Categories > Movies > Mulan > The Ballad of Li
Chapter 4
"Balance," Master Jiang told the students as they practiced their brush strokes. "Each character must be balanced and steady, with a clear center. Even the characters that lean have a clear center."
There was no sound in the room other than Master Jiang's voice and the soft sounds of brushes etching against practice slabs.
Mulan concentrated on her own task, ignoring the questioning glances that she still received every so often. Many of these 'students' were villagers that she'd grown up with, still living here, many of them married now. They had thought she was odd and bound to bring dishonor upon her family; they still thought she was odd but now she was a woman that had been honored by the Emperor, too, and had actually gone to work in his palace. She sensed the ambivalence that they felt toward her, a combination of admiration and confusion, an uncertainty about whether it was right to feel approval or disapproval. Dressing up as a man and joining the army was outrageous as far as they were all concerned; and now here she was dressed as a man again for a different reason.
At least she hadn't run into the matchmaker upon returning. And despite the quizzical glances that the others snuck her way every now and then, their behavior toward her was pleasant. Many of the younger ones hadn't been there to witness the scene in the street when she was called a disgrace. And things had changed anyway. The fact that there were women involved in this rebellion that Hua Zhou was organizing was a striking example of how different things had become.
She stood up quietly when her father entered the school room and beckoned to her. They went off to the study again to talk.
"We have all of the swords and staffs that we need and it's time to start the real training. We'll have to work at night, I'm afraid."
She nodded. "When Imperial guards would be less likely to come around. There's the courtyard in back. That should keep us pretty much unseen, especially if we're working in the dark."
"Yes. I've been instructing them and demonstrating what I can," he said, softly. "But now that you're here, you can demonstrate."
"I hope I remember. It's been three years since I've been in the army and I need to get back in shape, too. I practiced martial arts some when I was working at the palace, but it wasn't the same as the workout I got from Shang."
She laughed wistfully as she thought of it.
"I'm sure it will all come back to you quickly, Mulan. But before you get involved with the training, we need to get a message to the leaders in the next village. You wanted to go on the next errand; this is it."
"Yes, I wanted to have a chance to hear that song. You said they're singing it in this village, too."
"They are, but I haven't heard it. I don't spend my evenings in the taverns."
Mulan smiled warmly at him. She knew that her father had never been the type to cavort in taverns. He was always very attentive and loving toward her mother and the two of them were really lucky that they were brought together.
"And if General Li's troops are on the way to this village you can't be there, even in disguise. He's already seen you dressed as a man and will recognize you."
"I know."
"You will have to stay away for a few days. There will be much information to gather and the weather does not look very promising. You'll have to refrain from traveling in the event of inclement weather. Xu Ao-li will be going with you. We will have something for you to bring to the village and a story for you both to tell in the event that you are detained by Imperial guards."
She stared at him, hesitating for a moment, thinking about the treatment that she received from the council members other than Li Tian-mu, and her concern that Ao-li and the other men here would resent her working on their level as well.
"What is it?" he asked, noticing her troubled expression.
"There's no problem with Ao-li? I mean, him going with me?"
"He knows I will run a sword through him if he lays a hand on you, bad leg or no."
"Oh," she answered, stunned. It wasn't what she meant. She hadn't even thought about what her father was suggesting; she was dressed as a man, after all.
"Something else is bothering you?"
She shook her head and shrugged it off. "I'm sure everything will be fine. When do we leave?"
"First thing tomorrow morning."
xxxxxxx
Camp was already set up at sunset, in a spot several li before the village of Sui Xian, the last village that lay along the route to Shangqiu. General Zhao's troops would be continuing southeast from there, on toward Jiangdu, while Shang's troop remained to stake out the village of Shangqiu and the area surrounding it.
Scouts had been sent ahead first to make sure the forest was clear of any hostile forces, and the rest of their troops moved on after they had returned with the report. Tents were pitched quickly, sheltered under the thick canopy of trees, and a guard rotation was set up around the campsite for the next twenty-four hours.
