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Mulan was just starting to believe she could get through the meeting when she looked over at Xiu. Her younger sister’s eyes were wide with fear. Following her gaze, Mulan saw a large spider slowly unspooling itself from the ceiling toward the table. Inch by inch it made its way down??6??2.??6??2.??6??2. right toward Xiu. It dropped onto the table, its long, hairy legs undulating beneath it.</p>

Underneath her mask of white makeup, Mulan felt the color drain from her face. If the spider took even one step toward Xiu, the girl was certain to scream and the Matchmaker would be furious. Smoothly, and thankful for the mask her makeup provided, Mulan reached out and placed the teapot over the spider. Then she returned her hands to her lap. But not before shooting her sister a look.</p>

The look, unfortunately, was not lost on the Matchmaker. Her own eyes narrowed. “Is something wrong?” she asked.</p>

“No, Madam Matchmaker,” Mulan said in her most demure voice. “Thank you.”</p>

The Matchmaker’s lips tightened in unspoken aggravation. Mulan met her gaze, her own expression revealing nothing. Finally, the Matchmaker nodded toward the teapot. “It is ideal,” she said, her tone dripping with condescension, “for the teapot to remain in the center of the table.”</p>

“Yes,” Mulan agreed. “I understand. But I think the teapot should remain where it is.”</p>

Instantly, the room grew icy. A sheen of sweat appeared on Li’s brow and Xiu’s breath stopped, her face growing as white as Mulan’s painted one. Fong Lin looked back and forth between the Matchmaker and Mulan, perplexed.</p>

“Move the teapot, girl.” Each word shot out of the Matchmaker’s mouth like an arrow.</p>

Mulan looked back and forth between the teapot and her sister, unsure what to do. If she moved the pot, the spider would move, too. But if she didn’t move the pot, then things wouldn’t end well anyway. She thought of her father, standing outside, waiting for her to keep her promise. She sighed. She had to do what the Matchmaker said.</p>

Slowly, she lifted the teapot.</p>

The spider, released from its makeshift prison, leapt—right into the lap of Fong Lin.</p>

Letting out an ear-piercing shriek, Fong Lin jumped to her feet, brushing wildly at her lap and sending the spider flying. For one beat, the room grew still again as the women all looked to see where the spider had landed??6??2.??6??2.??6??2.</p>

And then the Matchmaker let out a scream of her own as she looked down and saw the creature crawling across her chest. Terrified, she stumbled backward, her arms pinwheeling wildly. The momentum sent her tumbling into a chair. Her feet, kicking furiously, contacted the table, flipping it up. The teapot and teacups were sent flying, end over end, shooting hot water in every direction as they spun.</p>

Watching as the room devolved into absolute chaos around her, Mulan stayed eerily still. Her eyes were the only thing that moved as they tracked the arc of the teapot and cups. Then, in a blur of motion, she reached up and pulled out the four long pins that held up her hair. Extending one of the pins, she caught a teacup. Then another.</p>

<i></p>

Clink. Clink. Clink</p>

</i></p>

. One by one, she snagged the other teapots out of midair, balancing them on the pins.</p>

But the teapot was still falling. Looking over, Mulan saw it was mere inches from hitting the floor. Mulan didn’t stop to think. She just acted. Quick as lightning, she stuck out her foot. She grimaced as she heard her dress rip, but the handle of the pot snagged on her toe. It hung, dangling precariously as the teacups continued to swing on the pins.</p>

For one long moment, the room was silent. Mulan felt the eyes of the four other women on her, their surprise mirroring her own. She had done it. She had averted disaster. The spider was gone and the tea set was in one piece.</p>

And then, her long thick hair, freed from the pins that had kept it contained, began to escape its buns. Like water pouring from the top of a falls, it dropped down, the long strands covering Mulan’s face.</p>

With her vision blocked, Mulan had nothing to focus on. Almost instantly, she lost her balance. The leg on the ground began to shake while the one in the air began to sway. Then her arms followed suit, moving up and down and side to side until, with a shout, Mulan fell.</p>

<i></p>

Crash! Crash! Crash!</p>

</i></p>

Piece by piece the tea set smashed to the ground, breaking into a thousand fragments.</p>

Lying on the floor, Mulan heard Fong Lin’s shriek of rage and felt the look of disappointment coming from her own mother. Xiu was weeping quietly as she leaned down and tried to pick up the larger pieces of porcelain. But even the gentlest of touches broke the pieces still smaller, causing Fong Lin to scream again. A moment later, Mulan heard the front door open and then slam as the mother of her suitor—or rather, ex-suitor—stormed outside.</p>

