A/N: I saw your comments and wrote as fast as I could. You already know the song!
***
Everyone was frozen in their positions.
They had thought the Huns had attacked them, or that an adversary had taken advantage of their situation and launched an attack.
But the announcement they had heard made it clear that this was neither.
A royal procession!
That was the only answer that came to their minds.
None of them paid attention to Mulan's tearful expression. To them, it looked like a sigh of relief that the interruption had disrupted her impending trial.
Only Li Shang had noticed.
He narrowed his eyes at her smile.
'What's going on?' Li Shang thought. But he couldn't figure it out.
"MAKE WAY FOR EMPEROR ALADDINN!!"
The voice sounded again. This time, louder than before.
The Emperor of China frowned deeply.
"What are you all still standing there for? Let's go see who is visiting China at a time like this," the Emperor of China said calmly. But a deep frown was on his face.
General Li nodded in understanding. He gestured for the Captains to lead the way as they stepped forward.
The Emperor stood within the circle of his Imperial Guards, following behind them.
After briefly hesitating, Li Shang quietly made his way over to Mulan, who was following at the rear.
"Use this opportunity to escape," he whispered into her ear.
Mulan shook her head. "I can't do that, Captain."
"Why? You will get executed after all of this is over for impersonating an Imperial Soldier! Don't you understand how dire your current situation is?" Li Shang retorted.
Mulan nodded. "I know, and that is why I am not running away. My family will be in danger if I do. I want to see and face whatever punishment the Emperor throws at me."
She smiled lightly.
"You don't need to bother yourself that much, Captain. I don't plan on facing them alone. Teacher is with me."
Li Shang stood rooted to the spot, completely frozen in place. His eyes widened in realisation, while her last words rang in his ears.
Mulan continued to catch up with the others. She wanted to confirm with her own two eyes if the one who had truly come was Aladdin.
Moments later, Li Shang snapped out of his daze. He gritted his teeth and chased after them. He had no idea what was happening and wanted someone to make sense of it. From the looks of it, his teacher was the only one who could at the moment.
They soon arrived at the nearest balcony and looked outward.
All of them couldn't help but observe their surroundings warily. Despite the drums and marches still reverberating through the air around them, they could barely make out what was happening in the distance.
It was like the parade, or whatever was going on, was transpiring in the outer district of the Capital.
But if that was the answer, then how could they hear or feel what was going on from that direction?
It didn't make any sense!
General Li quickly removed his telescope and gazed into the distance.
Through the telescope, he saw a beautiful Imperial Palace filled with strange and expensive clothing. Thousands of people and animals marched through the Capital in astonishing numbers.
General Li froze.
He recognised that clothing. There was only one person he had seen, or ever come across, wearing it.
It was none other than the strange traveller they had met on their way to battle the Huns.
General Li tried to see if he could spot Aladdin among the crowds. However, the distance was too great, and he could only make out specks of figures.
He removed the telescope and turned to the Emperor.
"It looks like a procession. But I don't know which kingdom would send a procession knowing our current situation. With forces like these, they might also be trying to take control of the Forbidden City."
The Emperor of China nodded.
"Perhaps they are working with the Huns or... are related to the witch that had cursed them."
He glanced at General Li and the others before pausing, allowing his words to linger in the air.
"Let's go prepare to welcome them. Whether they came for war or negotiation, whichever way, we will know when they arrive."
General Li nodded.
General Li and the Imperial Guard Leader swiftly instructed their soldiers to prepare for battle.
Security around the Emperor was tightened even further. It was clear the Emperor was slowly losing trust in them, so they needed to do everything in their power to prove him wrong.
"General, do you know what is going on?" Seeing that his father had finished discussing with the Captains, Li Shang neared him and asked in a whisper.
"I don't know. But I have my suspicions. Regardless, the Emperor currently suspects us of being the ones behind this, so we can only remain silent for now until the truth is revealed," General Li responded almost quietly.
Li Shang caught the look in his father's eyes and nodded. He knew that his father was thinking about the same reason as he was. But for one reason or another, they couldn't utter a word.
Li Shang glanced back at Mulan, who was still silently following them with a dazed expression. He sighed in frustration.
'It better be him. And someone needs to give me a better explanation after all of this.'
They walked to the spacious corridor from which the Emperor addressed the city from the Castle and began making preparations for their guest.
Meanwhile, near the city gates of the Capital City of China, people came out of their homes to see what was happening.
To their surprise, they saw an enormous procession making its way through the streets with a grand entrance.
Flower maidens dressed the streets with beautiful and plump arrays of flowers. Dancers swayed and stepped on the flowers, swaying to the tune of the drummers and instrumentalists playing around them.
Soldiers, wearing polished suits of armour from unknown foreign lands and riding on camels and horses, stood ramrod straight as the camels and horses marched forward with practised gaits.
More and more people who looked different from them, dressed in unique clothing that accentuated their appearance, which they had never seen before, made their way through the air.
