Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

"My darling is so considerate and sweet! How did you know that I am so hungry?" With a wide smile,

Harper went to the table,

sat down, and took the chopsticks from Matthew. She then asked, "Will Francis get rid of us? After all,

we are a loose end to his

elaborate plan."

Matthew placed some food in front of Harper and said, "At this moment, I don't think he would. As you

said, he's still recovering.

Also, the emperor will not suspect him at all for two reasons. One, because he's weak and two,

because he had once saved his

life. The emperor will believe that I had planned everything."

"Then, I guess it's time to admit that I'm really quite impressed with Francis. Darling, do you have any

wine here?" Harper asked

abruptly.

"No, you shouldn't drink since you have a very low tolerance for alcohol." Matthew was worried that

Harper would lose herself

once she had wine. Although he liked to see drunk Harper, her health was more important to him.

Harper put down her chopsticks and said, "Then forget it. I admire Francis for his hard work and

intelligence in coming up with

such a plan. But if he had the ability to think of such a complex scheme, he should be able to notice

that he was being poisoned

for so many years."

"It was the emperor who poisoned him," Matthew supplied.

With those few words, Harper's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she just heard. But

soon enough, she felt a

sense of ease. "It's not surprising that there's an emperor who would poison his own son since there's

a father like Charles. No

wonder, Francis could still be tricked by poison, even though he is very intelligent. Anyways, since it's

becoming clear that the

emperor does like to use poison, I'm afraid that it was him who poisoned our mother—Lady Cecilia as

well."

In a second, the intent to kill was seen across Matthew's eyes. Cecilia's death had left a wound in his

heart that would never

heal. Since a long time ago, it was clear to him that the emperor had something to do with his mother's

death. Now, he was

certain that the emperor poisoned her. Matthew thought that if it was indeed the emperor who wanted

to kill her, there must be someone helping him in the palace. Matthew also put down his chopsticks. He

then poured a cup of tea and let Harper rinsed her mouth with it. "All the poisons come from the

imperial palace. The royal family is full of the most wicked people that plot the most vicious acts." "But

still, there are also many beautiful women in the royal family, including seventy-two concubines in

different palaces. Every kind of beauty can be found inside the family. It is literally like heaven on earth.

Don't you like it, darling?" Harper asked with faux

interest while she placed her chin on top of her hands. "I have you and that's more than enough for me.

I don't need anyone else." Then, Matthew asked a servant to come in and put away the dishes on the

table. "What did you learn today?" Matthew asked Harper when they were alone. "The man behind the

things that were done by the empress is the emperor. His purpose is to ruin me. But I did something

awful in return." Harper stretched out her index finger and pointed it high in the air. "What kind of awful

thing?" As soon as he asked, Matthew thought of Fiona who didn't appear at the birthday banquet. At

that, he could almost guess what had happened. With a guilty look on her face, Harper narrated, "I had

Fiona dressed up like me and then, I sent her to the emperor's place. Who would have known that the

emperor was so shameless as to defile his daughter-in-law?"

Suddenly, an intense look could be seen in Matthew's eyes. "Do you have some sort of drug?"

"Drug? What kind of drug?" Harper idly asked. She wasn't sure if Matthew was upset or not.

"After taking this kind of drug, a man will never be able to touch a woman again. I want to give this kind

of drug to the emperor as

his birthday gift. He already has so many sons and daughters, so he doesn't need to have any more

children. For the sake of his

body, I want to give him the drug," Matthew frantically said.

Harper giggled with her hand covering her mouth. "Then, the emperor would only be able to watch his

beautiful concubines

instead of touching them. That sounds interesting!"

"Do you have that kind of drug?" "Not yet, but if I work hard, I think I can make it." "Okay, that's perfect.

When it's finished, give it to me and I will give it to the emperor." Matthew put his hands on both sides

of the chair and leaned closer to Harper. "Since that had been settled, let me teach you something you

don't know yet." "Wait!" Harper exclaimed while she placed her hands on his chest. "There's one more

thing. I can't believe I almost forgot it." Matthew carefully looked at the expression on her face and he

knew that whatever she was going to say, it wouldn't be brief.

"What is it? We can talk about it while I continue with what I am about to teach you," Matthew

complained, almost sounding like a

whine.

Harper took a deep breath. "Stop it. Let's talk about this first. Members of the Qin Clan in the Joy City

were killed and the token

of our mansion was left at the scene."

"Did Zack tell you that?" Matthew asked while the expression on his eyes changed.

"It doesn't matter who told me. Just answer this: were you aware of this?" Harper looked into Matthew's

eyes. She believed in

him. If he wanted to kill members of the Qin Clan, it was impossible for him to leave any traces on the

crime scene.

The expression on Matthew's face changed once again. Of course, he knew everything that Zack

knew. But he didn't tell Harper

about it because he didn't know who had betrayed him. "Yes, but I didn't tell you."

"Is there a traitor in our mansion?" There was no other possibility that Harper could think of. If the news

about the Qin Clan had

spread so quickly and it had something to do with Matthew's mansion, then it must be someone from

the mansion who leaked it.

Obviously, the person who did that could only have one intent and that was to drive a wedge between

the couple.

"Yes," Matthew briefly answered. He then squeezed into the chair and sat down beside Harper. She felt

that the chair was a little

bit too crowded, so she simply sat on his legs. Then, he continued, "Besides, during that time when we

left River City, someone

broke into our mansion. From what we know, that person was looking for something. He was extremely

cautious, but fortunately,

our secret guards found him."

"Did we lose anything in the house?" Harper asked. She was so surprised. That person must be very

familiar with the layout of

the mansion since they were able to sneak in without being caught.

"No, he didn't find what he wanted. Guess what he was looking for inside?" Matthew asked in a low

voice.

Harper raised her head in contemplation and said, "It must be something confidential or valuable."

"The Heavenly Book," Matthew supplied.