Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1388: Chapter 1390: The Target Switches to Her_1

Faint footsteps came from outside, and they belonged to more than one person—it had to be the same group of Holy Guards from just now!

Both Princess Yingtong and the Queen showed a look of horror on their faces. The Holy Guards hadn’t found this yard before, allowing them the fortune of going undetected, but would they be so lucky this time?

Bai Ruozhu’s fingertips were already poised with poison. If discovered by the Holy Guards, she would have no choice but to take down as many as she could.

Fortunately, the Holy Guards passed by once more without entering the yard. As the footsteps gradually faded away, all three of them let out a sigh of relief in unison.

However, they couldn’t hide here forever. What if the Holy Guards returned?

But venturing out now, with some distance still to the Palace Gate, was too risky, even though the Queen’s mobility had improved.

After careful consideration, Bai Ruozhu decided it was better for her to go and find reinforcements. She was less conspicuous on her own, and in a pinch, she could retreat into her space, making escape easier. Once reinforcements arrived, the princess and the Queen could be rescued.

Weighing the pros and cons, she wrote on the ground with her hand: Wait here, I’ll go for help.

Princess Yingtong nodded vigorously and wrote back cautiously, ”Please be extra careful.”

Bai Ruozhu nodded at the two of them, rose to her feet, jumped out the rear window, and then climbed over the wall of the small courtyard.

Listening intently, she activated her lightness skill and ran towards the Main Road, quickly reaching the main thoroughfare.

In order not to expose the hiding place of Princess Yingtong and her mother, she walked a distance towards the royal palace before releasing the signal flare she had agreed upon with her dark guards. She then waited cautiously on the spot, knowing her subordinates would surely arrive within a quarter of an hour.

At that moment, three guards from the royal palace were heading her way. Throughout these days, guards at the Palace Gate had come to recognize her and Jiang Yichun as favored individuals by the sovereign. They would greet them very politely, and upon seeing Bai Ruozhu, the three guards immediately approached to salute her.

”Lady Bai, are you waiting for someone here? Have you heard? There’s been a big incident at the Holy Hall!” one of the guards said to Bai Ruozhu with a smiling face.

Bai Ruozhu wanted to ask for their assistance but, before she could speak, she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of someone lurking near the street corner. Though the person was dressed as a commoner, she remembered him distinctly as a member of the Holy Guard and someone who followed close to Honglian.

Not wanting to startle the enemy, and realizing that these three guards were clearly insufficient, she feigned surprise and asked, ”What big incident? Tell me quickly.”

”That Lady Diao Mo has been caught in an affair by her husband. She set herself on fire right at the gates of the Holy Hall. What’s more terrifying is that in the blink of an eye, both of them turned into charred corpses before anyone could help,” the young guard said with a face full of smug pride, feeling like he had made an impression in front of Lady Bai.

Bai Ruozhu clapped her hands together in frustration and exclaimed, ”Such a spectacle, and I missed being among the onlookers, what a pity!”

”Yeah, I said it was a pity too,” he said, then scratched his head sheepishly. ”Actually, we didn’t see it ourselves either; someone had just told us about it. We were off duty just now and thought we’d go have a look.”

Bai Ruozhu smiled and said, ”Can you still see anything now? Didn’t you say they were burned to a crisp?”

She glanced at the disguised Holy Guard keeping an eye on her, feeling it was better to keep these three guards with her. She was too vulnerable on her own.

”Definitely nothing to see now, but it’s good to go and listen to the common folks talk about the process,” the young guard answered with a grin.

”That’s true, we can talk about it next time,” Bai Ruozhu replied absentmindedly, her mind racing with urgency.

”Heaven can’t be sending down divine punishment every day, Lady Bai jests,” the young guard said with a laugh as he saluted Bai Ruozhu and prepared to take his leave.

Bai Ruozhu found it amusing as well, indeed, she wouldn’t want to go through such an ordeal if it weren’t necessary, considering the worth of the herbal medicine involved.

In fact, she had used two types of medicine. The first was an aphrodisiac for Lady Diao Mo and the Holy Guard, and the second was in Furball’s mouth, which it spit onto Lady Diao Mo’s head. Once the two medicines reacted with each other, they quickly ignited and also corroded at an alarming rate. As Lady Diao Mo was engulfed in flames, no one noticed the corrosion because the fire burned so fiercely, but in reality, much of the damage was due to the corrosion.

Thinking quickly, Bai Ruozhu said, ”I’ve lost my guards, and I just sent a signal flare for them to come find me. If you’re not too busy, please don’t leave just yet, and keep me company for a bit.”

The guard who had been talking to Bai Ruozhu was quite astute and immediately understood that she needed protection. He quickly signaled his two companions with a glance, saying, ”We’re not busy; we actually wanted to seek Lady Bai’s advice on some medical issues.”

The three stood by Bai Ruozhu, talking, but they became vigilant. The Holy Guard who had been watching Bai Ruozhu surreptitiously sent out a secret signal. Bai Ruozhu suspected he had informed the nearby officers who were capturing Princess Yingtong. It was very likely their target would now switch to her!

However, Bai Ruozhu was not particularly nervous; instead, she felt that at least this way, Princess Yingtong and her mother could be a bit safer.

As expected, more Holy Guards appeared in the streets, forming lines as if they were patrolling, and they approached the group of four including Bai Ruozhu.

The young guard’s face went stiff as he whispered, ”Lady Bai, we will hold them off. You’d better run!”

”Don’t worry, my men will be here any second,” Bai Ruozhu said loudly on purpose. Sure enough, the Holy Guards heading straight for her hesitated, as if unsure.

Right at that moment, a shadow charged towards them, revealing Jianqi who had swiftly made his way to Bai Ruozhu’s side using light footwork.

”My lord, I’ve arrived late,” Jianqi said, a hint of guilt showing on his face at the sight before him, fearful of what might have happened had he been any later.

The Holy Guards hesitated for a moment, probably thinking that Jianqi was alone, but still advanced towards them.

”Lin Zhu, you’ve used an evil technique to harm others, the Holy Hall commands us to capture you for questioning,” one of the Holy Guards said swiftly before suddenly lunging at Bai Ruozhu.

Jianqi drew his sword to block the attacking Holy Guard, and the three imperial palace guards also drew their swords, positioning themselves protectively in front of Bai Ruozhu.

”You go back to the palace to report, and you two cover him,” Bai Ruozhu instructed the astute young guard to go and send a report.

At this moment, several dark figures darted over, Bai Ruozhu’s other subordinates had all arrived. Jianqi, with the best light footwork, arrived the fastest, but they weren’t far behind.

The dark guards clashed with the Holy Guards, and the street erupted with the sounds of weapons colliding. The bustling street leading to the royal palace had turned into a battlefield in broad daylight.

Now that there were more people, Jianqi retreated to Bai Ruozhu’s side to guard her, preventing any surprise attacks.

Bai Ruozhu quickly whispered to him, ”I’ve found Princess Yingtong and the Queen. These men were originally hunting them down. I ran out first to call for reinforcements, but their hiding place is extremely dangerous. We need to quickly escort them back to the palace.”

”My lord should be arriving soon; you can’t take any more action on your own!” Jianqi said sternly, clearly dissatisfied with Bai Ruozhu’s reckless behavior.