And they all sang with melodious voices that rippled through the air.
A tall, brown-skinned man led the parade, hopping and jumping through the crowd with amazing dexterity and speed.
He was dressed in a loose crimson robe trimmed with gold, a purple sash wrapped around his waist, and a red-and-purple turban with a small golden tassel.
[Hey! Ring bells, Bang the drums!
Are you gonna love this guy
Emperor Ali, fabulous he
Ali Ababwa]
[Down on one knee
Now, try your best to stay calm
Brush up your Sunday salaam
Then come and meet his spectacular coterie]
[Stronger than ten thousand men, definitely!
He faced the galloping hordes!
Over ten thousand bad guys with swords
Who sent those goons to their lords]
[Who's that sitting on the tallest camel?]
[His Majesty.]
[Emperor Ali, amorous he
Ali Ababwa]
On top of the highest camel sat Aladdin. He wore a magnificent white-and-gold Arabian royal robe that flowed down his body, with beautiful golden patterns embroidered across the fabric.
A long red sash was wrapped around his waist, while golden ornaments decorated his wrists and neck. On his head sat a white-and-gold turban adorned with a large ruby at its centre, giving him the appearance of a powerful foreign Emperor.
He waved at the crowds. Then, he scooped up golden and silver coins and trinkets and tossed them in every direction.
The man leading the procession was Abu. He had transformed to the height of a human, and Aladdin had used an illusion to conceal his true appearance.
A little persuasion here and there, and he had promised to lead the parade all the way to the Forbidden City.
With the golden key that Genie had given him, he opened a portal to Ababwa and prepared a formidable entourage to showcase the magnificence of Ababwa on his arrival in China.
Aladdin kept his gaze forward as he hummed to the improved lyrics that Abu had managed to come up with. He had thought that Abu would sing a similar song to the one Genie had. But he realised that Abu had other plans.
Soon, they entered the Forbidden City.
It was also packed with people who must have arrived to welcome the Imperial Army.
Every area was filled with soldiers with their hands on their weapons and their shields in front of them. There was only one path open, as though showing them where they could go and where they couldn't.
The parade began to slow down.
Even the people of China who had followed them began dwindling one by one.
As the parade entered the Forbidden City square, Aladdin spotted the Emperor of China with several guards standing beside him above the large stairs.
The only people he recognised among them were General Li, Li Shang and the Captains of the Imperial Army.
But he didn't see Mulan.
Was he too late?
No!
He had been paying close attention to Mulan through Mirage and knew she had only recently revealed her identity. He looked at them for a moment before pushing the thought from his mind.
Regardless, what mattered was that she was still within the Palace, which meant that she was watching him from somewhere.
He needed to fulfil the promise that he had made to her.
The crowd parted as his camel strode toward the wide staircase.
The camel lowered its legs onto the ground.
The servants quickly gathered and arranged makeshift stairs before him.
Aladdin held their hands in a dignified manner as he stepped down the staircase.
He stepped forward and halted in front of the parade.
A plump man dressed in an Arabian blue-and-white royal minister's garb stepped forward beside Aladdin.
He was none other than the royal herald of Ababwa.
He raised his voice, allowing it to echo throughout the entire square.
"His Imperial Majesty, the mighty ruler of the prosperous Empire of Ababwa."
"The conqueror who faced ten thousand warriors and emerged victorious!" "
The generous sovereign who brings gold to the poor and prosperity to the lands he visits!"
He bowed towards Aladdin and extended his arm.
"EMPEROR ALI ABABWA!!"
The royal herald raised his voice even higher.
He paused.
"His Imperial Majesty has arrived to pay his respects to the mighty Emperor of China!"
"He has journeyed across distant lands with a magnificent entourage to honour the Great Chinese Empire!"
"So, Your Imperial Majesty, please welcome the arrival of Emperor Ali Ababwa!"
The herald bowed deeply towards the Emperor of China before stepping back.
Aladdin nodded in approval once the announcement was over. He had faced an unknown number of undead and cursed the metal men; even if the latter was a complicated issue, it didn't change the fact that he could accomplish everything the herald had listed.
For a moment, a solemn silence settled upon the square.
The Emperor of China stared at Aladdin with a heavy frown.
He searched his memories over and over, but he couldn't find any mention of a so-called prosperous and glorious Empire known as Ababwa.
From the wealth they showed and the enormous entourage, it was without a doubt that this empire potentially rivalled China or even eclipsed it, so the fact that he had never heard of them should be impossible.
So either the Empire of Ababwa was truly from a faraway land, or all of this was an elaborate charade.
The Emperor of China glanced at General Li, catching the look of shock and bewilderment on his face, as though he had seen a ghost. He then glanced at the soldiers beside them and saw that they all wore similar expressions.
The Emperor of China gently stroked his beard as he withdrew his gaze and refocused it on Aladdin.
He gestured for a nearby servant to come forward.