FicWad

Chapter 11

Hua Zhou went back to town with Wei Wang when he came to deliver a fresh supply of food the day after Xiao left. He felt responsible for everything that went on in the school, but he also didn't want to leave her mother and grandmother alone for so many days at a time. He would be returning the next afternoon with the next delivery of supplies, which included materials that they would need to carry out his plan, and it was arranged that the students on night watch would take turns getting a little bit of sleep so that everyone would be awake in the mornings and ready to fight back when the troop came for them.

In the mean time Mulan and Li Meng-shi were left to look after Shang and each student was informed that they should stop him if he attempted to leave the school while they were on watch. The wound to his head wasn't very deep and seemed to be healing steadily; and he didn't have a concussion. His arm was healing as well, and there was no infection starting thanks to the balm that the priest was applying on a regular basis.

The mild temperatures that they had been blessed with for a few days in the middle of that cold winter ended and the harsh bitter weather returned. Training was difficult but the students stoically stood in formation, bracing themselves against the chill, each of them able to see their own breath almost freeze in front of their faces before it dissipated in the air. The only other option would have been to temporarily carry the calligraphy tables out and clear the main room, making it a training room. But Mulan knew that investing so much effort for a practice session was ridiculous and the idea would outrage Master Jiang, so she abandoned it without ever bringing it up.

Mulan was completely in charge of training the students that night. Pushing away her nervousness she walked toward the group with as much self-assurance as she could muster and spoke in an even, confident voice, though given how much she was shivering and how her teeth were chattering she knew she wasn't very convincing.

They were to continue practicing archery. After everyone had lined up quietly she had each of the students take turns aiming at the target. As she was working with one student on form Shang sauntered up to her.

"Let me help," he said simply.

She turned and stared at him, eyebrows raised.

"You noticed that I'm quite rusty, didn't you?" she finally remarked.

A lopsided smile that she remembered had always made her heart melt when she saw it came to his lips. "You're still quite good, just out of practice."

She nodded and stepped aside, indicating that, by all means, he should take over the lesson.

"If you don't mind me saying, no matter how well you train these students, you won't be able to fight with so few arrows against an Imperial troop full of archery masters," Shang told her as they crossed the courtyard together toward the school at the end of the practice session. "This school will be covered with arrows before you even get a shot out. Unless there's a supply somewhere that I haven't seen."

Mulan hesitated, thinking carefully before she answered. As much as she didn't like it, her father had his reasons for not sharing any information with Shang yet.

"No, what you see is everything we have," she answered finally.

He glanced at her and she instantly saw in his eyes that he didn't believe her. But he didn't press.

"Your group of fighters is very dedicated to be outside training in this. At least if they were practicing martial arts they'd be moving around and keeping warm. But these poor kids had to wait in line, shivering, to have their turn aiming at a target."

"Archery has become a priority."

"Hmm," he grunted.

"I'm glad you decided to help us, Shang."

He sighed. "Well, it's not like I have a choice, right?"

Her head snapped up at that and she stopped in her tracks just outside the school. He came to a halt as well and stared down into her eyes pointedly. She felt her cheeks begin to burn, and she was sure it wasn't just from the freezing cold.

"I'm sure if I tried to leave right now I would be surrounded and held back by everyone here. My sword and my armor have been confiscated. You and Li Meng-shi are watching me. I'm a hostage."

"N-no...you're not a hostage, Shang. My father has a plan to protect you. That's why he's keeping you here."

"If that's the case why won't he tell me what his plan is then?"

She remained silent, unable to reply, and turned away from him, stepping through the back entrance into the school.

"He's afraid I won't cooperate," he answered the question for her, following her inside.

Grateful to be out of the cold, Mulan removed her gloves and blew on her hands to ease the numbness from the cold that had seeped through them, then took her boots off and carried them through the corridor to the front door, setting them on a wooden shelf to the side of it. Shang followed her, his own boots removed, and found a vacant space to leave his own pair.

"Shang, I don't know why he won't tell you," she said finally, turning away from the door and walking toward the private study, "but I'm sure he has a good reason for it. He's protecting you. You have to believe me."

His hand gripped her forearm firmly, stopping her in her tracks again. She turned and looked into his face, feeling herself freeze, her breath catching, her face heating up as her eyes met his again.

