Forensic Imperial Concubine

Rufus' face turned pale the moment Harper's words faded away. He looked at Matthew in worry. The previous betrayal of the
Xiao Clan had almost led to Matthew's doom. If he had been less lucky, he would have died with his mother.
"Harp," Matthew said, casting Harper a doubtful glance. He always thought that he and the Xiao Clan were fully independent of
each other. The Xiao Clan had never declared loyalty to him, so they couldn't betray him. The person they had betrayed was his
mother.
Harper fell silent immediately. She had never mentioned the Chu Clan to anybody unless someone else mentioned them first,
because she thought they had already been left behind her. She didn't like to continually dwell on things that had happened long
ago, nor did she like to reopen anyone else's old wounds. If Rufus hadn't annoyed her first, she wouldn't have said what she said
just then.
"Harper Chu, I have nothing to do with anyone in the Xiao Clan!" Rufus shouted angrily.
"None of us can choose the families we are born to, and I am no exception. I can't deny that I come from the Chu Clan, because
everybody knows it. You can't deny that you are a member of the Xiao Clan, either, but you can control your own behaviors. You
can decide what kind of person to be, rather than giving yourself up as hopeless only because of your family of origin," Harper
said in a slow yet powerful voice.
Rufus had always hated his own identity as a member of the Xiao Clan, because the people of the clan had committed many evil
deeds which disgusted him. The members of the Chu Clan also had committed many terrible sins in their past, but Harper still
regarded herself as a daughter of the Chu Clan, and even made great efforts to cultivate Alexander. It was clear that she didn't
let her family history bother her. Otherwise, she would have hated other members of the Chu Clan such as Alexander or Gianna,
instead of helping them
"If they pressured you to do something you didn't want, what would you do?" Rufus questioned Harper, fixing his burning eyes on
her.
"That would depend on what they wanted me to do. Take Sue and her daughters as an example. They wanted to advance
themselves through my blood, which was extremely malicious of them. In that case, I fought back calmly without revealing
anything. As for Charles, who wanted to use me to obtain power and wealth, I did not take his life, but I let him lose everything he
had." Rufus was struck dumb by her declaration. Seeing that the cup in his hand was empty, Harper took it, refilled it with water,
and put it in his hand again.

After a long silence, Rufus said, "There is a proverb that says parents never make mistakes. No matter how horrible they are,
they are still my parents."
"There are many parents in the world that are worse than beasts," Harper retorted, suddenly fuming with rage at the memory of
her birth mother's death at the hands of Charles.
"Parents' actions are intended for the good of their children, even including the actions which are mistakes."
"So my father killed my mother for my own good? He allowed his adopted son to kill my grandmother for my own good? And he
connived with his concubine to have me killed for my own good? He even connived with the children of his concubines, who also
plotted against me, just for my own good?" Harper asked, finding Rufus' remarks ridiculous.
For a moment, the latter wasn't sure how to reply. Was Harper talking about her own father? It sounded more like Charles was
her sworn enemy.
"You're talking about your sworn enemy, not your father, aren't you?" Rufus said in a weak voice.
"That was exactly how I had come to view him," Harper confirmed. "I suspected it was because my mother cheated on him and
I'm not the daughter of his blood that he tried by every means to kill me."
"What happened at last?" Rufus asked. It made sense to him that Harper could be an illegitimate daughter of Charles, because it
was unimaginable for a man to treat the child of his own blood so horribly.
"I acquired a sample of his blood by stealth, did a blood test by mixing his blood with mine, and found that our blood was
compatible. Although the result was slightly ambiguous, there is not much doubt that I'm related to him by blood. That is to say, I
am his daughter." Harper spread her hands in despair. "Then I thought carefully about everything I had done, hoping to find what
the reason could be why he let other people harm me in that way. But the conclusion I drew in the end was that I didn't do
anything wrong."
Swallowing hard, Rufus said, "It can't be easy to live as you have until now."
"Yes, it has not been easy," Harper said seriously. "I was framed by the daughter of my father's concubine, and accused of
plotting to murder the baby in the belly of Maxwell's concubine. The most remarkable part of it was that His Majesty wanted me
to pay with my life."

"General Maxwell had never had a son until then. Finally, his concubine was pregnant with a son, but the baby died, and they
thought you did it. It made sense that they wanted to kill you," Rufus said, reasoning quickly.
"But I was wronged and I didn't want to die. It was not until then that I completely renounced the Chu Clan. When I asked
Matthew for help, I wanted everyone else in the Chu Clan to die with me. But later my anger subsided and I realized that my
testimony alone would be insufficient to bring justice against those of the Chu Clan who set me up. Therefore, I decided to use
my knowledge to clear myself of suspicion." While speaking, Harper looked very peaceful, as if she were talking about someone
else's experience.