Mulan's Pursuers

New Year arrived and Yun was celebrating their victory. This New Year celebration wasn't as big as the one last year but it was enough for them to please his people.

Lu Bu and his family lived with him in the manor since he wanted Huixiu to learn with twins from the strategists while Wei Mei could associate with the other women in the manor.

It helped Yun to have Wei Mei in the manor since Madam Su and the others trusted her well enough to look after the children while they were following their duties as Qing was at the moment administrating the household since Diao Chan left.

Yun was feeling calm since he wasn't going through this alone as his friends asked him over to drink and talk so he could free his head.

But what was going to happen next took not only Yun by surprise but the whole city as Cao Cao arrived at Puyang with one of his wives and two of his sons which are Cao Pi and Cao Zhang.

Cao Pi is twelve years old while Cao Zhang is ten years old at the moment when they entered Puyang. Yun was confused for a moment before he realized why Cao Cao came to him.

Yun forgot one crucial thing about the time he was living in and that was that his daughter was considered, in the eyes of the people, a full-fledged woman at the age of fifteen which she made this New Year.

Yun couldn't send Cao Cao away just like that when he just arrived at Puyang which became a city rivaling Juancheng which is two to three days away from Puyang.

Yun had to welcome Cao Cao and his family as Cao Cao and his family spoke their condolences to Yun and his family since Diao Chan died.

Yun took them in as Cao Cao made the excuse to want to inspect Puyang for a week before returning home again when he remarked on Mulan's age when Yun says, "My daughter will choose her husband herself. Why don't we let the young master Cao Pi spend some time with her."

Cao Cao was surprised that Yun was so open about it and he sent his oldest to meet with Mulan. Yun then saw that Cao Zhang felt left out and he called Zheng so he would play with Cao Zhang.

Zheng entered the room riding his white tiger which is an offspring of Snowflake scaring Lady Bian and Cao Zhang before they realized that the tiger was harmless while Cao Cao stayed calm since he already had his encounter with Yun's feline friends.

Zheng dragged Cao Zhang with him as Cao Cao says, "That isn't the white tiger I met before."

"That is one of his offspring. Snowflake isn't that energetic any longer. He still plays around when he sees me but isn't interested in my children as he used to be," says Yun to Cao Cao explaining why Zheng wasn't riding on Snowflake as he usually does.

"Isn't it dangerous?" asks Lady Bian a bit worried about her son.

"Nothing will happen to your son in this house. The worst thing that could happen is some light scratches like the ones Zheng walks around proudly since he loves to wrestle with the tigers," says Yun reassuring Lady Bian that nothing will happen to her son.

Tea soon arrived and they drink while continuing talking as Cao Cao wanted to hear Yun's plan with Puyang since he didn't receive Xiapi from him and Yun explained that the city was growing healthy without damaging the fields outside too much since their rice fields are the main priority for the city.

It was getting late and Yun called a servant to take Cao Cao and his family to their room when Yun went to meet his daughter when he asks, "How was your day?"

"Boring since I had a flea following me everywhere I went," says Mulan annoyed since she only saw a little annoying boy in Cao Pi.

This made Yun chuckle from hearing that when he says, "Well, at least we can eliminate that you want to marry Cao Pi."

"You bet on it," says Mulan relieved that her father wasn't forcing her to marry someone she doesn't like when Yun kisses her forehead.

"You know that I would beat every single one of your pursuers up until they need straws to drink their meals if I don't like the person asking for your hand," says Yun joking about it since his daughter could deal with most men herself and if not there are enough protective brothers and uncles that would help her out.

"When are they going to leave?" asks Mulan since Cao Pi was disturbing her training with Huang Zhong and Taishi Ci that are teaching her how to master the bow.

"They will leave in a week. Until then, you must tolerate Cao Pi chasing after you like a tick," says Yun as he made sure that Mulan doesn't do something unnecessary.

He then stands up and picks up the candle holder while saying, "Good night, princess."

"Good night, Dad," says Mulan since she called Yun like that only when they are alone.

Yun left Mulan's room and went to his study as he overlooked his sister's report on the management of the household before approving it. After that, he returned to his bedroom where he still didn't sleep in the bed but against the wall.

The days pass and Cao Cao returned to Xuchang with his family making Yun sigh in relief while Mulan felt freed from the burden that was following her around the whole day.

Another month passed since Cao Cao left and Yun was on the training field training Fang in the way of the spear as his father taught him when a messenger called him back because some guests arrived from far away.

Yun was confused since he wasn't expecting visitors from far away. He stopped to train Fang and asked Hua and Lu Bu to look after Fang before he returned to his manor.

Arriving there he sees the women of his household look at his guests in a trance when he asks, "Why are you peeking like that at our guests?"

Yun takes a peek as well and sees a young man with red-brownish hair and green eyes with an older man with grey streaks in his hair showing his respective age.

Yun could recognize said older man immediately since they stood together on the battlefield more than once which made it easy for him to identify the young man beside him.

Yun then enters the room and the guests looked his way before Yun says, "I welcome you, Cheng Pu and Sun Quan. You are a long way from home. Why are you here?"

Cheng Pu looked at Yun seriously while Sun Quan seemed to be excited about seeing Yun again when Yun sits down at the table before saying, "It seems, you are excited to see me, Sun Quan."