"I do believe you, Mulan. I gave you my trust a long time ago and you still have it. But this isn't right. I should be with my troop and instead I'm being kept from it..."

"I know. I'm sorry."

She forced her eyes away from his and stared down at his hand that still held her wrist firmly. He released his grasp and followed her as she turned and entered the private study. She removed her coat and took a seat at the table.

"I'll be on watch in a little while, for a few hours tonight. We're rotating the night watches now so everyone is up during the day. But you should probably get some rest."

He ignored her suggestion and took a seat at the table with her after removing his own coat.

"Shang, there was someone watching the school from out front a couple of days ago. Was that Captain Mao? Or you?"

"It was probably Captain Mao. He was supposed to stay in camp but he took it on himself to put another captain in charge and conduct the mission on his own. I was here the night Mao attacked me, on top of the roof. I saw you and your father training the students. I was on my way back to camp when I was attacked by Mao."

Mulan was silent. It occurred to her now that Shang, had he not been attacked by Captain Mao on that night and saved by Wang Xiao, would have most likely had his troop there the very next morning. The battle would have been over already now, no doubt leaving them worse for wear if not dead. Yet despite that fact, he seemed to have accepted his predicament of being more or less captive there with surprising ease, going so far as to help them with their archery practice tonight. She supposed her father had him pegged after all. He knew that the young general was torn between his loyalty and duty to the Emperor and his feelings about the situation of their countrymen, even his sentiments toward her and her family.

"By the way, my stallion was left in the woods."

"And Mao's," she answered with a nod. "Xiao let his stallion loose after he killed Mao and sent him galloping toward town."

"As a warning to your comrades there?"

He was staring at her, a hint of a smug smirk playing around his lips.

"What would you have done in his shoes, General?" she replied flippantly.

"The same thing," he answered with a laugh that she found very pleasing to the ear.

"It would have been too suspicious for him to be here. We left him in the forest and Xiao was taking him back to your camp with him."

A glint of sudden understanding came into his eyes, as if something had just dawned on him.

"He's going to tell my men that I was killed and he found my stallion, isn't he," he remarked after a moment. "So that the Emperor will think his order was carried out."

"I don't know what Xiao is going to say," she answered, doing her best to school her face into a blank expression.

This time the smirk he gave her was clear.

"What about your friend?"

She squinted at him, puzzled.

"The one that you're always talking to."

"Ao-li?"

He nodded.

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Where is he? I haven't seen him around for a couple of days, not even at practice."

Trying to appear as casual as possible, she shifted her gaze slowly. Her father had sent Ao-li on an errand but hadn't told anyone else where or what it was, not even her.

"I guess he went on an errand. We take turns going on errands in town and to neighboring villages for supplies and to run errands. Why do you want to know?"

"No special reason," he answered with a shrug. "I was just wondering."

They remained silent for a few minutes. Shang was suddenly staring down at the table, absently drumming his fingers on the wooden surface. Mulan watched his fingers as they moved, wondering how much he had figured out on his own without being told. When the movement of his fingers stopped and he spoke again it was about something completely different and unexpected.

"Mulan, why didn't you ever come over to me when you were at the palace? You said you were there when I was made a general...you could have come to talk to me."

The question seemed to come from out of nowhere and it utterly confused her, making her start slightly.

"I know we didn't stay in touch," he continued, "but after the war ended I did consider you a friend."

"So did I. I still do."

"I guess I should have written, but..." he trailed off and rubbed the back of his head, looking perplexed.

"You didn't know what to say to me any more than I did to you," she finished his sentence for him with a shrug. "Then we both went on with our lives. And I'm still single so that made it awkward for me...I mean, you have a wife. You must have children now too."

She noticed his body instantly become tense and she wondered what she had said to bring about such a reaction.

"No," he answered quietly after a moment. "My wife died in childbirth last year. And the baby boy was stillborn."

"Oh. Shang, I'm sorry," she exclaimed sympathetically, suddenly regretting that she'd brought up that subject. She could only imagine how terrible it must have been for him to lose a wife and a child at once.

He looked away from her, his face becoming distant and sad. After several minutes of silence she placed a comforting hand on his forearm. He turned his attention back to her and she removed her hand.

"I'm sorry I made you think of it."