The cooks promptly prepared dinner and while their troops ate, Shang met with General Zhao in his tent, poring over the map that was spread out between them.
"I was in Shangqiu three years ago," he said, staring intently at the spot on the map and indicating with his finger. "This area here is forest and might be another area that we'll need to have scouted before we move in. If it's clear of rebels my troop can make camp there while we stake out the village."
General Zhao nodded agreement. "Yes. We're ordered to put down rebellions, but there doesn't appear to be any activity yet. My guess is that any uprisings in the works are just that; in the planning stages. It's very possible that at this point we don't need an army. What we need are spies to go into these villages covertly to snoop out the organizers and leaders."
Shang frowned thoughtfully. "According to the rumors that reached the Emperor, the base in this area is near Shangqiu, not necessarily in the village itself. It may be a good idea to have the whole area including the surrounding villages scouted out. This village that we're arriving in tomorrow."
"Very good, General. I would scout out this village of Sui Xian, Shangqiu itself, Xiayi. My troop will be passing by Xiayi on our way southeast. I will send a message to you if I hear of anything out of the ordinary," General Zhao answered, rising to standing. He walked over and rummaged through his things, withdrawing a cask of rice wine and two cups a minute later.
Shang held his hand up, indicating that he didn't want any. Though the wine kept him warm he'd been drinking much too much of it ever since he'd been in General Zhao's company and found that his mind, normally alert and sharp in the morning, was always in a fog when he first woke up these days. Tea would do just as well and his head would remain a lot clearer.
Zhao chuckled and poured the liquid into one cup only.
"Hua Mulan is from Shangqiu," he remarked as he sat back down on the ground cross-legged, peering over the map at Shang.
He nodded. "Yes, I know. I went there three years ago to return her father's helmet."
"You will probably be the one that finds her, Li Shang."
Shang swallowed, caught off guard by the informal, more fatherly address that Zhao had switched to all of a sudden as he spoke of her, his mind reeling from the gravity of the meaning of that statement. He nodded again, making an effort to keep his face schooled into an impassive mask under the mature general's scrutinizing gaze. He would have another decision to make if that happened, just as he'd had to make a decision in the Tung Shao Pass when she was revealed to him.
"Maybe she didn't come this way," he suggested, finding his voice as the idea came to his mind. "She must have known that Imperial officers would be sent to her hometown first. I would think this would be the last place she'd come."
"Or the first place," Zhao laughed. "She might figure that we wouldn't expect her to risk coming here so she did. Her father would do something based on logic like that. Hua Zhou was a great general and an excellent mastermind."
He frowned and lifted his cup, taking a swig of wine, then set it down and spoke again.
"When he was injured so severely and forced to retire the Imperial army lost a great warrior."
"Yes," Shang answered quietly. "My father used to tell me stories about him."
"He..."
The sound of someone clearing their throat outside of the tent interrupted him.
"Come in," General Zhao called out.
One of the cooks pushed the flap open, stepped in and bowed.
"General Zhao, General Li. The men have all taken their meals. I will bring your dinner in to you now."
"Very good, Shuo."
"I think I'll start with this village," Shang mused when Shuo had left the tent, gazing at the map and the area that represented where they were now. "There may be someone in Sui Xian who is organizing people as well."
"Definitely. These are small villages, with small numbers. It would seem that several of them would need to join together to make a formidable fighting force."
"Exactly."
Shuo returned with their dinner and tea, then bowed quickly and exited the tent again.
"It will be interesting to see who the leaders of these uprisings will turn out to be," Zhao commented, picking up his chopsticks and bowl of rice. "These are not military officers, they're farmers and villagers. Still, they are desperate people; poor and starving. Desperation can drive people to do many things and it gives them the impetus they need to succeed."
Shang watched General Zhao tuck into his rice, wondering how he was still able to sound so matter-of-fact as he alluded to the hardship and other dismal things they had continued to see around them. The incident with the little boy in Zhengzhou still permeated his thoughts.
