“No, Bao. You were there when it mattered most. If not for you and the reinforcements you brought, I don’t know if we would have survived long enough. Thank you.”
He bowed his head, cheeks bright, and mumbled something about how he would do anything for her. Mulan smiled and kissed his warm cheeks before he shuffled off.
Then another tap came on the gong outside her tent.
“Come in,” she called with little enthusiasm, not bothering to turn and see who came in. It didn’t matter. The one person she needed to speak with was miles away in the palace. “If you came to ask about assignments, I haven’t gotten to them yet. You’ll have to come back later.”
“Only one assignment is of interest to me.”
The sound of Cheng’s voice made her freeze on the spot. Her pulse spiked and heat washed through her, butterflies making her stomach flutter. She turned slowly, and one look at him made her want to throw herself in his arms. To kiss him.
She did neither. Instead, she stood there, heart in her throat, and bowed. “Your Imperial Majesty, forgive me. I was not expecting you.”
“Cheng,” he said softly, stepping closer. “To you, I am always Cheng.”
Her Cheng, she wanted to say.
They stood like that, both silent, the air thick between them. She kept waiting for him to speak, but then she recalled how patient he could be, how stubborn, and knew she’d have to be the one to go first.
“I was going to come see you,” she said.
“Oh?”
“Yes, I had a…request. Only one you can grant.”
Hope brightened his eyes. “Anything.”
“Release me.”
Cheng appeared as if she’d struck him. Hurt flashed in green eyes brighter and more vibrant than the sun in the sky. “What?”
“Release me from my position in the army. I cannot serve as your general.”
“You have earned the position on your own merit, not because of…”
“I know,” she said. “Still, my request remains.”
Cheng’s jaw tensed. Twice he opened his mouth to speak, and twice he shut it without saying anything. His face was an open book. He closed the gap between them and took her hand.
“Stay with me, Mulan. Stay here at my side and rebuild Liang with me.”
I can never be the empress Liang deserves.
“I can’t,” she said simply, smiling up at him even as emotion burned her eyes. “Besides, you no longer need me. You are Emperor Cheng the Munificent, and you will repair all damage Da-Wio’s jiangshi brought to Liang.”
“There is still so much.”
“And you have good, wise men to help you. You have allies now in our Ocland friends. They will all serve you better than I could. They…” She drew in a deep breath, struggling to express how she felt with words. “I am so tired, Cheng.”
Cheng sighed. “This is your only wish? To be released from the army?”
“Yes. My journey away from my family is complete. I would like to go home now. I want to see my family.” She blinked away stinging tears. “I am weary of war, and now, I wish to be with my father again. With my mother and my siblings.”
“I understand.” He released her hand, took a single step back, and bowed. “I release you, Hua Mulan. If I can give you only one gift for all you have done, then it would be selfish of me to keep you here. Go, with my blessing, and return to the family who needs you.”
Merriment and celebration greeted Mulan on the day of her return to the village. She arrived in her soldier's uniform upon Fusan with five years of belongings drawn behind them in a cart. Most of the village flooded from their homes and into the streets to question her after word spread.
She’d expected them to shun her.
She’d thought they weren’t ready for change.
Her mother was the first to hug her, her siblings right on her heels.
Then her father emerged and she saw how poorly the recent five years had treated his health.
His cheeks had sunken in and much of his steel-gray hair had gone white. It took all of his effort to walk to her.
He won’t be with us much longer.
“Papa… I…” Emotion stung her eyes and burned until unshed tears clouded her vision. If freeing Liang from a tyrant hadn’t been reward enough, seeing her siblings beside their father would have been enough. Because of her, they’d had five more years to love him and be loved in return.
“I knew you would return to us.”
“I have.”
Her father hugged her tightly.
“I missed you so much, Papa. I did it. I brought honor to the family.”
“You have always made me proud, daughter,” he said softly against her ear. “You have always, without a doubt, brought honor to our name. All that has changed is that the rest of Liang now knows it as well.”
Tears stung her eyes and she squeezed him as tightly as she dared, making up for countless lost embraces. “Thank you.”
It wasn’t long before others came to greet her, everyone wanting to shake her hand and speak with the woman who had ended the war, saved Liang, and restored the rightful emperor to the Jade Throne. She took time to speak with each and every one, but she constantly found herself searching for the one face she wouldn’t find among them.
Songshi threw a hero’s welcome for her that evening. The celebration wore on for the better part of a month and filled the streets with music and revelry. As the days passed, more faces returned, some careworn and forever scarred by battle, others more fortunate, as she had been.
The only lasting damage the war had caused her was a broken heart. No amount of celebration healed the place left by Cheng’s absence.