Shang didn't answer, but he reached over and placed a hand on hers, patting it gently.

xxxxxxx

"We're going to make scarecrows?" Wang Sheng asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Mulan answered. "This is part of my father's plan and part of winning the battle."

Looking completely puzzled as to how that could possibly be, Xiao's son went back to shaping the lump of straw he was working with. Everyone had complete respect for the venerable war veteran and no one would dare question his strategic and tactical planning abilities. However weird their task seemed, if the retired general Hua Zhou had come up with it, as far as they were concerned it would no doubt be a good idea.

Loose strands of straw were scattered all over the table as the students worked to shape the straw into the shape of life-size people, tying sections of them with silk threads to segment the figures so they appeared to have heads, legs and arms. Each person donated a pair of trousers and a tunic, and the life-size scarecrows were dressed in them.

"Aren't they going to see that these aren't real?" someone asked.

"We're going to be lowering them over the wall at night. They won't be able to really see them; all they'll see is moving figures," Mulan replied, pulling a tunic over the 'head' of the figure she was working on.

It was impossible to tell what Shang would have thought of their activities and what he might have done, so just in case Li Meng-shi had led him off to the room he now occupied to talk to him and to check on his injuries. The students didn't start their work until after they were out of sight and ear shot.

A few days had passed and Ao-li still hadn't returned to the school yet. Mulan had a feeling that her father had sent him to summon their allies from one of the other villages like Xiayi. A trap was being laid to ensnare Shang's troop and she felt worried about how he would react when he found out. She knew Li Meng-shi was revealing something important to Shang tonight, but she had no idea what it was yet.

xxxxxxx

"You're healing nicely, General," Li Meng-shi remarked serenely as he looked over the gash on his arm. "It wasn't a deep wound, fortunately, and thanks to Xiao being there, you received treatment immediately. I don't even think you'll have a scar once this is healed."

After applying more of the familiar salve he'd been mixing up, he wound a fresh bandage around Shang's forearm, then proceeded to check the bruise on his head where Mao had hit him with the hilt of his sword.

"Any dizziness or headaches?"

"No," Shang answered. "I'm fine now."

"You still have a small bump, but it will be gone in a few days, and fortunately you don't have a concussion."

Shang folded his arms over his chest as the medic finished working on him and gazed steadily at his face as he set aside the bowl with his salve and the scraps that he'd cut away from the soft bamboo he'd used to make the bandage for him.

"And now, General Li," he began, shifting his position so that he now sat back against one of the screens cross-legged, "I have some important things to discuss with you."

Several retorts came to mind but Shang chose to remain even-tempered and quiet. The less he gave away of what he did or didn't know the better. He merely gestured for him to go ahead with what he had to say.

"I am on my way to the province of Shanxi, specifically to the city of Taiyuan."

Remembering that just a few days ago Li Meng-shi had been asking him whether he knew anyone there, Shang just nodded, keeping his face expressionless.

"There are many signs that point to that city and I'm following them. It is my job and my destiny to seek out the Mandated Son of Heaven. That's where the portents have told me to go to find him."

Blinking rapidly, Shang still wordlessly indicated for him to go on.

"As Hua Zhou has already told you, it's a man named Li that is believed to be the Mandated Son of Heaven and destined to be our next Emperor. But it won't be just anyone named Li; it will be someone who is already somewhat influential. That's why I asked you if you knew anyone of importance there."

"How would you know?" Shang asked with genuine curiosity. "I mean, let's say you come across an influential man by the name of Li when you arrive there. How will you know that he's the Li that will be the Emperor?"

"The signs will be there, and I will be able to read it in the man's face and his comportment of himself. Just as I knew that you weren't being completely honest with me when I asked you if you knew anyone named Li there when you arrived here a few days ago."

Shang's mouth fell open involuntarily. "I've never met anyone named Li there," he insisted, feeling the blood rush to his face. "I've never been to Taiyuan and I don't have any relatives there."

"But you know of someone with that name there. I could sense your knowledge even while you denied it."

He stared at Li Meng-shi incredulously. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

"I'm a follower of the Dao and a priest by vocation. I was a spiritual advisor to Wu Di and left the palace after he died. My mission is to seek out the next Emperor, the one who must truly be the Son of Heaven, and who will rule fairly and justly. He will follow the teachings of Lao Tzu. And I will be his guide. Just as the ballad says. Our country cannot continue as it has been lately, under this man Luo Di's rule."