"Many of them were drafted to fight in the war," he answered finally, thinking of Mulan and the other villagers that had been in his own troop the first time he went to battle. "They may not be officers by profession, but the more intelligent soldiers may have learned something from their time in the army."
Mulan was one of those more intelligent soldiers that had learned quickly and another thought crossed his mind suddenly. She was certainly sharp enough to organize a group of rebels. Maybe that was why she left the palace and shirked her duty to Luo Di. Maybe it tore her up to see how their countrymen suffered, so much so that she decided to do something about it.
"That is quite possible."
Shang started and he felt his heart freeze, believing for a moment that General Zhao was answering what he'd been thinking about Mulan. He relaxed after a moment, realizing that he was just answering his remark that the villagers who had been soldiers might have learned strategy.
"You're leaving first thing tomorrow?" he asked when his heart stopped thudding, wanting to change the subject.
"Yes. We have a long way to go before we reach Jiangdu and we lost time waiting in Zhengzhou."
xxxxxxx
The morning air was icy, the sky covered with a blanket of grey clouds, the air thick with the feel and smell of an on-coming storm. Mulan and her companion Xu Ao-li rode side by side at a steady trot, keeping silent as they both braced themselves against the biting cold that hit them every time the wind blew.
They were still a long way from the village of Xiayi, where they were headed on their errand to meet with a few of the masters in the school there; and they were concerned about a storm beginning before they could get there, especially since they were riding through open plains now and didn't even have the shelter of the forest.
They were alone, not a soul in sight besides them and she and Ao-li looked like two teenage companions riding their horses, intent on going about their business for the day. There wouldn't be anything suspicious-looking about them, she hoped.
She had learned that it was through these errands that the rebel groups in the various villages of the area planned, communicated, exchanged weapons and supplies, and prepared themselves for the day when they would combine to be a large enough army that they could strike out. She was duly impressed yet not in the least bit surprised to find that it had all been masterminded by her father. Growing up she had taken it for granted that her father was a famous general who was renowned as a brilliant tactician and a peerless warrior; but she had never witnessed his strategic talent firsthand until now. When she learned that their allies in the other villages called him The Fox she was floored.
"They don't want to be overheard calling me by name, giving me away," he told her, modestly when he saw her shocked expression. "So they came up with that nickname."
A smile came to her face as she thought of it now.
The wind picked up violently all of a sudden with a howl across the open expanse, and Mulan reached up with a gloved hand and wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes as the icy gust stung them. She blinked and squinted, focusing ahead, trying to see if she could make out the outline of trees on the horizon. All she could see was endless, open flat space.
She leaned forward and lowered her body so that she would meet with less wind resistance. The two of them were dressed from head to toe in layers of non-descript dark green and grey clothing that would camouflage them in the forest and even in the field should they run across Imperial guards. Although their direction was southeast, the opposite direction from Chang'an and from where the troops would be coming from, there was always a chance that they could run into Imperial guards when they least expected. An explanation had been worked out for them to offer in the event that they were stopped and questioned for any reason; they were on an errand from their school to buy more ink and to deliver some finished banners that had been ordered by the prefect of Xiayi, a sympathizer who kept the façade of a loyal and simple local official, one that remained uninvolved in any matters outside the scope of his duties.
It was a plausible explanation and one that she had no doubt would be accepted. Still, it was preferable to avoid Imperial officers whenever possible. With her luck they might run into an officer from Chang'an who would recognize her.
Although she hadn't seen the banners yet, which were in their packs, she was pretty sure that the words on them contained a cryptic message that had a meaning meant for the leaders they were meeting with. Another covert detail that her father would have come up with. An Imperial guard wouldn't guess the meaning most likely, but it was better not to take the chance.
"There," Ao-li broke the silence, pointing into the distance. "I can see the forest coming into view."
She nodded and they both spurred their horses to a gallop despite the blast of wind that they had to ride against, hurrying toward the cover of the trees.
