Chapter 208 - 206. RUN! II

Third-person POV

All the servants kowtowed to Hong er while Hong er lovingly stared at the two babies in her arms. She kissed the babies' forehead and tapped her nose tip on theirs. The babies stopped crying and fell into a deep slumber. Without looking away, Hong er called Ming Yu in a low voice.

Hong er: "Ming Yu."

Ming Yu: "Yes, Your Majesty Empress."

Ming Yu slowly walked towards Hong er's side.

Hong er: "Here, take care of them."

Ming Yu: "Wh-what do you mean, Your Majesty Empress?!"

Hong er: "Take them to safety too. Xue Lang, protect your little siblings, kay?"

Xue Lang: "Yes, Imperial Mother."

Hong er: "Good, now go."

Ming Yu took the baby boy while Huayun took the baby girl. With her other hand, Ming Yu held Xue Lang's hand but when she was going to walk away, she felt her hand being tugged. She saw Xue Lang staring at Hong er whilst holding out his pinky.

Xue Lang: "Imperial Mother, promise me that you will catch up to us."

Hong er chuckled and ruffled Xue Lang's hair before she locked her pinky with his.

Hong er: "En. Mother promise."

Ah Xi: "Huayun! They have reached here, quickly go!"

Huayun: "Your Highness, we have to go."

Huayun cast a soundproof barrier on both babies and summoned her fan with her other hand. Xue Lang released Hong er's hand, yet, his gaze never leaves the woman that was lying weakly on the bed. They used the back door to escape.

Ah Xi and Ah Tong were fighting the Bei Zhou soldiers together with Hong er's remaining elite forces and the 10 personnel of Weisheng's elite forces that he assigned to protect Hong er.

Ah Xi: "Damn it! There are so many of them!"

Ah Tong: "Hang on there!"

Ah Tong shot a fire arrow towards the soldier that snuck behind Ah Xi.

Ah Xi: "Watch out!"

Another soldier jumped off from the rooftop with a sword in his hands. Ah Xi used his one of his Sai (TNMT red's weapon) to slash the soldier into halves. The soldiers in front of him take advantage of the situation where Ah Xi only had one weapon in his hand.

From the corner of his eyes, Ah Xi noticed his sudden movement and dodged to the side. Fortunately, the sword only slit his shoulder, if not, it would his heart that was stabbed. The Sai that he threw, flew back to his hand and he slashed off the soldier's head.

Ah Xi: "Come, if you want to die."

Ah Xi growled at the soldiers that were charging towards his direction. Ah Tong and Ah Xi's back were facing each other, hence, they could look out for each other's back. The Royal Palace was surrounded by Bei Zhou's soldiers, therefore, not many soldiers (Da Qi's) could come to assist Hong er's side.

Hong er who heard the commotion outside narrowed her eyes. She gripped her hand, trying to summon her sword so that she could help them fight back. But to no avail, she failed after may tries.

Shu Zhiruo: "Don't waste your energy. Most of your Qi was used for giving birth, moreover, you were poisoned and the poison hasn't completely out of your body yet. 24 hours, the poison will re-activate."

Jin Momo helped Hong er to sit up after seeing Hong er struggling to get up from the bed.

Hong er: "Jin Momo, get me a sword. A light one."

Jin Momo: "Your Majesty Empress! You shall not! It is too dangerous if you fight in this state!"

Hong er: "This is an order. Go get it or I will execute you."

Despite the fact that Jin Momo knows that Hong er would never kill her, she still shivered under Hong er's fierce gaze. Jin Momo took a slim and flexible sword from one of Weisheng's collection wardrobe and handed it to Hong er.

Hong er: "There is a secret passageway below the throne seat."

Jin Momo dashed to the seat where Weisheng and Hong er sat when they were looking over some doc.u.ments.

Hong er: "Under the seat, there is a button. Press it."

Jin Momo searched for the button and pressed it when she found it. The seat clicked and the seat separated into two. Shu Zhiruo and the mid-wives helped Hong er but Hong er asked the mid-wives to grab a few more blanket in case they have to stay outside in this biting cold season.

(A/N: I will use 'maids' instead of 'mid-wives'.)

With the maids and Jin Momo's hands full of blankets and lanterns, they couldn't help Hong er walk so it was only Shu Zhiruo supporting Hong er. The maids entered the secret passageway ahead of Hong er as they were holding lanterns to lead the way.

Then the last to enter was Shu Zhiruo and Hong er. Just as Shu Zhiruo took a first step on the stairs, Hong er twirled Shu Zhiruo's hand that was supporting her and pushed her into the passageway.

Not wasting any second, Hong er closed the entrance to the passageway and sealed it. She could hear the maids banging the door and screaming her name. She weakly smiled at her maids' devotion, but, her smile disappeared after she heard the clashing sound from outside.

Hong er: "Go call for help. I will delay them."

The maids didn't stop banging the door. Shu Zhiruo gritted her teeth as she stared at the entry, she knew exactly what Hong er meant. All these blankets were not for her, it was for themselves and the babies.

Shu Zhiruo: "Stop screaming, she won't budge. For now, we have to catch up with Ming Yu and Huayun. And call for more reinforcement."

Jin Momo who also understood Hong er's stubbornness nodded her head in agreement. Without any choice, the maids followed Shu Zhiruo and Jin Momo.

After the sound of the footsteps was inaudible, Hong er turned around and walked towards her personal wardrobe. She took out 3 small bottles of potion from the wardrobe and put it in her pocket.

She took a deep breath and leaned her back on a pillar with a sword in her hand. The entrance to her room was suddenly burst open and a dozen black-clothed men charged towards Hong er.

She gritted her teeth and grabbed the brushes that were on the table beside her. She aimed the edgeless brush to the enemies' eyes and stabbed through their brain. The soldiers that were about to attack her froze for a second.

A weak woman standing bravely in front of them whilst holding a slim sword with her trembling hand was supposed to be easy to be taken down, but they reminded themselves. That the woman in front of them is not any ordinary woman.

Hong er pointed her sword to the crowd and smirked.

Hong er: "Come, you cowards."