Why did I have to fall in love with an emperor?
“Mulan! Mulan!” her mother called, flying into the room where Mulan knelt in front of the loom. Her mother may have aged, but she moved with the grace and speed of a revenant when motivated. “Dressmaker Meixiang made this gown for you.”
“A dress for me?”
“Of course, a new gown for the hero of Liang, to be worn during the upcoming tea ceremony. Open it. Quick! You know I have no patience. I need to see it.”
Laughing, Mulan drew the ribbon and unwrapped the silk fabric covering it.
Inside, a true masterpiece awaited. She’d never seen such a stunning piece of green silk, the dress embroidered in gold and silver with dragon and flower motifs dancing along the hem. More wound in an asymmetrical slant across the snug bodice. She lifted it from the box with care, stunned by the craftsmanship.
“This is for me?”
“She’s been working on it since word of what you did arrived. We had to guess at your size, but it can easily be taken in if needed.”
Holding it up to her chest, she thought it would fit perfectly.
“It’s too much. This is a dress fit for…for royalty.”
“A hero,” her mother corrected her tenderly. “Everyone knows of your courage, honor, and devotion to the goddess. They all want to thank you. Please let them.” Her mother’s pride had never been more apparent.
Mulan nodded briefly, startled by the pressure around her throat. “All right.”
“The men will be lined up around the village to take tea with you.”
“What if it’s a woman I want?”
“I imagine no small number of women, too,” her mother replied without missing a beat.
Mulan laughed, a quiet little sound. Her parents would love her unconditionally, no matter who she chose. Quieting, she gently fit the lid over the box. “Mama?”
“Yes, my flower?”
“What if I don’t want to go to the ceremony?”
“Why? Talk to me, Mulan. Did you…did you have a lover when you were away at war?”
“In a sense,” she replied softly.
“Why did he not return with you?”
“He couldn’t.”
Her mother stroked a hand down her hair, the soothing gesture so fami
liar, so missed, that she leaned into it and closed her eyes. Then her mother’s arms wrapped around her.
“Come to the ceremony, if only to watch. No one will force you to participate.”
“But…” Her voice trailed off. Would it hurt to attend the ceremony and greet the many people who had come to honor her sacrifices over the years?
“As long as I won’t be a distraction to those who are present to make matches.”
With any luck, the many prospective brides and grooms hoping to meet her would take interest in one another.
“You won’t be. Now try it on! I told Dressmaker Meixiang we would visit her at once if it wasn't a perfect fit.”
“You only want to see how it looks on me.”
“Of course.”
Red dominated Songshi’s square. Banners waved and snapped in the pleasant breeze, lanterns and bells on scarlet ribbons hung from the trees, and everyone wore their finest garments. In her green dress, Mulan stood out amongst the varying shades of red, pink, and white.
“Here, my dear, I brought you some tea.”
Mulan turned at the sound of Lanfen’s voice and smiled at the older woman who stood there with a small cup in her hands.
“You shouldn't have. This is meant for those who are searching.”
Lanfen extended the cup of steaming, fragrant tea. The familiar scent of lavender and jasmine reached Mulan's nose, reminding her of the tea she had shared with Cheng in Tokaia.
“Are you not searching, dear?”
“I am in no rush, Lanfen.”
The man she wanted was not there, and would be, at that very moment, buried beneath the obligations of his station. Soon, the wealthy and powerful lords across Liang would send their charming daughters to meet him.
A match would be made.
He’d have an empress before the year ended.
It could never be.
Mulan had known that from the start, yet nothing about it changed how much her heart ached.
The old woman gently pushed the cup into Mulan’s hands. “Then drink your tea. Even if you are not looking now, you should still remind the spirits that you will be ready, in time.”
“Of course,” Mulan replied, feeling silly. Her face heated when she noticed the abundance of people watching their interaction. As much as she felt a hero, she didn’t enjoy the close scrutiny and attention accompanying it.
As predicted, a swarm of men approached Mulan, along with one very shy, almost timid young woman. Contrasting her was another woman of sheer radiance and beauty who had no reservations about speaking her desires plainly.
Mulan refused—not because the offer disinterested her, but because none sparked the instantaneous connection she’d felt from the moment she and Cheng locked eyes for the first time. No one would be Cheng.
No one will ever be Cheng. I must move on and accept that it was not meant to be. A peasant girl can never be an empress.
No sooner did the thought enter her mind than another whispered into her heart.
But I am no peasant. I am General Hua Mulan, Hero of Liang.
