prefecture would ever think it was possible to aspire to be and Mulan had found all of this coming to her quite quickly. She just thought of that night when she wanted to risk her own life to protect her fathers and things just worked out from that point. Now, it was terrifying to think that she wouldn't get respected in the same way as others in that position.

She would be the only woman and that was something tricky to navigate as well. Women were seen to have certain roles and duties in society and men others. This would be her, a woman, taking a step forward for her gender. If she could do well then she could inspire other girls to think beyond what they had been told they could be. If she did poorly though, she would hurt future women to come, women with ideas bigger and better than any she could imagine.

She sighed and let her fingers run through her hair before feeling a hand on her back and smiled up at Shang. "Hi, was I keeping you up?" she asked him and he shook his head.

"Mind if I sit?" he gestured and Mulan nodded. "Were you able to send word to your father?"

"Yes, I don't know when he'll come but I'm sure that he'll reply as soon as possible," she said before looking at the stars again. Each of them had their own history, they burned with their own stories. Would she become a star when she passed or would she turn into darkness.

"He loves you. I just hope that I can do him honor. I know that he's protective of his loving daughter who he adores more than anything," Shang told her and Mulan pulled her knees up and rested her head on them.

"As long as you remain yourself then I don't foresee a problem," she said before sighing and closing her eyes. "What if I'm a disaster? What if they won't listen to me or I can't make my voice heard?" She shook her head and sighed deeply. "I always start out by messing up. Don't argue with me."

"I reserve the right not to say anything," Shang said as he thought about how much of a disaster he had considered Ping to be before he had climbed up the pole whilst weighed down and retrieved the arrow. Mulan laughed as she could read his mind to what he was thinking.

"After you set your mind to proving me wrong though, you improved faster than any other soldier," he reminded her and Mulan shook her head. "It makes me wish a little bit that you do find some disagreeable council member."

"So that I can prove them wrong?" Mulan asked whilst raising an eyebrow and Shang nodded.

"You like to debate things with me enough," he told her and they shared a laugh as they considered their similarities. Shang moved over to her and pulled her into his arms. She sighed as she turned her head so that she could listen to the drumming of his heart. She liked his warm body and his strong chest and his breath signaling there was life beside her. Maybe she wasn't like the other girls but she could still appreciate the love of a good and extremely handsome man.

11.2

The palace had so many halls and corridors and it seemed to be a complicated situation. Maybe she was being affected by her nerves but Mulan truly wondered how long it would take her to get comfortable with being in such a grand place such as this. She took a breath as she saw two women approach her.

"Come," the first said as the other bowed to Mulan standing behind the first. "I am one of the directors of staff here. You will come and change your clothes. Presentation is necessary if you are to serve. Although you seem too old to change."

"Your Lady," the girl behind her said, "she is the emperor's personal choice. She is Fa Mulan, the Fa Mulan."

Mulan saw the way that the first lady turned to the second and younger as if she were some dog that had gotten itself wrapped around her legs and there was no method in which to detach her. She hated feeling that she had once been in a very similar position to this woman and she was now elevated above her. She wanted to work hard to make things better for all the people and to bring honor to China but the capital was making it very easy to see the fake hierarchy in society.

"Thank you," she said as she bowed too. "I appreciate your guidance."

"There's no need to speak with such arrogance," the woman said as she clicked her tongue and gestured for Mulan to follow her down a hallway. As she followed the woman, Mulan turned from side to side, looking at all of the paintings and architecture that were housed in this impressive place. She could see tradition behind each brick and it was more of a fantasy to be here than her normal mundane life.

If she ever woke up and found that the war had never happened and she had never experienced her life in the way she remembered it and mostly if she didn't have Shang beside her then she would be terrified. Those things had shaped her and made her life exciting.

"Here," the woman said as she pointed to one of the rooms by the bathing area. "Change and then come to the great hall," she coughed and Mulan bowed again, this time to both of them, and entered to change. She heard them gossiping about her but just sighed, shrugged and went to find out what the clothes she was expected to wear were like. Not too bad. Traditional, yes, but they were more plain than brightly colored and that suited her. She was already an outsider and she wasn't particularly looking forward to standing out even more.

Looking around, Mulan moved to the corner of the room to change and slid her own outfit off, as she took everything but her underwear off, she found that there was a hand touching her and she froze. She felt a thick, rough, calloused hand sweeping under her arm and then found her hair to be brought back and heard someone sniffing it.

Instinctively, she used her training to grab the man's hand and flip him onto his back, restraining him. She turned back and found it to be a man of about ten to fifteen years her senior. He was wearing fine clothes but had a strong build to him. She pulled back, grabbing her clothes and using them to cover up her own body as she stared at this man.

"Sorry, I'm…I'm just getting dressed as I was told to do," she said as she tried to find a polite way to say the words which were circling around in her head. This guy was a huge creep and she felt that he had been trying to take advantage of her vulnerability and her gender. She needed to keep calm. She was taking a step as a woman here, she was doing something which no other woman had done, she needed to be respectful as well as keep her strength.

"So, who are you?" she asked as she got changed in front of him. It was better that he knew she was a woman. Getting changed whilst being a soldier was hard given that no one knew the secret of her gender - not even Shang.

"Liu Jie," he said and Mulan stared at him. "Don't let my young looks fool you, I have quite a skill with women. And you are the one they are praising as the princess of China. I don't think that you've earned that moniker little lady." Mulan steadied her gaze. She was now concerned how old he really was if he was saying that he looked young but more than that, had her vanity been that misjudged. She didn't want to be anything like the princess of China. Hopefully her brain would be respected and not her looks.

"I agree, I have done nothing to earn that name. I am here as a hand to the emperor," Mulan said as she finished getting dressed and the man looked at her before licking his lips. Mulan lifted her hand as if to strike him but took some deep breaths and placed it in front of her with a look that showed how she was trying to distance herself from him.

"I like a little girl who listens," Jie grinned and Mulan turned away.

"I listen to the emperor," she said as she left the room, putting her own clothes in the box where the clothes she was wearing came from. "I am part of his council."

"As am I," Jie smiled smugly and Mulan looked over at him again, she didn't want to draw attention to the small amount of panic she was feeling having learned this. Okay. So she would have to spend more time with him than she had been planning to but as long as they both had the best for the country in mind then they could find ways of co-existing.

"What is your position?" she asked and he laughed.

"I used to be a foreign diplomat but now I give advice on mostly foreign affairs. I think that some of those women considered outsiders are the most beautiful. Don't feel that you can use your talons to make me love you, princess of China," he said mockingly and Mulan raised an eyebrow. Maybe she could be herself around this man, he appeared to be enjoying being himself. Maybe the men in this palace just needed to know that anyone, even a woman could speak their mind.

"Actually I have someone who I am committed to, someone who supports me and loves me," she said and Jie chuckled and looked away before scoffing.

"Wow, such a weak willed man to let his woman take care of everything. Either that man is taking advantage of you or they are just some flea without a backbone to support them. I would hate to be that type of man," Jie commented and Mulan turned her whole body to face him.

"That man is the strongest, bravest, and most worthy men I have met. I am deeply grateful for his presence in my life and he is my superior in a lot of things. China is becoming more modern, I would expect someone with experience in foreign cultures would realize this."

Mulan looked away from him and put a hand to where her heart was. Shang had wanted her to meet someone disagreeable but this couldn't have been what he meant by that. She turned to look at Jie again and shook her head. All right. Time to start with Day One.

End of Chapter Eleven

Thank you for reading

Thank you to those who left a review on Chapter Ten

DarthLeia19, Estelita22, KathyMesser