"Balance," Master Jiang told the students as they practiced their brush strokes. "Each character must be balanced and steady, with a clear center. Even the characters that lean have a clear center."
There was no sound in the room other than Master Jiang's voice and the soft sounds of brushes etching against practice slabs.
Mulan concentrated on her own task, ignoring the questioning glances that she still received every so often. Many of these 'students' were villagers that she'd grown up with, still living here, many of them married now. They had thought she was odd and bound to bring dishonor upon her family; they still thought she was odd but now she was a woman that had been honored by the Emperor, too, and had actually gone to work in his palace. She sensed the ambivalence that they felt toward her, a combination of admiration and confusion, an uncertainty about whether it was right to feel approval or disapproval. Dressing up as a man and joining the army was outrageous as far as they were all concerned; and now here she was dressed as a man again for a different reason.
At least she hadn't run into the matchmaker upon returning. And despite the quizzical glances that the others snuck her way every now and then, their behavior toward her was pleasant. Many of the younger ones hadn't been there to witness the scene in the street when she was called a disgrace. And things had changed anyway. The fact that there were women involved in this rebellion that Hua Zhou was organizing was a striking example of how different things had become.
She stood up quietly when her father entered the school room and beckoned to her. They went off to the study again to talk.
"We have all of the swords and staffs that we need and it's time to start the real training. We'll have to work at night, I'm afraid."
She nodded. "When Imperial guards would be less likely to come around. There's the courtyard in back. That should keep us pretty much unseen, especially if we're working in the dark."
"Yes. I've been instructing them and demonstrating what I can," he said, softly. "But now that you're here, you can demonstrate."
"I hope I remember. It's been three years since I've been in the army and I need to get back in shape, too. I practiced martial arts some when I was working at the palace, but it wasn't the same as the workout I got from Shang."
She laughed wistfully as she thought of it.
"I'm sure it will all come back to you quickly, Mulan. But before you get involved with the training, we need to get a message to the leaders in the next village. You wanted to go on the next errand; this is it."
"Yes, I wanted to have a chance to hear that song. You said they're singing it in this village, too."
"They are, but I haven't heard it. I don't spend my evenings in the taverns."
Mulan smiled warmly at him. She knew that her father had never been the type to cavort in taverns. He was always very attentive and loving toward her mother and the two of them were really lucky that they were brought together.
"And if General Li's troops are on the way to this village you can't be there, even in disguise. He's already seen you dressed as a man and will recognize you."
"I know."
"You will have to stay away for a few days. There will be much information to gather and the weather does not look very promising. You'll have to refrain from traveling in the event of inclement weather. Xu Ao-li will be going with you. We will have something for you to bring to the village and a story for you both to tell in the event that you are detained by Imperial guards."
She stared at him, hesitating for a moment, thinking about the treatment that she received from the council members other than Li Tian-mu, and her concern that Ao-li and the other men here would resent her working on their level as well.
"What is it?" he asked, noticing her troubled expression.
"There's no problem with Ao-li? I mean, him going with me?"
"He knows I will run a sword through him if he lays a hand on you, bad leg or no."
"Oh," she answered, stunned. It wasn't what she meant. She hadn't even thought about what her father was suggesting; she was dressed as a man, after all.
"Something else is bothering you?"
She shook her head and shrugged it off. "I'm sure everything will be fine. When do we leave?"
"First thing tomorrow morning."
xxxxxxx
Camp was already set up at sunset, in a spot several li before the village of Sui Xian, the last village that lay along the route to Shangqiu. General Zhao's troops would be continuing southeast from there, on toward Jiangdu, while Shang's troop remained to stake out the village of Shangqiu and the area surrounding it.
Scouts had been sent ahead first to make sure the forest was clear of any hostile forces, and the rest of their troops moved on after they had returned with the report. Tents were pitched quickly, sheltered under the thick canopy of trees, and a guard rotation was set up around the campsite for the next twenty-four hours.