Determined to respect the ancient tradition, she crossed the square to the empty table that had been prepared for her, aware of the many gazes following her progress. Lanfen and her mother met her there, both smiling but silent. Lanfen refilled her tea while her mother uncovered the porcelain plate on the table that was meant to hold any offerings her potential suitors made. A green dragon had been meticulously painted on a gold background and Mulan recognized her mother's hand in the intricate details and precise brushwork.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
Despite her worries, none of the young men abandoned their current conversations to approach her table. Throughout the night, some passed with a smile and a bow, sometimes stopping to share a kind word. She watched as every girl received at least one red pouch.
Her plate held none.
“You have not accepted any offers,” a strong voice said, the familiarity an instant punch to her gut. Her gaze snapped up from her tea and she blinked, certain she was dreaming.
Cheng stood before her table in simple robes of pale green and white, a red ribbon tied over his eyes. “Perhaps you would honor this blind man by taking mine.”
He set a red pouch embroidered with a gold dragon on her plate.
“Cheng?”
The first seconds passed in absolute silence of the crushing variety that squeezed the breath from her lungs. Mulan could not have spoken if she wanted to. She could only gaze at his fine features, his clean-shaven face, the broad shoulders filling out the simple robe.
“How are you—?”
Mulan jumped up from her seat. She tried to kneel before the emperor to indicate the others should as well, but her dress wouldn not allow it. It had been sewn too tight in the hips and fitted around the thighs. To do so would tear the hand-painted silk.
She panicked. Before she could lift the material, Cheng took her by the shoulders.
“I came to find you, General Mulan. I ask—no, I beg that you reconsider.”
“If I serve as your general in the coming war with Dobravia, then I will have to leave my family. That is not the place for me. I am done with war, Emperor Cheng."
“I have no desire for war at this moment. Liang needs more than bloodshed. This empire needs time to heal. In fact, I have signed peace accords with both Cairn Ocland and Samahara. In time, I will meet with the other leaders to officially make peace with them all, to join their…compact, as they call it. I should like for you to be with me when I do.”
“That is the place of an empress, not a general.”
“Exactly. You did not allow me the opportunity to speak my heart. Now I will, before all who love you, for that is something we have in common.”
The breath left her lungs.
Mulan couldn’t even utter his name. Her chest was too small, her airway too narrow. The square was boiling. Stifling and spinning.
Cheng took both of her hands as she sucked in a thirsty gulp of air.
“You barely know me.”
“I have had five years to know you, Mulan. Five years to come to love you. Five years to know you are a woman of honor and integrity, a woman with love for her nation. No one is more deserving than you of ruling Liang alongside me.”
Low murmurs began from the confused crowd.
“Emperor?” someone asked.
When Cheng removed the blindfold and let the silken strip fall, a collective gasp filled the air.
All knelt and bowed.
But some were not surprised. Her mother and Lanfen watched with knowing, expectant smiles.
Through it all, Cheng’s gaze never left her face. Then he did something she never expected. Something no emperor should ever do.
He knelt before her.
“Hua Mulan, I offer you all I am. If souls are bound together, then surely yours and mine are tied with iron. It was more than coincidence that you found me. Yüying sent me to you that day. She guided us together. You saved this empire. You saved me. And no words I can utter this day will ever convey the depths of how I feel.”
“I… I don't know what to say.”
“Say yes, girl,” Lanfen said from her left.
Mulan's gaze darted to her family and saw her father at the edge of the square, leaning heavily on his walking stick. His eyes flooded with pride.
They didn’t need her in Songshi any longer.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I’ll marry you.”
Cheng rose and swept her into his arms. He swung her around and held her close. Then his lips fell on hers in a kiss just shy of indecent, yet absolutely perfect and appropriate. She buried her fingers in his dark hair and met each second as if it would be her last.
It wasn’t.
This was only the beginning.
Cheers and warm laughter surrounded them, the people of Songshi rising to their feet to watch them. To support them. Smiling faces filled her watery vision as she and Cheng parted,
though he didn’t let her move far, keeping one arm curled around her waist.
“Good people of Songshi—my new friends, my family—from this day forth let no man, woman, nor child bow before me. I am no better than you, and I will strive to do all in my power to undo everything the false emperor ruined in our land.” His gaze turned back to Mulan. “And I will love this woman, Hua Mulan, with all my heart. I will never take her for granted and I will always listen to her wise counsel.”
Cheng raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
Together, they would show the people of Liang change was not to be feared. The future had never seemed brighter.
THE END
We hope you enjoyed our rendition of Mulan. Time and time again we promised she would be coming and we’re proud to provide. To read a special tale starring Mulan and Cheng after the story ends, go here.
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Mulan and the Jade Emperor: an Adult Folktale Retelling (Once Upon a Spell: Legends Book 1) Page 19