"My young Lord is here to fulfill the promise that his father and you agreed on when you left Luoyang back in the days of the Coalition against Dong Zhuo," says Cheng Pu serious as always as Yun smiled at them when a servant enters the room to bring tea.

"It seems, I will have to disturb my daughter once again," says Yun before telling the servant to tell a messenger to bring Mulan back to the manor since she was on the training field with Huixiu, Huang Zhong, and Taishi Ci.

Huixiu never stopped training with the bow making her a perfect training partner for Mulan while Fang had to train with the adults or some of the young recruits that will be placed under Lu Bu and his commanders.

"Did another person come to visit the Zhao princess?" asks Cheng Pu picking up the hint Yun dropped.

"Cao Cao came with his sons not too long ago trying to propose a marriage between our family but it failed miserably since he was too hasty," says Yun smiling at his guests.

"Failed?" asks Cheng Pu relieved and worried at the same time.

"Well, you can't await that my daughter will take interest in a brat that is three years younger than her and follows her like a dog around," says Yun giving Sun Quan some hints who seemed to not catch on to them when Cheng Pu hits the back of the head of his young master to pay more attention to what Yun was saying at the moment.

Yun looked at Sun Quan and could see that he is a handsome young man that will be twenty years old after the next winter. That would mean that his daughter and Sun Quan will have an age difference of four years which wasn't far apart compared to other arranged marriages.

Yun could hear Mulan complaining as she was dragged around the hallway by the servants when Yun says, "She will be ready soon. I don't want to present her while she is all sweaty from training on the field."

"She is training?" asks Sun Quan not irritated by it as other people would be after hearing that.

"Yes, she is quite talented with the bow as well as close combat. I would refrain from touching her shoulder if you don't want to be thrown around like a ragdoll," says Yun warning Sun Quan again about what he shouldn't do to get on her bad side.

"So she is quite literally like my younger sister," says Sun Quan holding his chin looking like he was thinking about something.

"Younger sister?" asks Yun sounding curious about it but he already knew that he was talking about Sun Ren or how people in modern days would know her, Sun Shangxiang.

"Yes, the young mistress, Sun Ren, she loves to handle weapons and train with her brothers," says Cheng Pu as he began to complain a lot since it makes him worry about her future.

"How old is the Princess of the Sun Clan?" asks Yun curious since he doesn't know how old she is at the moment.

"My sister is nine years old. My mother gave birth to her while we were fighting against Dong Zhuo," says Sun Quan informing Yun who looked like he was calculating.

"She might be too old for Zheng since women normally like an older partner instead of a younger one," says Yun since Zheng was six years old going by their calculations.

"What do you mean?" asks Cheng Pu confused when Yun smiles at him.

"My Clan would rather marry a woman that can fight instead of a woman that can only talk since the body of a trained woman isn't at a high-risk situation while delivering a child into this world," says Yun to the two who looked at him surprised.

Yun knew that his mother wasn't a normal woman since she can use a whip better than Gan Ning can use his weapon. She taught Qing and Diao Chan in how to use a whip and Qing is quite proficient in it as well.

"So you were talking about taking her as a daughter-in-law?" asks Cheng Pu making sure he understood Yun correctly.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. First, they have to meet each other like your young master is doing at the moment with my daughter. It could also strengthen the bond between our families," says Yun to them since his daughter could reject Sun Quan.

"What about the Madam, doesn't she has a say in it?" asks Cheng Pu confused that Yun was arranging this alone.

"My wife died last fall while giving birth to my youngest son," says Yun sadly informing them about his wife's death when the door slides open and a servant brings Mulan into the room.

She was wearing a gorgeous red dress while her hair was tied up into a big bun with ornaments in them, and her lips are bright red as if they had put lipstick on her lip.

But the only problem was that Mulan was glaring at them all as if she was facing her mortal enemy since she hates to wear dresses that take her mobility away and when her hair isn't in a ponytail.

She greets Cheng Pu and Sun Quan as she sizes them up when she sees that Sun Quan has green eyes which aren't really common for her since the only other person she knows with green eyes would be her mother and herself.

Sun Quan was surprised to see such a beautiful person before him as was Cheng Pu who recovered fast as he coughs bringing Sun Quan to his senses again.

"How about you show Sun Quan around the city and get to know each other while I spend some time with my old friend," says Yun to his daughter who agreed unwillingly since she wanted to train to be prepared for the next war in which she would be participating in.

"She is quite a beauty," says Cheng Pu once they left the room.

"She inherited her beauty from my wife," says Yun making Cheng Pu smile.

"As far as I know she could have inherited it from your family as well going by your brother," says Cheng Pu since he only met Hua before now.

"Don't tell him that or he might bury you alive," says Yun joking around since Hua hated to be called beautiful even though he is.

"How long are you staying? I don't want to retain an important General of Sun Ce and his younger brother for too long from their duty," says Yun as he told a servant to bring some wine since the tea was for the young folk.

"The Lord doesn't know that we are here. The person that sent me with the young master was their mother. You know as well as I do that Sun Ce isn't good to speak of when it comes to you," says Cheng Pu as Yun still was waiting for an answer when Cheng Pu says, "We will stay for two weeks. Lady Wu won't be able to hide us for more than two months from Sun Ce's watchful eyes."

"I understand that," says Yun as he filled two cups with wine before he lifts it up and says, "Let's hope that they successfully connect with each other."

"Let us hope so," says Cheng Pu hoping that his young master could court the Zhao Princess successfully as he and Yun begin to drink.