一千多年前的南北朝时期，北朝政权北魏和草原上崛起的部落制汗国柔然连年征战，百姓的安定生活成为奢望。黄河以南，一个名为“花家峪”的村庄里，生活着一个军户家庭。男主人花弧一生戎马，战事再次来临之时，年迈体衰的他再也无力应征出战。二女儿花木兰挺身而出，替父从军。 英气逼人的木兰在从军途中出手解救了自幼熟读兵书的孙小五，在军中结识了不打不相识的英勇好汉张大壮，三个伙伴因出众的武艺和谋略成为北魏大军的领导力量。他们齐心协力，联合高车一族，率军击溃了柔然的入侵。 得胜归来的木兰不求闻达。她回到家乡，与家人团聚。至此，同袍们方知她竟是女儿身。

第1章 与众不同的花木兰 一千多年前的南北朝时期，古老的中国曾经陷入动荡和分裂。神州大地上出现了许多政权，各政权之间经常爆发战争，政权不断更迭。后来，北方出现了一个比较强大的政权——北魏。北魏打败了许多对手，统一了黄河流域，成为统治北方的“大国”。然而，北魏周边的一些好战政权为了争夺利益，仍不断侵扰中原，北魏的和平和安宁经常受到威胁。
黄河以南，有一个叫“花家峪”的村庄。这里生活着一户姓花的人家，男主人名叫花弧，是北魏的一名退伍老兵。花弧年轻时曾经参加过许多场战争，一直到北魏统一北方，才告老还乡。花弧曾经做过千夫长，还立下过一些战功，因此，当他离开军队时，军队的长官奖励了他一笔钱财。花弧在战场上征战了大半生，终于能回到家乡与妻子儿女团聚，心里真是高兴极了。他拿出一部分钱财修葺了房屋，又置办了田地，打算在花家峪安享晚年。
花弧和妻子一共有三个子女，其中*特别的要数二女儿花木兰。这个女孩身材高大，十三四岁时就长得和父亲一样高，而且她声音洪亮，力气也大。如果不是木兰长得面貌清秀，秀发如云，许多人会以为她是个英俊的少年。木兰从小就非常勤劳、懂事，父亲不在家时，她总是挑*重的力气活干——砍柴、挑水、种地。母亲心疼木兰，木兰却说：“姐姐柔弱，弟弟幼小，咱们家数木兰个子*高，力气*大，理应帮妈妈照顾全家。”
木兰是一个让全家人感到骄傲的好姑娘。**让母亲感到烦恼的是，比起普通的女孩，木兰的胆量似乎太大了一些。也许是受到父亲的影响，木兰很喜欢武艺和骑射。从小到大，只要父亲从战场上回到家中，木兰便央求父亲教她拳脚功夫和骑马射箭。起初，父亲以为木兰只是贪玩，就随随便便教了她一些粗浅功夫，没想到木兰天资过人，总是很快便掌握了要领。后来，父亲便把成套的拳法、棍法教给木兰。木兰乐在其中，勤学苦练，到了十三四岁，竟成了花家峪一带的武艺高手。农闲时节，木兰常常叫上村里的男孩到村口的大槐树下比武。附近有些功夫的年轻人，都跟木兰比了个遍，可就连十七八岁的青年，也不是她的对手。
在木兰的记忆里，父亲每次回到家，*多待上一年半载就得返回军营。这一次，听说父亲已经退伍，再也不用上战场打仗，木兰真是欢喜极了。她一有机会就拉着父亲给她指点武艺，对战场上的���也很感兴趣，常常问东问西。
“父亲，国与国之间为什么要打仗呢？”木兰问。
“人和人之间有了矛盾会打架，国与国之间有了矛盾也会打架呀！”父亲说。
“一打仗，您就要离开家。战场上，有人死去，有人受伤。我看打仗不是一件好事，要是永远不打仗就好了！”木兰说。
“打仗啊，确实是不得已的事！”父亲叹了口气，接着说，“不过有时候，打仗也是为了不再打仗。如果有人侵犯我们，我们不打回去，他们就不知道我们的厉害，只有打回去，打赢他们，他们才不敢再来——这样，国与国之间才有和平。”
“父亲说得对！上次有个蟊贼从后院跳到咱们家里来偷粮食，我捉住他痛打了一顿——可母亲却将我训斥了一番，说我太过鲁莽，不该随便打人。看来，母亲说错了！我打这个贼，是为了让他以后不敢再来，不再挨打。”木兰说完大笑起来。
“哎！我这个二女儿，什么都好，就是没有个女孩的样子。”母亲在一旁听到父女俩的对话，既怜爱又无奈地说。
“母亲，您可别这么说，女孩们做的事我也样样精通！做饭、织布、缝衣裳，您说我哪件做得不好呀？”木兰对母亲眨眨眼睛，乖巧地坐在织布机前干起活来。
母亲被木兰逗笑了，觉得女儿说得倒也在理。木兰做事专注，心思缜密。她织的布匹，光滑细密。一匹布上，几乎看不见断掉的线头，做出来的衣裳也特别好看，实在是挑不出毛病。
自打花弧回到家中，时间转眼过去了两年。这一年，姐姐准备出嫁，弟弟也进了书院。花木兰长成了十六岁的大姑娘，武艺更是精进了不少。一家人的生活平静、美满，谁也没有想到，战争的阴影再一次笼罩了他们。 CHAPTER 1
Mulan, Like No Other Over one thousand years ago, during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, ancient China had descended into chaos and was divided. Barbarians were invading from outside of China, and inside China there was great disorder. It had split into many small states, with the states constantly warring among each other, and governments often changing. Eventually, a great power emerged in the north —
the Northern Wei dynasty. The Northern Wei defeated many northern states and unified the Yellow River basin region, becoming the ruler of the north. Near the Northern Wei, though, war-loving states would still instigate wars in order to pursue their own interests. The peace and tranquility of the Northern Wei were often threatened.
