Forensic Imperial Concubine

"I've confirmed it with the imperial physician. The imperial physician said that Francis has long suffered from a serious chronic
illness, and his current condition is just a momentary improvement before death. Some days ago, he was seriously ill, and it was
doubtful that he would survive past New Year's Day. Strangely, he has become much better after leaving the Imperial Palace. He
even had the strength to ward off the sword which would have killed Father. His illness... Don't you think it's rather hard to
explain?" said Felix.
"I have also heard from the imperial physician that he was born a very weak body," answered the empress, her eyes lighting up.
"Mother, do you find it believable?" Felix was obviously unimpressed by what she said. If Francis was really born with a weak
body, how could it be possible for him to recover as soon as he moved out of the Imperial Palace? There must be something he
didn't know.
Holding her teacup in her hands, the empress fell into silence. She had guessed what was going on with Francis' body, but she
didn't have any evidence to prove that Francis' weakness was just a pretense. On her second thought, it seemed to her that
Francis could not possibly be a threat to her and her son. After all, a prince with so little time left to live surely couldn't be the next
emperor. However, she was still worried that the Bu Clan would be foolish enough to support Francis.
"What is the Bu Clan's position?" the empress asked in a contemplative voice. The Bu Clan held the greatest prestige among the
civil officials. If they supported Francis, then he would be competitive despite his poor health.
"The Bu Clan was summoned to visit Francis," Felix said as a surge of resentment arose from his heart. He was also the
emperor's son, and had been proclaimed to be the crown prince by the emperor himself. But over the years, the emperor had
shown him very little favor, and had even been on his guard against him. The two of them were not at all like father and son.
"Oh, I see. In other words, His Majesty did so, in order to fool others," the empress commented. A cold and calculating light
flashed in her eyes. "In that case, Francis is indeed no threat to us. We should be wary of Matthew instead."
"Today, I went to Uncle Matthew's mansion. He and his wife treated me with extraordinary hostility," Felix said, gritting his teeth.
He ached with resentment whenever he thought of the big pearl on the dog's neck.
"Oh, really? What happened?" the empress asked, with her face darkening instantly.
"Yesterday I sent a bead of pearl to his mansion. But when I paid a visit today, I found the pearl hanging on the neck of a black
dog." In his wrath, Felix clenched his fists as if he were about to tear Matthew apart. Still, he had no choice but to be patient
because he knew perfectly well that he had no military power and was no match for his uncle.

"What? That arrogant bastard has gone too far this time!" the empress growled upon hearing that. She felt so provoked by that
story that she immediately smashed the teacup in her hand onto the floor. The maids were so scared that they kneeled on the
floor at once. Hearing the chaos inside the room, Nancy quickly came in, cleaned away the porcelain fragments from the floor,
wiped up the tea on the floor, and then made another cup of tea for the empress. After doing all this quickly, she waited quietly
outside at a distance, to prevent anyone from getting close or eavesdropping.
"Mother, we can't just sit still and wait for death. When Hoffman offended Uncle Matthew before, Uncle Matthew partnered with
us to get rid of him. Now I'm afraid he has us in his target. If we just sit still, we'll be in trouble," Felix reasoned. "Francis is on
good terms with Uncle Matthew nowadays. If he wants to use Francis to deal with us, we will both be in danger."
The empress of course fully understood what Felix meant. Matthew was good at using the hands of others to get rid of his
enemies. And even if they were killed directly by Matthew, it was highly unlikely that the emperor would bring justice to them.
Maybe the emperor would even create an accusation of treason in order to assuage Matthew. In such a situation, they would be
totally out of luck and have no way to prove themselves innocent.
"Your father's birthday is coming soon," the empress remarked after a long silence.
"Father's birthday party will be held on the second of February. We still have more than two months to prepare," Felix said after a
long, thoughtful silence. "Mother, what do you think?"
"How about that certain person you have prepared?" the empress inquired softly, looking at him.
Felix's eyes lit up. "Good. Even I cannot tell them apart. I don't think Harper will ever expect that there is such a person in the
whole world who knows her so well."
The empress smiled to think of it. "Tell her to get ready. The second of February is a good day."
"Yes, Mother."
"You must prepare a lavish gift as well. This is your father's fiftieth birthday, and all the princes and princesses will be there to
present him with gifts in his honor. All the officials of the country will present birthday gifts as well, so you must make sure that
your gift is really unique and outstanding," the empress suggested, with excitement lighting up her eyes. They were going to take
advantage of this magnificent birthday party to send a grand "gift" to Matthew.
"I've got an idea for the gift," Felix said. He whispered a few words into the empress's ear, but then the latter frowned a bit.

"Is it reliable?" asked the empress. Somehow, this idea seemed too bold. If anything went wrong with it, they would all be
doomed.
"Of course it's reliable. I've been informed that the physician, who is highly skilled, has been working on this all his life. It's almost
completed. When I visit him, I can get that very gift for Father as his birthday present. I'm sure he will like it," Felix replied firmly.
The gentleness of his smile at that moment was rare, but the coldness in his eyes was permanent. He was absolutely
determined to win the emperor's favor this time.
"Well, then I will take your word for it. Take care of yourself well, and prepare the birthday present. Don't let others take it before
you, and don't tell anyone. After all, this is the most important thing," the empress said softly. "Since we don't need to beware of
Francis, we can just focus all our attention on Matthew."
"Mother, don't worry. It's all in my hands and everything will be taken care of well," Felix replied obediently, keeping the sinister
smile on his face.