Forensic Imperial Concubine

"I made you feel worried again," Matthew said with concern.
"We are a couple now. Of course, the hardships have to be endured together," Harper said, as she held Matthew's hands. "Don't
forget what I have told you, 'No matter we are living, dead or separated, we always love each other.'"
"It's still in my mind, 'I want to hold your hand and grow old together with you, '" Matthew continued at once.
The next morning, Harper and Matthew took Alexander to Pearce's mansion.
Although Harper had told Pearce and his wife that receiving Alexander as their sworn son should be treated as a small matter
and needn't be disclosed to the public, they still took the matter seriously. They specifically confirmed the auspicious occasion
and opened the ancestral temple of their mansion. They even invited an elder of the Zhao Clan to witness the whole ceremony.
The steward of Pearce's mansion hurried in and reported, "They are coming! My Lord, My Lady, they are coming!" Elated,
Pearce and wife looked at each other, and rushed out to see Matthew and his wife walking in with Alexander.
The boy gave the gifts he had prepared to Pearce and his wife and said respectfully, "Please accept the gifts. I have personally
prepared them for you two."
"Thank you, Alexander. You are so considerate."
Seeing the arrival of the guests, the elder of the clan hastened to urge them, "It's almost the auspicious time. We need to take
the boy to the ancestral temple first and worship the ancestors."
"All right." Pearce and his wife then took Alexander to the ancestral temple of their mansion. Today, the ancestral temple had
been opened in order to pay respect to their ancestors before the big event. Even though the ceremony was not grand, it would
still be necessary to keep Alexander's name on the ancestral temple. But before that, the ancestors should be worshiped, and
then, the elder would write his name on the pedigree.
In the first process of the ceremony, Pearce and his wife worshiped the ancestors by lighting the incense and kowtowed
repeatedly in front of their tablets. Then, it was Alexander's turn to follow suit. Since Harper and Matthew were outsiders, they
had to wait outside for the ceremony to be completed.
Immediately after Alexander finished the process, the elder announced the completion of the ceremony. Next, the elder recorded
Alexander's name on the pedigree. In such a way, Alexander was officially recognized as a member of Pearce's mansion.

The next step was Alexander offering tea to his sworn parents. Pearce and his wife were sitting in the main seat of the main hall.
The elder was sitting on their left, and Matthew along with Harper sat on their right. The steward brought two cups of tea for
Alexander to finish the last step.
Alexander took a cup of tea and handed it to Pearce, "Father, please have a cup of tea."
"Certainly." Pearce smiled and had a sip of tea. Then he gave a big red envelope to his sworn son.
Alexander took the other cup of tea, knelt down and offered it happily to Allie, saying, "Mother, please have a cup of tea."
Taking the cup and having a sip of the tea, Allie not just gave him a big red envelope, but also a pair of silver bowls, chopsticks
and even a longevity lock. Then she said, "Alexander, you may rise."
"Thank you, Father and Mother." Alexander politely expressed his gratitude and got up.
"Your Highnesses, it's the Rice Porridge Festival in two days. If you all don't mind, please celebrate it along with us in our
mansion," Allie proposed. "It'd be so quiet if only we two were to celebrate it together."
After her son's death, she was feeling lonely and empty. So to come out of that, she wanted the mansion to be more lively and
noisy.
"I will often come back to accompany you, Father and Mother," Alexander said.
"That's great." A grateful smile emerged on Allie's face. Even though she knew that Alexander said it to console her, she felt very
grateful to him.
"Well, for the Rice Porridge Festival, we are going to be here, and we'll celebrate the festival with you," Harper said at once.
"After the festival, we're going back to the imperial capital in a few days. Alexander will continue to study in the Clivia School."
"Can Alexander live in our mansion these days?" asked Pearce tentatively. He knew that his wife liked Alexander very much. The
other day, she even specially prepared a yard for him. She said that he could live there when he came back.
Pearce was someone who loved his wife the most. Though his son's murderer was already punished with death penalty, he
knew that the real conspirator was still at large in the imperial capital. With his current competence and his peaceful life in the
River City, he was unable to take revenge for his son's death. Fortunately, the person who had killed his son was already dead,
which helped him in getting rid of the knot in his mind, but the knot bothering his wife couldn't be rid of that easily.

"Alexander, what do you think?"
With a glance at the eager face of Allie, Alexander nodded and said, "Harper, I wish to stay here along with my sworn parents,
and have more contact with them. Can I?"
"Of course you can." Harper rubbed her brother's head with affection. "You are a man now. Take care of your sworn parents."
"I will. Don't worry, Harper."
Then Harper turned to Pearce and Allie, and said with a smile, "Then Alexander is going to bother you for a while."
"It's our pleasure!" Pearce replied at once.
"Okay. I think then it's time for us to leave now." Harper bid them goodbye.
"Please, stay for lunch before you leave," Allie proposed eagerly.
"Thank you so much for your invitation, but sorry. We have something to deal with urgently, so please excuse us from lunch."
Harper then left with Matthew. She wanted to do research on the silk business in the River City. There were a lot of tea
plantations in the region, and it was not advisable to do tea business here. But since the region was also good for mulberry
plantations, she was inclined to do silk business. Her interest was not just limited to silk material, but also into silk clothes.