To the south of the Yellow River was a village called “Huajiayu.” Here lived the Hua family, the father of the family a veteran named Hua Hu. When Hua Hu was young, he fought in many wars, only retiring when the Northern Wei unified the north. Because he was a successful military commander, leading 1,000 soldiers in battles, when he left the military, his commanding officer gave him a financial reward. As Hua Hu fought on the battlefield for much of his life, he was extremely happy to finally have the opportunity to return home and be with his wife and children. He used some of his money to renovate his home, and also bought some farmland, planning to live out the rest of his life in Huajiayu.
Hua Hu had three children with his wife, and the most special among them was his second-oldest daughter, Mulan. She was a tall girl, and by the time she was 13 or 14, she was already as tall as her father. Her voice was rich and resonant, and she was very strong. If it wasn’t for her elegant features and beautiful hair, many would have figured she was a handsome young man. From a young age Mulan was always hard-working and wise beyond her age. When her father was not home, she would choose to do the most difficult work — chopping firewood, carrying water back home, and worked the farmland. Her mother felt bad for Mulan, but Mulan told her, “My older sister is feeble and my little brother is too young. Among our family, I’m the one who is the tallest and strongest, so of course I should help you take care of the family.”
Mulan was a good girl who made her entire family proud of her. The only thing that made her mother feel uneasy was when compared to regular girls, Mulan was a bit too brave. Perhaps she had been influenced by her father, as she greatly enjoyed martial arts, horseback riding, and archery. As she was growing up, whenever her father was back home from the battlefield, she would beg him to teach her Chinese boxing, martial arts, horseback riding, and archery. At first, her father thought it was just going through a phrase, so he only taught her the basics of martial arts. Who would have known that she in fact was naturally talented, and always would quickly grasp the main ideas of what her father taught her? Later on, her father would fully teach her Chinese boxing and cudgel play. Mulan took great joy in learning these things, studying and practicing hard. By the time she was 13 or 14, she had become an expert martial artist in the Huajiayu area. During the farming off-season, Hua Mulan would challenge boys from the village to martial arts fights by the scholar tree near the village entrance. Near the village were some youngsters who practiced martial arts. They sparred with her, but even the 17 and 18-year-olds were no match for her.
For as long as Mulan could remember, her father would only come home for a year or a half maximum before having to return to the barracks. This time, however, upon hearing that her father had retired and no longer had to fight wars, Mulan was absolutely ecstatic. As soon as she had the chance, she had her father teach her about martial arts. She was also quite interested in his battlefield stories often asking him all about what happened.
“Father, why do states fight each other?” Mulan asked.
“When there is a disagreement among people, they’ll fight, so when there are disagreements between states, they’ll fight as well!” Her father said.
“As soon as our state gets into a war, you have to leave home. Some people die and some are injured on the battlefield. I think that wars are not a good thing. It would be great if there were no more wars!” Mulan said.
“War? War is something that really can’t be avoided!” Her father sighed, continuing on, “But sometimes wars are fought in order to avoid more wars in the future. If someone invades our state and we don’t fight back, then they won’t know our strength. Only when we fight back and beat them will they not want to come back. Only in this way will there be peace between different states.”
“You’re right, father! Last time when there was a thief who tried to steal food from our backyard, I caught him and beat him up, but mother scolded me, saying that I was too reckless and shouldn’t go beating people up. It looks like she was wrong! I beat the thief up to make sure that he wouldn’t come back and end up getting beat up again.” Mulan smiled widely after she said this.
“Oh! Mulan, my daughter, everything is fine, and it’s just that you don’t act like a girl,” Mulan’s mother said lovingly but frustratedly, having overheard their conversation.
“Mother, don’t say that! I’m also good at doing the things that girls are supposed to do! Cooking, weaving, sewing — which of these am I not good at?” Mulan stared at her mother, blinking, taking the opportunity to sit at the loom and start weaving.
Mulan’s mother thought this was funny, and that Mulan was not wrong. When working, Mulan would concentrate hard, overlooking nothing. The fabric that she wove was smooth and finely woven. On one of her pieces of fabric, there were virtually no loose threads. The clothing that she made also looked wonderful, with no flaws that could be pointed out.
Two years quickly passed after Hua Hu returned home. Mulan’s older sister was now preparing to leave home and get married, and her little brother had started school. Hua Mulan was now 16 years old, and her martial arts skills had further improved. Her family lived quiet, content lives. Nobody could have guessed that the shadow of war would once again envelop the entire state.

第1章 与众不同的花木兰 第2章 替父出征 第3章 告别家人 第4章 路见不平，拔刀相助 第5章 不打不相识 第6章 万里赴戎机 第7章 首站告捷 第8章 独当一面，以少胜多 第9章 归来见天子 第10章 木兰还故乡 CHAPTER 1 Mulan, Like No Other CHAPTER 2 Fighting in Her Father’s Stead CHAPTER 3 Bidding Farewell to the Family CHAPTER 4 Marching Forth for Justice CHAPTER 5 From Fighting Blossoms a Friendship CHAPTER 6 The Long Military March CHAPTER 7 Victory in the First Battle CHAPTER 8 Taking Responsibility to Defeat the Enemy CHAPTER 9 Returning to See the Emperor CHAPTER 10 Mulan Returns Home