Two weeks have passed since she was home. Zhou has not stopped searching for her. Together with Shang, they try to find where she's gone.

Meanwhile: Mulan finds out her kidnappers think she is a princess or a Lord's daughter. She chats with some other kidnapped women in the room.

3rd person POV of Mulan, Zhou & Shang unless stated otherwise.

Zhou.

Two weeks.
Fourteen days, eight hours and thirty-seven minutes.
That's when he'd last seen his daughter.

Zhou was going to lose his mind if she didn't come home safely soon. But then Shang stumbled back into the estate, bruised and bleeding. "My boy! What happened?" Zhou exclaimed, hobbling out. "Bandits," He heaved, leaning on his knees. Zhou frowned. "We don't have bandits out here," He said. Shang shook his head. "No... in the village," Zhou scanned his face. "Come, eat. We'll talk more when you've regained your health,"

Zhou hadn't stopped since Shang explained everything. He'd rode into the village during the night atop Qing, Khan's father, and investigated what he could. Most of the leads led to a dead-end, and those that were slightly more helpful just marked him in the bad books. "Zhou, you have got to stop and take a breather," Ju, his mother, said one night. "I can't, mama. If I hadn't shouted, Mulan would be here still," He jotted a few more things down. "Zhou, it was by pure luck that she wasn't taken earlier in the day. She was in the village anyway," Ju tried to reassure. He shook her hand off. "I'm not stopping until I know she's safe and sound."

~

"Sir... if I may?" A voice spoke near his ear. Zhou blinked harshly and sighed loudly. "Yes, Shang?" He asked curtly. "I... I have reason to believe this may not have been coincidental..." He hesitated. Zhou gestured for him to sit. "Why? Anything is helpful," Shang licked his lip. "I ventured out last night very briefly. I ran into a woman by the square. She... she was crying that her daughter had been taken by a group of masked men." Zhou nodded eagerly. "Yes?"
"When I spoke to her about it, about when and where her daughter was taken, it matched potentially when Mulan was as well," Zhou narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't help," Shang blinked at him, deadpan. It was then Zhou realised he was being a little unfair. He sighed. "Sorry... please, continue," The captain cleared his throat. "She was a titled Lady, married to Lord Tung,"
"Who, the woman or the daughter?"
"Both. The woman was Mrs Tung, and the daughter was betrothed to Lord Bo," Shang explained. Zhou nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps it was a deliberate grab of the wealthy and the titled... but that doesn't explain why they grabbed my daughter. She is not a lady, nor was she betrothed to one," Zhou said with a frown. "Perhaps we ask about. See who else was taken... if it adds up, then at least we have a start point,"

Shang.

The next day, Shang rode into the village with Zhou. He was to take the northern part, while Zhou took the southern. They would convene in the square, then take the east and west, respectably. Shang spoke to four women and two men. The first one didn't seem to speak fluent Chinese. "Hello, ma'am?" He approached. The woman, who didn't look Chinese, turned with a small smile. "Sain uu! Namaig Erhi." Shang inwardly groaned. WHY!? "Ta Mongol kheleer yaridag uu?" She asked again. Shang winced. "Uh... Baga zereg... gekhdee ikh bish." He paused, hoping he said it right. "Bi Khyatad, Mandarin kheleer chölöötei yaridag," The woman nodded with a smile. "I speak a small Chinese. Not great," She smiled slightly with broken Chinese. Shang smiled anyway. "That's ok, do you understand Chinese?" He asked. The woman nodded. "Yes,"
"Then it won't be a problem. If you don't know an answer, just either nod or shake your head," He said. Erhi nodded. "Somebody I know was taken the other day, and I'm trying to find out where she is... have you seen anything odd in the last two weeks?" The woman thought. Then nodded. "Do you have a daughter?" He asked hopefully.

She nodded.

"Was she taken?"

She nodded.

"Do you know who by?" He waited with bated breath as the Mongolian woman struggled. "Uh... yes. Big men. Seven, eight." She shook her head. "My daughter... Sarnai is Princess." Shang immediately dropped into a bow. The woman chuckled. "Rise," She laughed. Shang thanked her gratefully. "Thank you, Erhi. I will find your daughter and bring her back,"

~

Shang bumped into a man. Literally. "Oh, pardon me, sir," He excused. The man turned around, and he was shocked to see Ling. "Ling!" Shang exclaimed. "Oh, it's only you captain," He greeted solemnly. Shang narrowed his eyes. "What's got you in this backwater village, Ling?" He asked. Ling pursed his lips. "I was visiting my sister and niece," Shang blinked, slightly surprised. "I wasn't aware you had siblings, Ling." He said. Ling shrugged. "Well, we didn't really have much time to sit over a tea and chatter like women, did we?" Shang knew this was Ling's humour, but it lacked its old playful tone. "Is everything ok Ling? You seem... stranger... than when we last spoke," Shang said.

