66 Already?

"Mai get up" Han Bing whispered into her ear while gentling urging her to wake up "Mai come on, we have to go!"

"Mm" Mai let out a groan as everything around the room slowly came into focus. An uneasy feeling filled the bottom of her stomach. Mai's eyes rapidly opened and closed before focusing on Han Bings face. Although he was smiling at her he couldn't hide the pure panic on his face.

Instantly fearing the worse Mai let out a slight cry as she asked, "did they find us already?"

Han Bing shook his head "someone saw Zheng Li earlier; he was positive that they were from the capital. We … I mean just the two of us are going to make a run for it. I have recently found out that the Emperor probably won't touch Zheng Li and he decided to give us a window of opportunity." Han Bings face fell at the end as if he could not believe that number of things in his life that he had just discovered in the past few days.

Mai was surprised when she heard that Zheng Li would probably be safe and couldn't help thinking "what is he his kid or something?" To herself.

"Where are we going?" Mai asked as she dragged her robes over her body securely tying them tight.

"We are grabbing those bags you made and heading into the forest" Han Bing replied.

"What about the servants?" Mai asked quietly. She had become extremely fond of the 4 woman who served her throughout her time with Han Bing. "Will they be okay?"

"He won't waste his time with them, I think they will be fine" Han Bing said however Mai could tell by how tense he got that it was probably a lie. She appreciated that he was trying to make escaping and leaving them behind better, but she knew better then to believe in his naive words. No one was truly safe from the emperor.

Mai sucked in a breath as she realized that Zhi Rou was the person that practically raised Han Bing since he was a young child. She prayed that nothing happened to the sweet old lady and that they would see each other again someday.

"Where are the bags?" Han Bing asked as they stumbled down the stairs in their haste to leave.

"They are near the back door" Mai replied quickly rushing towards the makeshift bags that she had made.

"Here" Mai called out as she grabbed a light tanned color bag that was almost the size of her. Luckily, they were lighter than they looked as Mai pulled one onto her shoulders and ran out the door.

The brisk breeze met them as the moon began to rise in the sky illuminating their path.

"Which way should we go?" Mai asked "should we wait around the forest near the house? Maybe once they don't find us there, they won't look to hard at the immediate surrounding areas and look for other locations?" Mai said hopeful that the future wouldn't include them being on the run for a long time.

"I don't think that is a good idea" Han Bing said "we have a few days head start on them if we leave now rather than waiting around for more people to come."

Han Bing looked up at the moon deep in thought. "We should go towards a port so that we can travel to another country."

"Okay, that seems like a good idea" Mai replied as they started their trek through the forest. "There are no animals that we need to be concerned about, here right?"

Han Bing paused for a moment before looking around and said, "there should be nothing in this forest, it is over hunted and barely any large animals remain."

"But it's a possibility?" Mai asked quietly afraid that her voice could attract an unwanted predator.

Han Bing grasped Mai's hand while tucking her in close to his body. Han Bing said "don't worry my Mai flower, I will protect you no matter what stops in front of our path. I promise."

Han Bing bit Mai's lip lightly as he moved in closer for a kiss. He lightly stroked the back of her head while saying "I promise Mai, someone would have to go through me to get to you. You are the most important thing to me."

Mai's cheeks burned under the moonlight.

"You are so beautiful Mai" Han Bing said while taking a piece of her hair and twirling his fingers through it.

"Stop it" Mai said in a joking matter as she battered away his arm "stop distracting me or we won't get anywhere."

Han Bing let out a chuckle but continued to kiss Mai until they had to part to grasp for air. "Would that be such a bad thing" he whispered into her ear.

"Yes!" Mai exclaimed "let's not even talk about animals I'm sure people will know that someone is in this forest."

"Are you saying you can't be quiet, wife?" Han Bing said with a grin on his face.

"Stop pretending as if you're not the person that makes me make those sounds" Mai said embarrassed.

"Oh no, I love your little sounds Mai" Han Bing replied with a little grin, "honestly your so cute, especially when you get surprised."

Hmph Mai muttered before walking further down the path. She was positive that if it was up to Han Bing right now, they would be doing something that was much more intensive than walking.

They continued to walk down the forest trail until they found a small clearing.

"We should probably get a little sleep; I don't think we will be able to travel at night most of the time" Mai said to Han Bing "also you haven't slept much the past few days. You're going to need your energy in case there is an emergency."

Han Bing closed his eyes but agreed with Mai. He was still incredibly worried that someone would pounce on them from behind and take everything that he holds dear. However, constant vigilance without any rest would create mistakes and those would probably be more fatal.

Han Bing slumped his tired body against the soft grass while Mai took out a blanket from his pack.

"Here" Mai said as she laid it on the ground "we only have one, so you'll have to be my blanket."

Han Bing smiled as he said "that is fine with me. Come here and get comfy."

Mai wiggled her way between Han Bings arms as she laid beside him. Wrapping his arms closer around her to comfort both of them.