The cooks promptly prepared dinner and while their troops ate, Shang met with General Zhao in his tent, poring over the map that was spread out between them.
"I was in Shangqiu three years ago," he said, staring intently at the spot on the map and indicating with his finger. "This area here is forest and might be another area that we'll need to have scouted before we move in. If it's clear of rebels my troop can make camp there while we stake out the village."
General Zhao nodded agreement. "Yes. We're ordered to put down rebellions, but there doesn't appear to be any activity yet. My guess is that any uprisings in the works are just that; in the planning stages. It's very possible that at this point we don't need an army. What we need are spies to go into these villages covertly to snoop out the organizers and leaders."
Shang frowned thoughtfully. "According to the rumors that reached the Emperor, the base in this area is near Shangqiu, not necessarily in the village itself. It may be a good idea to have the whole area including the surrounding villages scouted out. This village that we're arriving in tomorrow."
"Very good, General. I would scout out this village of Sui Xian, Shangqiu itself, Xiayi. My troop will be passing by Xiayi on our way southeast. I will send a message to you if I hear of anything out of the ordinary," General Zhao answered, rising to standing. He walked over and rummaged through his things, withdrawing a cask of rice wine and two cups a minute later.
Shang held his hand up, indicating that he didn't want any. Though the wine kept him warm he'd been drinking much too much of it ever since he'd been in General Zhao's company and found that his mind, normally alert and sharp in the morning, was always in a fog when he first woke up these days. Tea would do just as well and his head would remain a lot clearer.
Zhao chuckled and poured the liquid into one cup only.
"Hua Mulan is from Shangqiu," he remarked as he sat back down on the ground cross-legged, peering over the map at Shang.
He nodded. "Yes, I know. I went there three years ago to return her father's helmet."
"You will probably be the one that finds her, Li Shang."
Shang swallowed, caught off guard by the informal, more fatherly address that Zhao had switched to all of a sudden as he spoke of her, his mind reeling from the gravity of the meaning of that statement. He nodded again, making an effort to keep his face schooled into an impassive mask under the mature general's scrutinizing gaze. He would have another decision to make if that happened, just as he'd had to make a decision in the Tung Shao Pass when she was revealed to him.
"Maybe she didn't come this way," he suggested, finding his voice as the idea came to his mind. "She must have known that Imperial officers would be sent to her hometown first. I would think this would be the last place she'd come."
"Or the first place," Zhao laughed. "She might figure that we wouldn't expect her to risk coming here so she did. Her father would do something based on logic like that. Hua Zhou was a great general and an excellent mastermind."
He frowned and lifted his cup, taking a swig of wine, then set it down and spoke again.
"When he was injured so severely and forced to retire the Imperial army lost a great warrior."
"Yes," Shang answered quietly. "My father used to tell me stories about him."
"He..."
The sound of someone clearing their throat outside of the tent interrupted him.
"Come in," General Zhao called out.
One of the cooks pushed the flap open, stepped in and bowed.
"General Zhao, General Li. The men have all taken their meals. I will bring your dinner in to you now."
"Very good, Shuo."
"I think I'll start with this village," Shang mused when Shuo had left the tent, gazing at the map and the area that represented where they were now. "There may be someone in Sui Xian who is organizing people as well."
"Definitely. These are small villages, with small numbers. It would seem that several of them would need to join together to make a formidable fighting force."
"Exactly."
Shuo returned with their dinner and tea, then bowed quickly and exited the tent again.
"It will be interesting to see who the leaders of these uprisings will turn out to be," Zhao commented, picking up his chopsticks and bowl of rice. "These are not military officers, they're farmers and villagers. Still, they are desperate people; poor and starving. Desperation can drive people to do many things and it gives them the impetus they need to succeed."
Shang watched General Zhao tuck into his rice, wondering how he was still able to sound so matter-of-fact as he alluded to the hardship and other dismal things they had continued to see around them. The incident with the little boy in Zhengzhou still permeated his thoughts.
