Forensic Imperial Concubine

The news of Harper's divorce agreement had spread like wildfire all over the country. The news reached Matthew, along with the
bracelets he gave to Harper before their wedding.
Barry felt the cold aura around Matthew, so he took a few steps back. He knew the consequences of Matthew exploding with
anger. Last time Matthew got this angry, he destroyed a yard in the north domain!
However, contrary to Barry's expectation, Matthew suddenly restrained himself. He tore the divorce agreement into pieces and
carefully put the bracelet away. "I have to go now."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Even though Barry knew that the situation would be difficult for them if Matthew had left them at that
moment, he dared not to stop him. Rolando feared Matthew and considered him as a great threat. If it was possible, he would do
whatever it took to make Matthew stay in the Great Jade Kingdom. For the time being, Rolando was bound by the treaty, and he
couldn't make a move against Matthew. But it couldn't prevent him from making trouble for Matthew and his country.
After Matthew left, a man who looked like the spitting image of Matthew came out and took his place in the team. The man
asked, "Do you think he believes it?"
"If he believed it, he would be extremely furious. But he seemed to have his anger under control, which means otherwise. One
way or another, he will try to verify it himself." Barry sighed helplessly, "Prince Francis has made a colossal mistake. Master was
very irritated this time."
"I am not sure if we can get back to the imperial capital before the day of Prince Francis' ascension to the throne. I can't wait to
see that big spectacle. Prince Francis would dare challenge our master and rob him of his wife," the man said.
"I'm also looking forward to it eagerly," Barry sighed.
The day of the new emperor's ascension to the throne was nearing, but the Sleek Palace was rather quiet. Harper seemed cool
as ever, and was busy with her own business. Even Cynthia couldn't remain calm.
"Harper, what on earth are you thinking?" Harper had sent a divorce agreement to Matthew. Cynthia knew about this and took a
secret pleasure in it, thinking that Harper was just stupid to give up Matthew for Francis. She believed that Matthew was way
better than Francis.
Harper was practicing calligraphy. She tried to focus her mind and calmed down. Jason had given her a copy of the divorce
agreement that Francis forged. She noticed that Francis used the handwriting of the former Harper, which was different from
hers. Matthew was the only one who knew her real handwriting, so he would know the agreement was a fake.

"Harper, may I ask you something?"
"Cynthia, I'm Prince Matthew's wife," Harper said, without even raising her head. "Please address me correctly."
"But you have already divorced Prince Matthew," Army, Cynthia's maid, blurted out.
"Forsythia, slap her." Harper had no patience for the people she didn't like. Forsythia would never allow others to offend her
master. She knew very well that Harper had never written the divorce agreement. She immediately grabbed the maid and
slapped her across the face. Not until the maid's teeth were knocked out did she stop the slapping.
The maid slumped onto the floor, her cheeks swollen badly, her face covered with blood. Cynthia's pupils contracted sharply
upon seeing this. The Harper she saw in the past few days was always gentle and kind. But how could she make the mistake of
forgetting that this woman could never be a softhearted one!
"Your Highness, please forgive my maid. She didn't mean to offend you. I beg your pardon," Cynthia pleaded. Amy had been
serving her since she was a little girl. They grew up together. Slapping Amy was nothing short of a humiliation for Cynthia.
Cynthia suddenly realized that even living here as a captive, Harper could still decide her fate. She dared not act rashly, as that
would affect her own survival.
Harper continued to write. "I tolerate Francis just because I'm outnumbered now. It is not a good time for me to take off the
gloves. I put up with Jason because he's my old friend. But I shall not endure any disrespect from others, including Lady Sherry,
not to mention a humble maid like her. Cynthia, be smart. If you continue to be so naive and unaware of your place, with such an
arrogant maid around, you will die in the Imperial Palace sooner or later," she gushed out in anger.
Cynthia was totally irritated, but had no other go than to suppress her anger. Being a sensible woman, she knew well that she
was a piece of meat on the chopping block. She couldn't afford to offend Jason and Francis. But none of them frightened her like
Harper did. Jason and Francis wouldn't hurt her for the sake of the Xiao Clan. But Harper had no qualms about it.
"Thank you for your lesson. I will..." Cynthia was interrupted abruptly.
"You should address me as 'Your Highness'." Harper raised her eyebrow and gave a cold glance at Cynthia.
Cynthia's face turned pale. She bit her lower lip hard and then said, "Thank you so much for your advice, Your Highness."
"You're welcome. If it weren't for Rufus' sake, I wouldn't have even spoken to you," Harper said coldly. "From now on, restrain
yourself from showing up in front of me. Otherwise, I may decide to teach you some rules."

