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Shan-Yu's Victory	By : lightbird Category: +M through R > Mulan (Disney) > Mulan (Disney) Views: 16642 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the cartoons of Disney Studios, nor any of the characters from them. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Camp was packed up quickly in the morning and they left the Tung Shao Pass, continuing toward the Imperial City on foot. Most of their things were saddled on Khan now, as much as he could carry, and Shang led him on foot. The others followed him, Chien-Po in front with him, Yao and Ling bringing up the rear. Though the two of them had refrained from blaming him verbally, they remained stand-offish and cold, not talking to him still except when they absolutely had to.

He found that several of the men from the village, though they were older, knew martial arts and sword play. They had served in earlier wars when they were younger.

Gao, who seemed to be the leader, walked alongside of him and Chien-Po and they conversed as they traveled.

“As you can see, we are older and not in very good shape anymore, Captain. It has been quite some time since most of us have had to fight. We will beat them with strategy and intelligence, not might. Especially since we are only a small group against a large army. Even if we were young and expert fighters, those are bad odds.”

Shang nodded. “Agreed. Fortunately, other than me and the three soldiers that served under me, everyone is dressed in plain clothes. There is a market everyday in the Imperial Square. If we can go in as merchants and buyers, we won’t look suspicious and we can observe everything that is happening. And then figure out a plan of action.”

“That’s the right idea, Captain.”

Gao smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“I’ll tell the others. We’ll have to gather some things together to be ‘selling’. We have to be convincing. A few of us can go in ahead of everyone. We need to get some plain clothes for you and your men anyway.”

“Good,” Shang answered. “You can lead the first small group that goes in to scan the scene. The market closes at sundown, so for the first day you should all return back to camp.”

“With clothing for you,” Gao answered.

He glanced at Chien-Po and chuckled.

“Though you would more likely pass for a Buddhist monk rather than a merchant, soldier.”

“If you find me the right clothing then I will go in as a Buddhist monk,” Chien-Po answered serenely.

“We’ll be making camp in the forest on the east side of the city,” Shang continued. “There’s a stream there and it’s an easy place to stay hidden.”

Gao fell back to talk to the others but Chien-Po remained in step with him.

“I don’t know if they told you, Captain, but the eldest gentleman with us is a medic. His name is Dr. Kong.”

Shang nodded with a grave expression.

“We may need him.”

~~~

Mushu folded his arms and glared at her expectantly as they sat together on the bench in the palace garden under what had become her favorite orange blossom tree.

“What’s the story, Mulan?”

“Can’t we do this later, Mushu? I really need you to go…”

“Talk to me, baby,” he interrupted. “You want me to get this stuff because of what you’ve been up to, and I’m not going anywhere until you explain what’s going on with you.”

Mulan sighed, feeling caught. “You won’t like it.”

He gave her a look and she nodded.

“Okay. What do you want to know?”

“Well, in the first place, why did you even let him?”

She averted her eyes and turned her face away from him as she spoke. “I wasn’t going to, but…”

“But what?” he pressed when she didn’t speak further for several moments.

“I liked it,” she whispered finally, her cheeks beginning to flame from the embarrassment and guilty shame.

“What?” he exclaimed, flabbergasted.

She buried her face in her hands for a moment. She didn’t even want to be talking to her guardian about this, but at this point he was refusing to get her something that she desperately needed unless she spilled all.

She raised her head and sighed. He’d already witnessed her with Shan-Yu. The damage was done in any event.

“You liked it?” he repeated incredulously.

She looked straight at him, speaking softly but firmly, then beginning to stutter as she began to speak more personally.

“It felt good. Shan-Yu started kissing me and touching me…and Shang had been so close to me a little while before that…and the way he did it…well, he really knew what he was doing…he was good, okay? I wanted more once we started…”

“Oh, I don’t believe this…”

“You asked, Mushu,” she said quickly before he started on a tirade. “I’m not going to lie to you.”

“Yeah, well, I should have known you’d say it. The two of you are at it every night now,” he groaned. “And in the middle of the day. I don’t understand you at all anymore, Mulan.”

“I don’t understand myself,” she sighed.

“I mean, he’s not Chinese…he’s the enemy!”

Something struck her as he said those words.

“Maybe that’s what it is,” she mused.

“What?”

“He’s not Chinese. He’s not…in the same world as me…the way Shang is. When Shang looks at me, I see a dishonorable woman reflected in his eyes. It’s not just hatred and anger at me for deceiving him, though that’s there. He sees me as a dishonorable woman and a disgrace. It’s written all over him, his harsh judgment of me. That’s the way my father will see me if I ever go home again. The way the matchmaker saw me, the way everyone always saw me. Do you have any idea how old it gets to have people always telling you you’re dishonorable and no good? I’m sick of it!”

She was almost in tears as she finished speaking these thoughts.

“I know, baby. That’s just the way it is. After you saved your troop you deserved to be honored, not left out in the cold and abandoned because of what you are.”

He hopped up onto her shoulder and hugged her. She smiled wanly at him.

“And Shan-Yu?” he asked quietly then. “Do you think his opinion of you is any better than the others?”

“I don’t know what his opinion of me is and I don’t care.”

Mushu’s eyes widened.

“I don’t have to care,” she explained, “because he’s a foreigner. I know he has ulterior motives for keeping me alive and close to him, and I really can’t trust him completely. If he finds out who I am, he’ll probably kill me. But…whatever his intentions, he doesn’t judge me. When I look into his eyes…I sense that he actually sees Mulan. It’s a relief.”

A relieved sigh actually escaped her as she said the last three words and a great weight seemed to lift from her chest suddenly at this new insight that had come to her.

“Do you like him?”

She shrugged. “I don’t think so. It’s just that…there’s no pressure. And he’s been nice to me. I’m not afraid of him anymore. And, well, physically…”

“Alright, alright, that’s enough of that. What about Shang? You’ve been crazy about him since the first day you were at camp. Now you stopped liking him just like that?”

“No. I still like him. But it’s different. It’s painful. And a waste of energy because it will only ever be one-sided.”

“I see.”

“Look, Mushu, if it bothers you about me and Shan-Yu, maybe…maybe you don’t want to stay with me…”

She glanced at him nervously, worried. Part of the reason she felt safe was because she knew he was around. Besides, he was a good friend now as well as a companion. She would be truly alone if he left her.

“Don’t be silly, baby. I would never abandon you. I told you, no matter what happens I’m on your side. And I mean that. We’re in this together. Besides, how can I go back to the temple? The ancestors are already pissed off over the Great Stone Dragon I’m sure. Do you know what they would do to me if they found out I left you with the leader of the Huns?”

She gave him a wry smile.

“Anything else you want to know, Mushu?”

“No. I’ve heard enough.”

“Then will you go to Bi for me now?”

“Yeah. I still don’t condone your activities, but I don’t want you having his baby either, so yeah. I’ll go.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll get back here as quickly as I can.”