Li Meng-shi softly sang the refrain of the song that Shang now recognized. It was the song that Captain Mao and his two men were singing when they came back to camp drunk that one night, and that he'd heard again in the tavern in the village of Shangqiu. Listening to the words he still didn't understand what the uproar was about this song. The rhyme was catchy, but there was nothing in it that Shang would have interpreted as prophesizing the rise of a new Emperor.

And why would Mao have been singing it if that were the case? Had he been trying to give him a hint? He would have possibly given himself away. Then again, according to Hua Zhou and Mulan it was being sung everywhere. Maybe he'd had no idea what the meaning was and just happened to hear it and repeat it.

"You've heard this?"

"Yes. But I don't understand how everyone has interpreted it..."

"It's symbolic, General."

Shang sighed. "Of course. Why are you telling me all of this anyway? Are you and Hua Zhou still trying to convince me to switch over to your side?"

"I'm telling you because you have heard of a man named Li in Taiyuan. I won't force you to do anything, General Li, but you are caught up in this now, whether you like it or not. I can read it when I look at your face, your destiny is bound up with those men and with the rise of a new Emperor. That's why the course of your life brought you here to us at this time. I think that you should come with me to Taiyuan."

"W-What...I?" Shang sputtered. "I'm not the Mandated Son of Heaven."

"No, but somehow you're meant to be involved in the unfurling of these events. Even if for no other reason than your surname, because you were already made a target by the Emperor for that reason. Your name, the Emperor sending you to this province with your troop and Captain Mao's attempt on your life upon the order of the Emperor, which resulted in you being brought to this school for treatment. All of these things have led you to this group of people and this movement."

At a loss as to how to answer, Shang remained quiet, feeling bewildered. Though he didn't consider himself a spiritual person by any means, he'd been taught the teachings of Lao Tzu when he was growing up, and he did believe in the philosophy. There were many legends of the priests speaking prophecies that actually came true. Unfortunately, they spoke in riddles and symbols and Shang was a man of action and logic by nature. And though he was thoughtful, approaching all situations with reason and logic and never on frivolous impulse, he didn't have the patience to sit down and figure out what lay in between cryptic words.

"There's still some time for you to think about it, General, and as I said, I won't force you to do anything against your will. It will be several days before I'm able to continue on my way. We'll talk again. At the very least, I hope that you will be willing to share with me the name of the man you've heard of there."

xxxxxxx

On Hua Zhou's instruction, Mulan and the other students crept outside in the middle of the night and climbed up toward the top of the wall surrounding the front garden and courtyard, keeping their heads below it so as not to be seen in the light of the full moon, which bathed them and the open field ahead of them in a diffuse white light. She poked her head up and surveyed the distant horizon but could see nothing in the darkness of the forest. Still, she knew that by now they would be out there waiting.

She signaled the others and slowly and with care, each of them lowered one of the life-size straw men that had been made for this purpose. Moments later they heard the unison whoosh-twangs of several hundred arrows, and she could feel the string she held tug from the impact of arrows hitting her own straw figure. Mulan peered over the top of the wall but could see nothing still. She pulled on the string, slowly lifting the straw dummy that she'd lowered back up. There was no movement out there and she pulled it up and over the wall. Twenty arrows were sticking out of it.

Quietly, she gestured to Wang Sheng who slowly lifted his straw man up and over the wall. One by one, each student retrieved the figure that they had lowered and when all of them were brought back inside the wall, each one riddled with arrows, they carried everything inside and began to harvest the arrows, pulling them out of the straw dummies. They ended up adding two hundred or so more arrows to their store.

"Good," Hua Zhou remarked, his eyes scanning their greatly increased supply. He was staying at the school that night.

"Are you sure, Baba?" Mulan asked quietly. "We're still outnumbered. The rate of arrows coming in tomorrow morning from Shang's troop will far outnumber what we're sending their way."

"I know. But we've just forced them to waste arrows and deplete their supply. Unless they've figured out what we're doing already, a few more rounds of lowering the straw dummies over the wall and provoking them, and we'll further drain them. Let's hope it's too dark for them to realize exactly what happened."

Quickly tidying up the straw figures, Mulan and the other students headed back out to the front courtyard to repeat the exercise.