The Wood Orchid

Chapter 2: The Request

Her parents and Grandmother did a wonderful job conversing with their guest even as she and him were exchanging awkward glances during the whole meal. It became obvious that her father and the guest had been getting along splendidly as the dinner progressed, laughing and discussing mutually known stories and people.

After the dinner was finished and proper compliments made, the guest was invited to stay the night due to the fact that it was "too cold and dark for such a notable and honorable man to travel" according to Grandmother. He looked reluctant to agree for fear of overstaying his welcome, but eventually replied with a precise nod and a, "I thank you for your continuous hospitality."

And with that, the shy young woman ran to the garden as the guest was lead to the guestroom by her mother. Her grandmother retired right after dinner. Her father read a scroll that had come in the earlier that afternoon while waiting on her mother as she completed her duties as lady of the household before retiring with him for the evening.

The young lady lay in the garden under a beautiful magnolia tree staring at the stars gleaming through the twisting branches. Her eyes had just started to droop lower and lower when a voice above her suddenly spoke.

"They say if you look up at stars long enough your future will unfold before you"

Startled, her eyes flashed opened and searched for the tantalizing familiar voice. When her eyes found the source of that voice, she saw him leaning against the tree above her left shoulder with his eyes towards the sky and a gentle smile tugging at his mouth. He had not yet changed from his traveling clothes, a tan long sleeved shirt, and pants of the same color. His eyes darted from one star to another before they floated down to her; it almost seemed that he was continuing his search for his future in the reflection of stars in her eyes. As much as she wished that to be true, she feared that it was a hopeful thought only created by her wildly taunting imagination. He adverted his eyes from her back to the starry sky quietly and almost wistfully saying, "Five months ago, if I had been asked to look to the stars to view my future, I would have never even imagined that I would run into the likes of you, Mùlán."

Mùlán was taken aback by this comment, not really understanding whether or not this was a compliment or an insult. She finally finished the tedious task of gathering her thoughts, when she finally responded, "I must admit that I never would have thought that my life would have been like this. But, I am happy about it. I have met good people such as you, Shàng, and I have brought honor to my family in a way I had never imagined. Hopefully I can bring even more honor to the Hua family when I go to see the matchmaker again tomorrow."

Silence dropped like heavy sandbags, noticeable, but muffled. The hint of a smile Shàng had had on his face which quickly evaporated off of his face when he heard that last sentence and was replaced by a frown and a glare. He stood up strait and brought his hands down to his sides that had previously been crossed over his chest.

"Please excuse me." His voice had gone as hard as stone. "I must leave to take care of something. Please thank your parents for their hospitality and I apologize for my sudden absence." As he said these words thrown harshly over his shoulder, he headed back to his room, presumably to pack and leave.

Mùlán was left speechless as she watched him practically run towards the house. Within five minutes, Shàng was galloping atop Lixue^, his blazing white mare. He stopped for just a second to look back at Mùlán with in an almost sorrowful way, and was going to say something but decided against it. And with that, he furrowed his eyebrows and galloped into the shadows of the night.

The early pink-orange sunrise broke over the estate walls, driving light into her room. Mùlán awoke in her bed dreary-eyed. She had cried last night, though she contained too much pride to admit that she had shed tears because Shàng had left her feeling rejected. She did not want to explore the reasons why it mattered to her whether or not Shàng accepted her; it would just cause more complications in an already rather confusing life.

She sat up in her bed and gazed out her window to view the sun beginning its daily journey. Putting one stiff and calloused foot at a time on the floor, she glided over to the wash basin to cleanse her face. A few months ago, on this certain day, she would've hopped out of bed and stumbled to the wash basin while quickly getting dressed before jumping onto Khan and galloping off to the village to be squeezed into her bridal outfit. Today was different. Having been in the habit of already waking up with the sun, she now had time to prepare for the day at leisure. She had been studying the necessary materials to know for the matchmaker the past few days so there was no need to look over anything. She grabbed a kumquat on her way out the door with a fresh, simple dress and a few bathing oils in a basket.

She headed to the part of the stream that ran through the Hua family's sprawling property. It was a secluded spot that only she and her family knew about, where it was perfect to bathe and wash their clothing. She reached the spot a lot faster than she remembered it usually took. As she looked around the tranquil area, the sycamores surrounding the spot seemed to be more sparse and shorter, and the oak she remembered being so huge with a long branch hanging over the water seemed smaller. But all this was impossible to be true. In her heart she knew it was herself that had changed; not the trees.