~~~

Gao and two of the men that had gone ahead to ‘shop’ in the market returned to camp after sunset with food and plain trousers and tunics for Shang and the three soldiers.

“The market seems to be business as usual, Captain,” Gao told him as they sat together by the stream. “Very typical. Nobody cares about what happens most of the time. People tend to go about their business, no matter what is going on, no matter who is in power. They don’t care about politics until their livelihood is directly affected by them. Then they care.”

“What about the Hun soldiers?”

“They’re posted around the square, but they appear to be there merely to keep peace. They’re not stopping anyone or inspecting peoples’ belongings or anything like that.”

Shang nodded.

“Mushu told me that Mulan is certain that her life is not in danger. I would like to confirm that before we do anything else.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure yet. One person might have to try to get in there, maybe into the garden. If we’re lucky, Mushu will come to us with another message possibly. But we can’t count on that.”

“I’ve been thinking about something, Captain. On the surface it may seem peaceful and that things are business as usual. But there may be other things going on underneath, things that we could use to our advantage.”

“You mean a possible rebellion being organized among the citizens?”

“Or maybe even dissention in the ranks of the Hun army. I’m sure there must be one man in that army that is related to Shan-Yu.”

Shang nodded. “Shan-Yu’s cousin is in the palace. He’s the one that led the rest of the Hun army here. But I have no reason to believe that he is turning against Shan-Yu from what I saw of him.”

“Not yet necessarily, but it could happen. When it comes to power and money it’s often human nature to become greedy. There have certainly been many incidents over time of people killing members of their own family for power. Shan-Yu has made himself the Emperor; but perhaps his cousin feels that he should be in power since he led the majority of the soldiers that are now stationed here. Maybe we should start that rumor ourselves.”

Shang stared at him.

“Well, if the Hun army is too busy fighting among themselves they won’t be paying any attention to us and they’ll be disorganized. That may be when we could sneak in there to get her.”

“We need to be careful,” Shang answered, thoughtfully. “Starting something like that could backfire on us. And Mulan could end up in the middle of it. For now, I think we should be observing and listening closely, nothing more.”

~~~

“Shan.”

He looked up as Boke entered the room.

“What is it, cousin?”

“There is no information on your mysterious Mulan to report.”

“Batu is overseeing this. What has this got to do with you, Boke?”

“One of the men watching her mentioned to me that she talks to herself.”

Shan-Yu raised his eyebrows at that, pondering.

“Interesting.”

“She’s usually in the palace garden when she’s not with you during the day. She stays under the same tree all the time.”

“Have the men searched the garden?”

“No. Why?”

“Perhaps our illusive commander found his way back here and is hiding out there. Maybe she’s talking to him.”

“I’ll have some men search. In the meantime…”

“In the meantime what?” he demanded when Boke trailed off, an uncomfortable expression on his face.

“What are your plans for her?”

“That is none of your business,” Shan-Yu answered, his brow darkening at his cousin’s prying.

“You obviously have a reason for keeping her so close to you,” Boke pressed.

Shan-Yu rose to his feet and stalked toward his cousin threateningly.

“Hear me out, cousin. If you think she may have information, there are more direct methods of getting it than that way. She can be threatened. Or tortured.”

“No,” Shan-Yu answered, shaking his head for emphasis. “Not this one. Mulan is one of a kind. She would not break down under threats or torture. Things have to be handled more delicately. The way to learn information from her, if she has it, is by earning her trust.”

“What exactly are you trying to find out?”

“Who she is and what she’s doing here. I am always suspicious of things that seem out of place where they are.”

“I still say you’re playing with fire, cousin. She would not be the first woman to fell an empire, or a single man. Just be careful that it’s you playing her, not the other way around. She may not be a palace concubine, but that doesn’t mean she’s an innocent.”

Boke flinched as Shan-Yu took a step toward him. He lifted his smaller cousin off of his feet by the collar, but when he spoke his tone was quiet and even.

“I’m going to kill you if you ever say anything like that about her to me again, Boke.”
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Shan-Yu's Victory