The untraditional daughter (Mulan AU)

𝟪: 𝐹𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒

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.