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Chapter Three

It didn’t take long for word to get around Xi’an that Captain Li Shang’s troops had saved China. A parade was quickly organized, complete with dancers, flame throwers, and a huge paper dragon. It should have been a happy occasion, but Shang’s men were all grim. Ping had become a great favorite among them, and now that her true identity had been revealed, many were berating themselves for not noticing earlier.
A sound of a horse galloping up startled Ling. “Mulan!” Shang exclaimed. Then, realizing he’d sounded just the tiniest bit happy, he said darkly, “You don’t belong here, Mulan.”
“I came to warn you!” she snapped. “The Huns are alive and they’re in the city!”
“Why should I believe you?” he asked.
Mulan reined her horse in directly in front of Shang. “Why else would I come back? You said you’d trust Ping, why is Mulan any different?” Shang ignored her and kept riding, so Mulan turned to the gang. “Keep your eyes open. I know they’re here.” So saying, she cantered away.
“We’ll keep a lookout,” Yao muttered.
Before long, they were ascending the great staircase that led to the emperor’s palace. The procession halted and Shang bowed to the emperor.
“I know what this means to you, Captain Li,” the old ruler said to him. “Your father would have been very proud.” He raised his voice to address the crowd. “My children, China will sleep safely tonight, thanks to Captain Li and his troops.”
Shang offered him the sword of Shan Yu, but before the emperor could take it, a falcon swooped down and snatched it up in his talons, carrying it to the roof, where it dropped straight into Shan Yu’s waiting hand. Several Huns burst out of the dragon, grabbed the emperor, and rushed towards the great vaulted doors.
Shang, realizing what had just happened, cried, “No!” and raced up the stairs after them. The Huns got there first, however, shutting and locking the door. “We need a battering ram!”
The men lifted a statue and began ramming the door with it. “Guys!” someone called. Ling, Yao, and Chien Po turned around and saw Mulan beckoning. I’ve got a plan,” she said. Without waiting to see if they were coming, she ran off.
The three looked at each other, and after a moment, followed her.

“So what’s the plan?” Ling asked Mulan.
She smiled evilly and picked up a rug. Underneath it were all manner of cosmetics. And four dresses.
“Put those on,” Mulan ordered. She picked up one and hurried away, leaving Ling, Yao, and Chien Po staring at the clothing.
“She wants us to........put that stuff on?” Yao finally asked.
Ling picked up a yellow dress. “Hey, if Mulan’s got a plan, then Mulan’s got a plan!” Pausing, he added, “Don’t watch while I change.”
Yao just hit him.