Ling sighed loudly. "Yeah... it's just... she's gone missing, and I don't know where she is," Shang frowned. "How long ago did she go missing?" He asked. Ling tutted and shrugged. "I dunno... a week, maybe two ago," He narrowed his eyes. "Why?" He quizzed. Shang led his old soldier away from the main bustle and to a small bench. "Odd question, but is your sister married to a Lord or Prince?" He asked bluntly. Ling blinked, understandably confused. "Um... our dad is Lord Bao... so I s'pose so. Why? Captain, what's going on?" Shang sighed. "There was a raid here, about two weeks ago. We think Bandits came in and looted. They took the women as well," He began. "Not that that's not tragic, but what's that gotta do with my sister and being a Lady?" Shang glared. "I was getting to that," He snapped.

"All the women that have been taken have some kind of connection to power. Be it Princesses, or Ladies. They have all been snatched and taken away." Ling looked to the ground. "Ya think it's orchestrated?" He asked. Shang nodded grimly. "Yes... and I think I know what they're going to do to the women as well,"

Mulan.

Mulan didn't like keeping her mouth shut, but she knew when to. As soon as the carriage stopped, the women in it fell silent, waiting with bated breath. "The ladies in this one?" A voice grumbled from just outside the doors. "Yup," Another one replied. The doors were yanked open, showing a man in an array of coloured furs. "Oooh, lots to pick from," He sneered. Mulan stared defiantly. A few women cowered back. "Don't touch 'em though. Attila's orders," Another voice warned. The man at the door groaned. "Shame. They're all so perty,"

Mulan stayed completely silent as she was roughly dragged out of the carriage. Some rope was wrapped tightly around her hands, and it connected her to the next woman and so forth. They were marched up a (seemingly neverending!) staircase and displayed before a large set of double doors. "Delivery for Attila!" The ruffian who opened the carriage laughed. Somebody from behind chuckled as well. Mulan rolled her eyes.

Men. Such simple beings. So easily amused.

~

She was thrown into a large room with the other women. The rope was whipped off, leaving angry marks in their tracks. Many of the women cried and bawled about wanting to go home. Mulan counted how many poor souls were stuck.

One, two, three... ten, eleven, twelve... twenty, twenty-one.... twenty-four.

Ancestors above... what on earth were these bandits going to do with twenty-four women! Have twenty-four babies?! "Hey, you were the girl we spoke to in the carriage, right?" Mulan turned to face the woman. It was the pink-dressed lady. "Yes," She smiled. "I'm Mulan," She greeted. "I'm Mei. The lady in the purple dress is Ting-Ting, and the one in the yellowy-gold dress is Su. We're sisters," Mei smiled.

Mulan smiled back. "Ah, like the princesses?" She knew that Emperor Wei had only three daughters, born from the same woman, his wife. Mei grinned. "Something like that," Mulan narrowed her eyes slightly but shrugged and moved on. "What do you think they want with us all?" She asked. Mei scooted so her back was against the wall, as Mulan was. "I don't know..." She answered. "But," She continued mischievously. "I know that at least fifteen are Ladies and seven are princesses," Mulan gaped. "Princesses?" She asked. Mei nodded. "Princesses,"

Mulan grinned. "Do tell," Mei laughed. She pointed to four. "That is Princess Sarnai of Mongolia. She's nineteen," Mulan nodded. "Those two are Princesses Cho and Dai of Japan, and they're twins!" Mei gushed. Mulan gaped. "Twins? They're super rare!" Mei giggled. "And that last one is Shu-Ching of Taiwan,"

Mulan frowned slightly. "Don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that there are so many princesses in the room? And so many Ladies?" Mei frowned as well. "Hmm... actually, yeah."

"Why are they here anyway? Taiwan, Japan and Mongolia? They're a few days out, so it's a long journey," Mulan asked. "There was supposed to be a coming-of-age party for one of the princesses of China. All princesses and princes of nearby areas come. Hopefully, she'll find a husband." Mei looked at the floor as she spoke bitterly. "Ha, don't I know the feeling," Mulan joked. "You're married!?" Mei exclaimed. Mulan gestured to her large bump. "Well, how else do you think I became pregnant?" She giggled. Mei gasped. "I didn't know! I didn't see! Oh! How cute!" Mulan laughed.

They sat in silence for a few beats, listening to whatever other conversations were being frantically whispered around.

Mulan frowned. "Mei," She began. "Yeah?" She answered. "Earlier, you said there were seven princesses, but you only pointed out four. Who're the other three?" Mulan asked. Mei didn't answer. "Mei?" She asked again. Mei sighed loudly. "Fine. My sisters and I... we're the princesses of China,"

Translations.

sain uu, namaig Erhi. Ta mongol kheleer yaridag uu? - Hello, my name is Erhi. Do you speak Mongolian?

Baga zereg ... gekhdee ikh bish. Bi Khyatad, Mandarin kheleer chölöötei yaridag - A little... but not much. I'm fluent in Chinese and Mandarin

Erhi - Female Mongolian name.

Sarnai - Female Mongolian name.