"Yes. Now if you will excuse me, Your Highness." Cynthia and Amy left in a hurry. Cynthia had never been insulted like this in all
her life. Being the young lady of the Swan Castle, many people dotted on her. Now she was in the imperial capital, and yet
Harper insulted her like this!
"My Lady, it's my entire fault," Amy said as she tried to apologize.
"She wanted to insult me. Even if it wasn't for you, she would have found out another excuse!" Cynthia was annoyed. "She wrote
the divorce agreement herself, and now she still pretends to be Matthew's wife. How ridiculous!"
"My Lady..." Amy stopped abruptly. The earlier experience alerted her. She looked around and was relieved to see that no one
was around. "This is the Imperial Palace, not the Swan Castle."
Cynthia took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She decided to keep a low profile and put up with everything. She couldn't
wait to see how that woman would face Matthew!
Her eyes were full of malice. She wasn't sure if Matthew could make it back to the imperial capital before the new emperor's
enthronement. It would definitely be an enjoyable show if he could. She wanted to see how Harper would react then!
Seeing Cynthia leaving in fury, Harper felt much more cheerful. She continued with the calligraphy. She wrote so hard that the
brush pen almost pierced through the paper!
"Your Highness." The maids from the embroidery house brought the empress's attire to Harper, so that she could try it on. They
knew she was Prince Matthew's former wife. As far as they were concerned, she had divorced Prince Matthew to marry Prince
Francis, and soon would be the empress. Many of them disdained her and thought she was a slut, but at the same time they
couldn't help but envy her.
The maids were kneeling on the ground and awaiting Harper's order, but she seemed to have ignored them. They felt
embarrassed and when they raised their heads to look at Harper; they found that she was still practicing her calligraphy. So once
again, they said in a louder voice, "Lady Harper, we are here on Prince Francis' order. If you can, please try the clothes on."
Harper ignored them again. She was never a pushover. Those who thought they could force her into submission were making a
tremendous mistake.
The maids soon realized that Harper was trying to embarrass them by ignoring them. So they just knelt there and said nothing
more. In the meantime, Harper finished her last character. She threw the brush pen away and walked straight towards the gate
of the Sleek Palace.

Forsythia immediately followed her. The guards at the door tried to stop them, and said, "Prince Francis has ordered that you
shouldn't be allowed to leave the Sleek Palace."
Harper didn't listen to them at all, and proceeded towards the Tranquil Hall. Francis wasn't yet crowned as the emperor, so all the
official meetings were held in the side hall of Tranquil Hall. She wanted to see Francis.
"Lady Harper, if you leave the Sleek Palace, all the guards' lives will be forfeit." The guard quickly drew his sword and held it
close to his own throat to threaten Harper.
Harper sneered, and didn't even slow her pace for a second. When the guard saw Harper walking away, he killed himself. The
other guards followed suit. Soon there were many corpses on the floor, but none of them could stop her from leaving.
The leader of the maids of the embroidery house was so scared that her legs went weak. She always knew that Harper was a
tough nut. Now, despite so many guards killing themselves, she didn't stop even for a second. How heartless she was!
"Nanny, what should we do?" The maids were about to burst into tears. The smell of thick blood filled the Sleek Palace. All the
guards of the Sleek Palace had killed themselves. The blood-stink filled their nostrils and made them nauseous, but they didn't
dare to vomit.
"Keep kneeling here!" The nanny managed to calm her nerves. "You saw nothing and heard nothing. That is the only way to
survive a fight between masters. Remember, this is the Imperial Palace, and anyone here may take your life."
Before the secret guards could convey the incidents in the Sleek Palace to Francis, Harper had already reached the Tranquil
Hall. Since Francis was in a discussion about the state affairs with the officials, none of the secret guards dared to disturb him.
They waited patiently to convey the incidents in the Sleek Palace.
When they saw Harper approaching at the door of the Tranquil Hall, the secret guards' hearts sank. Why did she come here?
Standing in the doorway of the side hall, Harper could hear the voice coming from inside clearly. "Your Highness, I've heard that
Prince Matthew was killed on his way back. Is that true?" asked one of the officials.
Francis explained, "I don't know the specific situation. I've sent someone to look into it. Uncle Matthew is the hero of the Bright
Dynasty. He is the leader of the Black Flag Army and directly commands three hundred thousand soldiers. If anything happened
to him, there could be a terrible mutiny in the army. It would be extremely hard to deal with. So, who do you think can go to head
up the army?"

The officials looked at one another and dared not to make a sound. They knew very well about the Black Flag Army. No one else
could command it, except for Matthew. They could hardly get into the barracks of the army, not to mention head up it.
"Nobody wants to take on this task?" Francis asked in his ever-gentle voice. "If the news about Uncle Matthew's death spreads
around the Black Flag Army, there is bound to be a mutiny. If they take up arms against us, could the imperial capital defend
against three hundred thousand soldiers?"