第三章（217字）

Chapter Three: Taking Her Father’s Place

Night had fallen, and the Fa family courtyard lay silent except for soft raindrops.

Mulan sat before the ancestral tablets, filled with worry and conflict.

She stared at her father’s conscription order, her heart beating faster.

“I can’t let my father die in the war,” she whispered.

She made a bold and dangerous decision.

Mulan quietly stepped into her father’s room and took down his armor.

She lit a lantern and sat before the mirror, staring at her reflection.

Mulan took a deep breath, raised the sword, and cut off her long hair in one stroke.

As the hair fell, her eyes grew firm and determined.

She put on her father’s armor, fastening each clasp tightly.

The rain grew heavier, as if urging her forward.

Mulan led out the family’s black horse, Khan.

Grandmother Fa woke to thunder and faintly saw Mulan’s figure leaving.

“Please protect her…” she whispered.

Mulan mounted her horse and looked back at her home.

She knew everything would change from this moment on.

She tapped the sword on the conscription token, which glimmered in the night.

A strong wind blew, lifting Mulan’s cloak in the darkness.

She pulled the reins and shouted, “Hyah!”

Mulan rode into the storm, heading toward the army camp—taking her father’s place.