It wasn’t long before Mulan had them done up like women. “Well, c’mon boys....er, girls,” she corrected herself. In order to get into the palace, the four had to climb up pillars. Shang soon joined them, and minutes later the five were in the palace.
“Alright, all we have to do is get through those doors,” Mulan explained. “That's where we come in. Once the guards are down, Shang will run up there.”
“Don’t we go?” Yao asked.
“Of course, but he’ll go first.”
“Do I get to use my fan?”
“I don’t care, Ling. Now, any other questions?”
Yao squirmed. “Does this dress make me look fat?”
Ling hit him before the four of them sauntered out into the open. The guards said something to each other as soon as they were sighted. One of them waved as the “women” drew close, earning an elbow in his side from his partner.
Suddenly an apple fell out of Ling’s dress. Noticing its absence, he smiled girlishly at one of the guards, who bent and picked it up. Ling batted his eyelashes at the man as he offered it to him. The Huns were both surprised, therefore, when they both got watermelons on their heads and fists in their stomachs.
“Shang!” Mulan yelled.
The man went running up the stairs to where the emperor was being held. “C’mon, guys,” Ling said, disregarding gender, “we gotta help!”
The four of them raced after Shang, who, once they reached the top of the stairs, saw was fighting with Shan Yu.
“Chien Po!” Mulan shouted. “Get the emperor!”
With a somewhat startled look on his face, Chien Po bowed to the old man and said, “Sorry, your highness.” Picking him up, he looped his handkerchief around a rope(from which dangled some lanterns)and slid down. Ling and Yao followed suit, leaving Mulan alone.
“Was that really a good idea?” Ling asked worriedly once they reached the ground.
“You’ve changed,” Yao muttered. “Used to be you'd always avoid trouble.”
“Yeah, but Mulan’s my friend.”
Yao rolled his eyes. “We’ll go back up then, alright?”
As they hurried through the crowd, someone suddenly called, “Look, up on the roof!”
Ling, Yao, and Chien Po glanced upwards simultaneously. In doing so they saw Mulan holding a sword pointed straight at Shan Yu. Suddenly a burst of fire caught everyone’s attention as a rocket was lit and sped towards the leader of the Huns, slamming into his stomach and causing him to fly off the roof and high into the air,where the rocket exploded. The gang saw all of this from the steps leading up to the palace. They also saw Mulan slide down a rope by way of a lantern, let go, and fall on Shang, who was about halfway down the stairs and running hard.
“That was a deliberate attempt on my life!” Chi Fu yelled as he stormed through the smoke. “Where is she? That creature’s not worth hiding!”
The gang quickly hid Mulan behind them and backed away as Shang retorted, “She’s a hero!”
“‘Tis a woman,” Chi Fu said smugly. “She’ll never be worth anything.”
“Why, you pompous-” Shang began.
“Go Shang,” Ling murmured with a wicked grin.
“Stop this nonsense immediately!” The command came from the emperor, who was slowly descending the stairs. “Stand away from her,” the man ordered. when Ling, Yao, Chien Po, and Shang hesitated, he motioned to them. As they couldn’t very well disobey the emperor, the four reluctantly drew back and the emperor approached Mulan. “I’ve heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan. You took your father’s armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, endangered the lives of thousands of men.” With each fault, the gang flinched. “And, destroyed my palace. Yet.......you have saved us all.” Mulan looked up, astonished, and the gang smiled in relief. Unexpectantly, the emperor bowed to the girl. Chi Fu threw himself to the ground, and following the old man’s example, Ling, Yao, Chien Po, and Shang knelt. Mulan, whirling, saw the whole crowd was doing the same.
As everyone rose to their feet, the emperor said, “Chi Fu!”
“Yes?” he asked, anxious to please.
“See to it that this woman is given a place on my counsel.”
“Yes, your-er-there are no counsel places open, your highness,” Chi Fu replied, thinking to keep Mulan out of the palace.
“Very well,” the ruler amended. To Mulan, he continued, “You can have his job.”
Chi Fu fainted at these words and Mulan smiled. “With all due respect, your highness, I think I’ve been away from home long enough.”
The emperor smiled back and removed his crest. “Then take this. So your family will know what you have done for me. And this,” he continued, handing her Shan Yu’s sword, “so the world will know what you have done for China.”
Mulan looked at the old man with shining eyes and embraced him.
“Is she allowed to do that?” Yao questioned.
Everyone just smiled and shrugged.
When Mulan stepped back, she turned to Ling and Yao and hugged them tightly. Chien Po soon joined them. “Thanks, guys,” she whispered.
Then, giving a short, piercing whistle, the girl swung onto her horse’s back and galloped away.
The emperor, after saying something to Shang, approached Ling and asked, “And where will you go, Chan Ling?”
Ling cocked his head. “It’s just Ling.”
“Ling, then. What will you do? Where will you go?”
Watching Shang mount his horse, he said, “I think....I’ll go see where Shang’s going.” Beckoning to Yao and Chien Po, he shouted, “Shang! Where are you going?”
“To see Mulan!”
Glancing at each other, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po shouted in unison, “We’re coming!”

Chapter Four

“I don’t care what Shang says, I don’t see how changing now is wasting time and I am putting on something comfortable right now!” Ling complained. It had been several days of hard riding in very uncomfortable clothes-the same that they’d been wearing the night the Huns had been in Xi’an.
Yao and Chien Po nodded their concurrence. As Ling was struggling into his shirt, a hand came down on his shoulder and a woman’s voice growled, “Don’t move.” Looking around, he saw that Yao and Chien Po were missing.
The woman dragged him through the gate of Mulan’s home. “Mulan!” she called. “What is the meaning of this?! If these are your friends you can inform them that it is unnecessary for them to dress like men to come in!”
Mulan came hurrying around the side of the house with Shang trailing behind. One look at Ling, Yao, and Chien Po caused them to burst out laughing. “No, no, Mother, you’ve got it all wrong!” Laughing to herself, she said, “This is Ling, that’s Yao, and that’s Chien Po. They aren’t women, either. They’re just some......uh......friends I met. Mother, Granny, let them finish getting dressed!”
The two women reluctantly released their captives, who immediately put their clothes on the rest of the way. “Here,” Mulan offered, throwing each of them a rag, “Wipe your faces off. You look ridiculous!” As the three of them did as they were told, the young woman inquired, “Would you three like to stay for dinner?”
“Sure,” Yao answered.
“Yeah,” Ling added with a grin. “Anything for free food!”
Yao, as usual, just hit him.