扑朔迷离 — “Complicated and confusing”

In ancient times, there was a girl named Hua Mulan, who was very diligent and filial. Mulan was skilled at weaving; every day, she would enter her weaving room at dawn to carefully spin thread and weave cloth.

One day, however, she remained in her chambers, sitting by the window sighing. Her mother found it strange and asked her what was troubling her. Under her mother's persistent questioning, Mulan reluctantly said, "Nothing is troubling me, it's just that last night I saw the king's conscription notice, and my father's name was on it. But my father is old and can no longer endure the hardships of war, and my younger brother is too young to take his place. I am anxious about this."

After a pause, Mulan added, "I have practiced martial arts with my father since childhood and can take his place in the army." Her mother said with difficulty, "But you are a girl, how can you join the army?" Mulan said firmly, "I have a way."

When the conscription period arrived, Hua Mulan, disguised as a man, bid farewell to her parents and joined the army to fight at the frontier. During the war, Mulan performed very bravely and achieved many great feats. After more than ten years of arduous fighting, the war finally ended, and Mulan returned victorious.

For her merits, the emperor wanted to reward Mulan with much money and goods and appoint her as a high official. But Mulan said, "Thank you, Emperor, for your graciousness, but I do not wish to be an official; I only ask that you allow me to return to my hometown to reunite with my parents." The Emperor granted Mulan's request.

Upon returning home, Mulan immediately went to her room, changed into girl's clothes, braided her hair, put on flowers, and emerged looking like her original female self. Her companions, who had escorted Mulan home, were all greatly astonished and exclaimed, "Oh, we've traveled together for so many years, how did we not know you were a girl?"

Later, someone wrote "The Ballad of Mulan," and its last lines are: "The male rabbit's feet twitch, the female rabbit's eyes are hazy. When two rabbits run side by side on the ground, how can one tell male from female?" This means that when holding a rabbit by its ears in mid-air, the male rabbit's front paws often twitch, and the female rabbit's eyes often squint, making them easy to distinguish. But if two rabbits run side by side close to the ground, who can tell which one is male and which one is female? This idiom refers to things that are vague and unclear in people's minds, making it difficult to discern the truth.