"Many of them were drafted to fight in the war," he answered finally, thinking of Mulan and the other villagers that had been in his own troop the first time he went to battle. "They may not be officers by profession, but the more intelligent soldiers may have learned something from their time in the army."
Mulan was one of those more intelligent soldiers that had learned quickly and another thought crossed his mind suddenly. She was certainly sharp enough to organize a group of rebels. Maybe that was why she left the palace and shirked her duty to Luo Di. Maybe it tore her up to see how their countrymen suffered, so much so that she decided to do something about it.
"That is quite possible."
Shang started and he felt his heart freeze, believing for a moment that General Zhao was answering what he'd been thinking about Mulan. He relaxed after a moment, realizing that he was just answering his remark that the villagers who had been soldiers might have learned strategy.
"You're leaving first thing tomorrow?" he asked when his heart stopped thudding, wanting to change the subject.
"Yes. We have a long way to go before we reach Jiangdu and we lost time waiting in Zhengzhou."
xxxxxxx
The morning air was icy, the sky covered with a blanket of grey clouds, the air thick with the feel and smell of an on-coming storm. Mulan and her companion Xu Ao-li rode side by side at a steady trot, keeping silent as they both braced themselves against the biting cold that hit them every time the wind blew.
They were still a long way from the village of Xiayi, where they were headed on their errand to meet with a few of the masters in the school there; and they were concerned about a storm beginning before they could get there, especially since they were riding through open plains now and didn't even have the shelter of the forest.
They were alone, not a soul in sight besides them and she and Ao-li looked like two teenage companions riding their horses, intent on going about their business for the day. There wouldn't be anything suspicious-looking about them, she hoped.
She had learned that it was through these errands that the rebel groups in the various villages of the area planned, communicated, exchanged weapons and supplies, and prepared themselves for the day when they would combine to be a large enough army that they could strike out. She was duly impressed yet not in the least bit surprised to find that it had all been masterminded by her father. Growing up she had taken it for granted that her father was a famous general who was renowned as a brilliant tactician and a peerless warrior; but she had never witnessed his strategic talent firsthand until now. When she learned that their allies in the other villages called him The Fox she was floored.
"They don't want to be overheard calling me by name, giving me away," he told her, modestly when he saw her shocked expression. "So they came up with that nickname."
A smile came to her face as she thought of it now.
The wind picked up violently all of a sudden with a howl across the open expanse, and Mulan reached up with a gloved hand and wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes as the icy gust stung them. She blinked and squinted, focusing ahead, trying to see if she could make out the outline of trees on the horizon. All she could see was endless, open flat space.
She leaned forward and lowered her body so that she would meet with less wind resistance. The two of them were dressed from head to toe in layers of non-descript dark green and grey clothing that would camouflage them in the forest and even in the field should they run across Imperial guards. Although their direction was southeast, the opposite direction from Chang'an and from where the troops would be coming from, there was always a chance that they could run into Imperial guards when they least expected. An explanation had been worked out for them to offer in the event that they were stopped and questioned for any reason; they were on an errand from their school to buy more ink and to deliver some finished banners that had been ordered by the prefect of Xiayi, a sympathizer who kept the façade of a loyal and simple local official, one that remained uninvolved in any matters outside the scope of his duties.
It was a plausible explanation and one that she had no doubt would be accepted. Still, it was preferable to avoid Imperial officers whenever possible. With her luck they might run into an officer from Chang'an who would recognize her.
Although she hadn't seen the banners yet, which were in their packs, she was pretty sure that the words on them contained a cryptic message that had a meaning meant for the leaders they were meeting with. Another covert detail that her father would have come up with. An Imperial guard wouldn't guess the meaning most likely, but it was better not to take the chance.
"There," Ao-li broke the silence, pointing into the distance. "I can see the forest coming into view."
She nodded and they both spurred their horses to a gallop despite the blast of wind that they had to ride against, hurrying toward the cover of the trees.
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