She shrugged off her night-clothes after placing the basket of fresh clothes and oils closer to the water. The gently flowing stream embraced her as she sunk into its cold waters. The water was pleasantly warmer than most rivers would be in late winter as the origin of the stream was an underground hot spring in the nearby foothills. She sat on a rock underneath the surface with her back against the stream allowing it to envelop her with her head bent forward floating on top of the stream with her hair moving in front of her face. She sat there for awhile, allowing the stream to carry away some of her stress and troubled thoughts temporarily. Then after using a rag to bathe herself she reluctantly climbed out of the stream to rub the herbal oils smelling of cherry blossoms and rosemary on her skin. This was when she remembered exactly why she was putting on the oils and clothes. She sighed as she realized that today would mean there was no chance for her and Sh-

What was she thinking? There wasn't any chance for that anyways. Plus, he couldn't even feel the same. She continued her bathing with a determination to remain in the moment and enjoy the land she had greatly missed while she was away

A heavy sigh tore from her lips, now clothed and cloaked, she walked back to the house with the basket in her hand, the walk seemingly longer than it was as her thoughts rolled around in her mind demanding attention. She barely noticed when she arrived much less the dark clouds gathering above. She went into her room sat the basket down and started to fill a satchel with her outfit destined for the appointment with the matchmaker. She never even got the chance to put the first thing into it because her mother came in with a worried look on her face. In a quiet voice she told Mùlán, "There is a man here with a message for you". Her mother's tightened, almost worried face didn't tell Mùlán anything else. She followed her mother into the courtyard to receive the message.

The messenger sat on his chestnut steed and looked pathetic next to the tall white mare next to him. She knew the horse, but couldn't see the rider. But when they got closer she saw him checkimg Lixue's hooves. The messenger caught her attention before Shang could look up and see her too, his weary and irritated expression showing a small flash of brightness at the sight of the heroine of China before fading back quickly to it's standard stoic tone.

The messenger's weary gaze fell on her as he said, "Hua Mùlán, I have a letter for you in which after reading it you must travel to the capital. It is… fortunate that I came across the honorable Li Shàng on my way here," his eyes shift in an irritated fashion towards the aforementioned honoree, "or else you would have had to wait one more day for this message. He was sent out to escort me on my empirical correspondence route but decided to ride ahead from the last village so that he might pay honor to your family with a visit." With a sigh he concludes, "Ah, well, I was informed late last night that you had business that could interfere with the emperor's instructions if not delivered this morning so… here I am! I will be departing now for the rest of my journey with my new escort as Li Shàng will now be the one escort you to the palace. Safe travels to you both." And with that and a quick nod, he was off.

She turned her attention to Shàng and saw his eyes full of sorrow and downcast before he realized her eyes were on him, and that's when they turned into lifeless, unfeeling stones. Her parents left after a moment of silence, judging the situation, to head inside as the first telltale piercing droplets of cold water started to fall and to give the two a moment.

His rough, travel weary voice cut the silence. "You will read the message before packing and bid your family farewell. You have an hour. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get to the capital. I will wait here until you're ready," he stated with a walled expression.

Her eyes judged his appearance concluding he must have ridden all night to have reached the closest village and retuned by now.

"Yes sir," were the stiff words out of her mouth as she pointedly turned on her heel on the to head indoors. Halfway on her way back to the main house, a frigid, early spring rain started pouring down making the dirt into mud.

Good. He can stay there the full hour for all I care.

When she stepped into the house and closed the door, she was faced with the anxious faces of her parents and grandmother. She knew what they were anxious to know. She ripped open the scroll after noticing the emperor's golden dragon seal. After reading the scroll to herself she handed the scroll to her father and headed to her room to pack. The thoughts that had been tumbling in her head on her way up to the house from the stream about the matchmaker now transformed into thoughts of the near future and its implications on things to come.

Her parents weren't given a lot of answers from the scroll after she handed it to them to read after reading it herself and headed for her room to pack and then the stable to mount up Khan^.

The scroll simply and politely read:

My dear Hua Mùlán the Savior of the Noble Nation of China,

I would like to request your presence at the capital Xian for a discussion that concerns you. Please travel here as soon as you can. Your presence is greatly anticipated.

Signed,

Yǒng Jìngyí^

永静怡

The Gods Child and Father of China, Golden Dragon of the East, the Emperor of the Gods Chosen People

Disclaimer: The author does not own the motion picture "Mùlán" or any of its characters. This story is written for creative purposes only; there is no monetary benefit. Any historical or religious references used are implemented with creative licensing and no disrespect to any culture or religion is intended.

Author's Note:

Minor changes and edits have been made to this chapter since the original posting.

^Name Meanings:

Li 力 Shàng 上 – (power, capability, influence), (above, top, upper; superior)

Lìxuě 丽雪 – (beautiful; snow)

Khan 汗 – (sweat; Ruler)

Yǒng 永 Jìngyí 静怡 – (perpetual, eternal), (quiet, still, gentle; joy, harmony)