Zhou had never forgotten the promise he'd made to Mingzhu on the day she was born. When he'd held her for the first time, he'd promised to always watch over her.

Even though he wasn't there to initially protect her from the horse merchant's attempt to rape her, they'd beaten the coward twice. Mostly himself and Qiang, but Shang had gotten some punches in the 2nd time around.

The second beating the horse merchant received from the Li's turned out to be fatal. He never woke up. His wives and concubines were finally free from their life of physical and verbal abuse and rape. Though they never verbalized it to the Li's, they were grateful.

When she was 17, Mingzhu, Liu and the grandkids visited Zhou at Wu Zhong for his 28th birthday. While there one of the other medics, Ling, took notice of Mingzhu. He was the same age as Zhou.

After the two women had returned home, Ling had asked about her. Zhou had known him for five years, and had spent 6 months out of every year with him for the past 4 years. His first impulse was to tell the other medic to get lost. But he reconsidered.

There was a smaller, younger soldier that Ling had treated for several injuries sustained during training. Zhou finally treated him once when he was knocked unconscious in a sparring match, as Ling had been occupied with a soldier burned by a wayward cannon.

Several minutes after Zhou had carried the soldier into his medical tent, Ling came running in, looking panicked.

"I'll treat him, I'll treat him."

"No, I got him. Go take care of the burned soldier."

"You don't understand. I have to be the one to treat this soldier."

Something jogged Zhou's memory. His mother had been discovered when she was wounded. His father had been very protective of her secret once he discovered it, and for sinister reasons.

He put down what he was doing.

"What don't I understand? Is this soldier a female?"

"Yes. How did you guess that?"

"My mother snuck into the army at 16 and masqueraded as a boy to prevent my disabled grandfather, General Fa Zhou, from going back to war. She was discovered when she was wounded by Shan Yu's sword after setting off the avalanche."

"Did you already know about this soldier?"

"No. I hadn't started to treat her yet, since I was still just gathering supplies. Now, I have one question to ask you, and you better tell me the truth. Have you been having relations with her at all?" Zhou's eyes burned into Ling's.

Ling was taken back by the anger and ferocity in Zhou's expression. Why so intense? "No, Zhou, I haven't. Not at all and I swear on my ancestors. I've been totally appropriate with her. I've been protecting her because I didn't want her to be discovered and killed. I would never take advantage of her. Why do you ask?"

Suddenly, it dawned on Ling. "Is that what happened to your mother?"

Zhou looked down at the supplies in front of him, unsure how to answer. His voice caught in his throat and he took a deep breath. "Yes. The medic discovered her identity and revealed it to the captain, who began sexually assaulting her while guarding her secret from everyone else."

"How did you know about that?"

"She told me once I reached adulthood. All my life, she's had nightmares of it that cause her to wake up screaming. I was the only one to calm her down for a long time. So she felt like I deserved to know why." It wasn't exactly what had happened, but close enough. Zhou didn't want to explain about confronting his father about all their family secrets.

"Was it your father? Wasn't he the captain when Shan Yu first invaded and much of the Hun army was wiped out in an avalanche?"

Zhou stared at his hands. He hadn't wanted anyone else to know the truth about his father. The silent moments awkwardly dragged on while Ling's question hung in the air and he waited for an answer.

When Zhou remained quiet, Ling realized that he must have been right, and closed his eyes as it sunk in. The former General Li?

"Your mother set off the famous avalanche?"

"Yes, it was her. And yes, it was my father. But, please don't tell anyone else. Only my grandmother and myself know, besides them. My father has always been highly respected, and I want to keep it that way. He's a totally changed man now, and he loves my mother very much and she loves him. And don't ever let on to them that you know, if you were ever to meet them. My younger siblings don't know, and likely never will."

"I swear I won't tell anyone else, and I won't say anything to your family if I ever meet them. And you won't tell anyone the truth about this soldier, correct?"

Zhou promised to keep it a secret.

At that point, the young soldier started to wake up. Seeing Zhou, she panicked, but Ling quickly assured her it was ok and she wouldn't be turned in. She had snuck into the army to avoid an arranged marriage to a man over 3 times as old as her 18 years.

