snarky_panda (snarky_panda) wrote in mulanficspace, @ 2007-07-21 01:14:00 |
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Current mood: | content |
Current music: | Psyche |
Entry tags: | 30_kisses |
30 Kisses: Mulan and Shang, Part Thirteen
Written for the 30_kisses challenge.
Title: Celebrations, Part 4: Year’s End
Author: snarky_panda
Fandom: Mulan
Pairing: Li Shang/Fa Mulan
Theme: #29, the sound of waves
Disclaimer: All characters, etc. from the Disney movie belong to Disney.
Everyone went running across the garden. The main wing of the compound was in an uproar once again and the occupants of the Li household, high and low, all rushed to witness the spectacle upon hearing the sounds of shouting, cursing and invoking of the ancestors.
“Another argument between Master Li and First Mistress over that impossible wife of his,” one young maid named Song gossiped. “That foolish girl needs to learn that no matter how much a man desires a woman, he gets fed up with his peace being disturbed all the time. He decides she isn’t worth it then and moves on to greener pastures.”
“Oh, and you’re just waiting for him to move onto your pastures, aren’t you?” quipped another maid scathingly. Her name was Lian and she was a few years older than Song. She leaned in and spoke confidentially to the younger girl. “Don’t think we don’t all see the way your eyes hang on Master Li when you’re around him. As if he’d give you a second glance.”
“Oh, quiet, you old-before-your-time hag,” the younger girl retorted.
“Enough,” an older maid named Yi-ling addressed both of them sharply. “Before you cause a scene out here.”
With that, attention returned to the argument inside the house.
“Lady Li can be harsh sometimes,” Yi-ling remarked softly. She was much older than any of the other servants and had worked in the Li household for many years, more than half her life in fact. For this reason she could be bold in her declarations, at least when she was out of earshot of her employers. “Still, Young Mistress ought to behave a little more humbly. Aside from being non-traditional, she is too proud and aloof and that is why First Mistress of the house dislikes her so.”
It was an entertaining evening for everyone in the household except for the Master and his mother; and his pretty young wife, who had retreated back to their own rooms after lamenting that she didn’t know what she had done wrong this time, that she had done everything to honor Lady Li on this holiday and yet Mistress was still unhappy.
The Li sisters, the other wives of the old master General Li, along with their children, were all gathered outside with the servants, listening in and managing to catch glimpses of the heated argument through the window; that is until they were caught.
“Get the hell out of here, you hens!” roared Master Li Shang. “This isn’t a damn show!”
He was livid as he chased them away and yanked the curtain across the window.
“Well,” began Lian as the servants all traipsed back across the garden dejectedly, their fun for the evening prematurely ended. “I guess Master will be fighting with the new mistress for causing so many problems after he and his mother are finished.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Song remarked with a snort. “They’ll probably kiss and make up quickly. They’re at each other all the time. Thumping and squealing like animals.”
She had lowered her voice at the last part, muttering, but her words were not lost on Yi-ling.
“Now, how would you know something like that?” she exclaimed. “Do you listen outside their door at night?”
Song refused to answer and when the others had moved off and it was only the two of them, the elder maid slapped the back of Song’s head and began to scold her.
“Shame on you, spying on them! If the master knew he’d throw you in the well! I suppose you’re the one making all the trouble, gossiping and whispering things to First Mistress about that poor young girl. Although why she would listen to you is beyond me,” she added under her breath.
A sour expression spread across Song’s face. “She is hardly fit to be a mistress in this house,” she sniffed. “Even if she is China’s heroine.”
“Hmph! Aren’t you the haughty little one? If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop this nonsense. Even if Master Li ever got it into his head to start carrying on with you, that’s all it would be; if you think that he would ever make you, a servant, one of his mistresses, you’re dreaming. Whether you like it or not, Mistress Mulan is now a lady of this household. So you’d better just behave yourself before your antics backfire on you. Master Li’s wife is very smart and shrewd, and not to be reckoned with, mark my words. The only thing you’re accomplishing is making waves for everyone and upsetting First Mistress; you certainly aren’t going to separate Master Li from his wife, if that’s what you’re hoping. The master is very much in love with her.”
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