How I would rewrite Mulan 2020

#4 Mulan's true gender is discovered

Note: In my version, the "witch"/xianniang/eagle woman doesn't exist and Mulan does not fight with her. Instead, she remains with the army to fight.

Watching her friends and fellow soldiers get attacked by flaming stones, Mulan goes into panic and despair. She looks around and notices the thick snow on the mountain side, and suddenly has a crazy idea. What if she can start an avalanche? The stones from the trebuchet may have enough impact to trigger the snow, if only she can get the Rourans to direct the stones the other way....

Mulan sees the abandoned headgears all around her. She cracks the reins on her horse and reaches down to grab as many as she can. She then secretly makes her way up a slope right behind the enemy, laying the headgears above the rocks to look as if there are soldiers hiding behind them. She then shoots an arrow and hits a Rouran. Immediately, the soldiers turn back and assume they are being ambushed when they see the helmets. They rain arrows towards that direction and gets ready to shoot one flame stone.

Mulan tries to escape from the attack, but one arrow hits her on the chest. She tumbles to the ground in pain, groaning. Catching her breathe, she slowly and painfully pulls the arrow out. To her surprise, there is no blood on the arrow. As she removes her armour and the inner cushion that she binds to her chest, she is relieved to see there is no blood on her inner bindings; the cushion had blocked the arrow from reaching her body.

A huge crash is heard as the stone is launched and impacts the mountain. A low rumble slowly grows into a thunderous roar as the ground shakes and the snow tumbles down the mountainside rapidly. Seeing this, Mulan quickly gets to her feet and runs to her horse. Everyone watches in horror as the avalanche rapidly rushes towards them.

As Mulan rides her horse desperately away from the avalanche, her hair comes loose, releasing long black curls into the violent winds.

*****************

After the avalanche, the Imperial soldiers try to recover and regroup. "Has anyone seen Shang and Hua Jun?" Cricket wonders aloud.

From a distance, a lone horse trots into view, carrying two people. The soldiers recognize the body lying on top of the horse to be Shang, and some rushed forward to carry him off the horse, and he stirs awake as he is carried to the ground to be treated. Everyone else stares at the other person, unable to comprehend what they see. This person looks like Hua Jun, but she is female, with her long wavy black hair framing her face, and her robes slightly open to reveal the curves of a woman's chest.

"Hua Jun... you are a woman?" Commander Tung asks incredulously.

Mulan glances down and realises how exposed she is. She quickly pulls her robes together to cover herself, and kneels down to beg for forgiveness. "I'm sorry for betraying your trust. I did this to save my father. I have never intended to dishonour you or the Imperial army, please believe me." she explains.

Cricket, Shang, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po stares in disbelief, and there is an audible gasp as Mulan confirms her true gender.

"YOU HAVE MADE A MOCKERY OF THE IMPERIAL ARMY AND THE EMPEROR HIMSELF. BY RIGHT, YOU SHOULD BE EXECUTED FOR THIS CRIME," Commander Tung shouts angrily, "I AM ONLY LETTING YOU OFF BECAUSE YOU HAVE SAVED US ALL. FROM NOW ON YOU ARE BANISHED FROM THE ARMY. IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN, I WILL NOT HAVE THE SAME MERCY AS I HAVE SHOWN TODAY."

With her head hung in shame, Mulan stands up and walks away desolutely. She cries not only from the shame of being discovered, but also her hurting pride. She has lost the respect that she had so painstakingly earned among these men, and worst of all, she is once again reminded of her reality: A woman will always be seen as different. She will never be an equal to a man, and her freedom will always be hindered by her gender alone.