For the rest of the training, Zhou kept her identity a secret and Ling never shared what Zhou had told him about his family. He did watch Ling around the soldier, and had absolutely no reason to believe she was being sexually assaulted. When the training was done, she made her home in a different village, just like Mulan did, but for completely different reasons.

It was this that convinced Zhou that Ling may make a worthy future mate for his baby sister.

When Zhou returned home, he talked to Mulan and Shang about Ling, who both thought he sounded trustworthy. With their permission, Zhou delivered to Mingzhu a letter that Ling had penned if their parents were to approve.

Ling and Mingzhu began writing back and forth and became betrothed with the approval of both sets of parents.

Zhou and Shang took Qiang to the military academy near the Imperial City. He would be there for four years, with only one visit home a year. Mulan stayed home to tend to Fa Li, who was ill.

The journey home gave Zhou and Shang a chance to talk. It had been 8 years since Zhou had learned the truth about his parents and his birth. Their relationship had been cooperative and civil but somewhat strained ever since.

The two of them detoured and visited the Tung Shou pass and the valley where Shang's father's army had fallen. The sword was no longer in the ground after 29 years. But the whole area was just as still and quiet and somber as it had always been, as if the ghosts of the slaughtered villagers and army still dwelt there. The village had never been and would never be rebuilt and the valley was untouched.

Shang always felt his father's presence at the Pass, whenever he came to pay his respects. This visit was no different. He knelt where the sword used to be and talked to his father's spirit again as Zhou stood back with the horses.

Watching his father, and seeing the tears on his cheeks, Zhou decided he finally forgave Shang for what he had done to his mother.

Everybody missed Qiang, but especially Mulan. Fortunately, 7 year old Wei and 6 year old Meili kept her occupied. Plus, Liu was pregnant again.

Two years earlier, Liu had lost twin boys at nearly full term. It had been similar to what happened when Mulan lost Zian. She'd been feeling them kick and move around until about 2 months before she had figured they were due. Then all became still in her womb.

Thankfully, Zhou had not been at Wu Zhong when it happened. He'd been home for about a month. Two days after their movements had ceased, the two pale, still boys were born with entwined umbilical cords. The family buried them next to Zian. Zhou and Liu had named them Kang and Lei.

This time around, Zhou and Liu hoped all would be well. In the expected amount of time, Liu gave birth to a healthy baby boy. They named him Chen, which had been the name of Liu's brother who had been murdered in the bandit attack.

Unfortunately, Fa Li's illness never improved and she died at the age of 62 and Mulan was 45. Mulan took her death very hard, taking to sitting for hours under the Mudan tree on the stone bench just as her mother had done after her father's and grandmother's deaths. Just like her mother had been comforted by Zhou, it was Wei and Meili who comforted Mulan. Shang was also able to comfort her, having lost both his parents.

Knowing her mother was mourning her grandmother so deeply, 17 year old Mingzhu put off marrying Ling until Mulan started coping better. Ling's village was 50 miles away, so she would not be able to visit often.

It wasn't until Mingzhu was 18 that they were married. It broke her heart to leave her beloved family, after they had all been through so much together. But she was torn, because she also loved Ling and wanted to spend her life with him. He promised her they would visit once a year at least, and in the meantime they would exchange letters. With a heavy heart and tear-soaked cheeks, Mingzhu bid them all goodbye and left to begin her new life with Ling.

On the way out of the village, they passed the horse merchant's abandoned home. Mingzhu rode in and spit on his grave, then they continued their journey. Ling was slightly shocked, but he knew his new wife was full of fire and fight. She could match him in sparring. She had told him the story of the horse merchant, so he spit on the grave as well.

Before they had left, Shang and the two brothers had a private word with Ling. Qiang had come home from military school for the occasion. Even though the new groom had repeatedly proven himself trustworthy, they made damn sure he knew he needed to treat Mingzhu like gold or die. The consequences would be dire, as no one crossed a Li and lived to tell about it. Especially when that Li was Mingzhu. The horse merchant was a prime example of the Li's fierce family loyalty.

Ling promised to treasure Mingzhu and protect their daughter and sister with his life, just as her family had done.