Mulan got to her feet, her head still bowed. She followed Fong Lin’s departure, her mother and sister joining her. None of them said a word. They walked in silence out the door, down the front stairs, and into the courtyard where Zhou waited.</p>

But the Matchmaker was not nearly as quiet. Storming out from behind them, she lifted her arm and pointed an accusatory finger right at Mulan. “Dishonor to the Hua family!” she screamed, her voice bouncing off the walls of the nearby houses and catching the attention of the entire village. “They have failed to raise a good daughter!”</p>

Each word was like a slap across Mulan’s face. The Matchmaker was right. She had failed her family. She would never bring them honor. How could she, now that the Matchmaker would never let her step foot in her house again?</p>

Not daring to meet her father’s gaze, unable to face the disappointment she knew she would see, Mulan began to trudge across the courtyard and back to her own home. It was going to be the longest walk of her life with nothing but her sad thoughts and angry looks from her mother for company. In that second, Mulan wished for anything, anything at all, to take the attention from her.</p>

As if on cue, the sound of drumbeats began to echo through the village.</p>

Mulan and her family, along with the entire village, stopped in their tracks. All eyes turned toward the single-lane road that led into their small village. Normally it was empty, the dirt undisturbed. But now they could see billowing sand kicked into the air by what appeared to be a small parade of riders.</p>

A few of the younger children raced ahead to see what was happening and turned around. “Soldiers!” they shouted as they ran back.</p>

Mulan’s heart pounded in her chest as around her, the villagers began to murmur among themselves. It had been years since soldiers had appeared in their village. The last time had been when her own father had been taken off to fight for the Emperor. What could they be doing there now? Just then, the drumming stopped and the dust settled. There, standing in front of them, were a magistrate and six soldiers. The men looked at the villagers from atop their horses, their faces hidden by masks. With a signal from the magistrate, several of them jumped down and began to post pieces of paper to various houses.</p>

“Citizens! Citizens!” the magistrate shouted, as if he hadn’t already gotten everyone’s attention. “We are under attack from northern invaders. Our land is at war! By edict of His Imperial Majesty the Son of Heaven, every family must contribute one man to fight! One man from every house!” He pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. From where she stood, Mulan could see that the writing on the scroll was a long list of names. “Wang family! Chin family!”</p>

As the magistrate continued to read off the list of the families who lived in the tulou, Mulan realized her father had disappeared into the crowd. She rose on her tiptoes, trying to see where he had gone, but the village had devolved into chaos. Men were pushing their way through the crowd to get the paperwork that would conscript them into the army. Behind them, women old and young started to weep, some out of joy that one man from their family would be a hero, and others because they knew the consequences of war—both physically and mentally.</p>

“Du family! Hua family!”</p>

Mulan’s breath caught in her throat when she heard her family’s name called. She looked for her father, spotting him making his way through the crowd. He walked with his head held high and without the use of his cane. Mulan knew what he was about to do.</p>

Approaching the magistrate and two of the soldiers who had remained on horseback, Zhou bowed. “I am Hua Zhou,” he said as he rose back up. “I served the Imperial Army in the last battle against the northern invaders.”</p>

The magistrate looked down at Zhou. “Have you no son old enough to fight?” he asked.</p>

“I am blessed with two daughters,” Mulan’s father answered. “I will fight.”</p>

The magistrate considered the man before him. Mulan saw him eyeing her father’s graying hair and the lines at his eyes. She knew that to him, her father appeared a proud, but old, man. Finally, the magistrate nodded to the soldier nearest him. The young man reached into his bag and pulled out a set of papers that would mark Zhou for service. He held it out.</p>

In what felt like slow motion, Mulan watched as her father reached out his own hand. His fingers brushed the parchment and were about to close around the paper when his leg gave out. He gave a muffled shout as he fell to the ground. Lying at the feet of the magistrate’s horse, Zhou’s eyes closed in horror. His waistcoat had fallen open, revealing the binding on his leg that now, due to the fall, was unraveling.</p>

Looking at her father, Mulan’s heart broke. The man was utterly humiliated. Even the soldiers seemed embarrassed for him, stepping back and then averting their eyes. Spotting her father’s cane lying on the ground where he must have left it, Mulan moved to take it. But her mother put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.</p>

“You must not,” she whispered. “That will only humiliate him further.”</p>

As the magistrate resumed reading the names of the tulou families, a younger soldier dismounted and offered his hand to Zhou. Zhou refused. Grasping his scroll tightly in his hand, he painfully pushed himself to his feet. Then he limped away, his head high.</p>

Mulan watched him go. Her father was a good man, but he was a proud man. And that pride was going to get him killed if he went to war.</p>

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