Forensic Imperial Concubine

A strange emotion flashed in the Holy Maiden's eyes, but it disappeared in an instant. Even so, Harper still caught sight of it.
Because of that, she felt curious and wondered if the Holy Maiden was happy to hear that she was married.
"Your husband must treat you very well," the Holy Maiden said. The women in the South Kingdom were actually very open-
minded. Many of them would go out to pick medicinal herbs to help support the family. Moreover, there were a lot of female
shamans in the entire place. They started to learn some poisoning skills since they were children. Such skills could not only hurt
people, but save them from various diseases and conditions as well.
The Holy Maiden closed her eyes and carefully sniffed her surroundings. "You have a faint smell of medicine. Are you a
shaman?" she asked.
"I'm afraid I can't be called a shaman. I only like dealing with medicinal herbs. Some of them should be treated in various ways in
order to preserve them very well. I have also been educated with medical effects by physicians, so that I can help my husband
with our livelihood. As time goes by, it seems like my body has absorbed the smell of medicine," Harper lied without batting an
eye.
While listening to Harper, the Holy Maiden nodded her head. It seemed like she believed what Harper said. However, Harper
couldn't help but snicker because it was so easy to deceive her. She thought that the Holy Maiden was naive enough that if she
left the South Kingdom, it was very likely for her to be caught by human traffickers.
"How long are you going to stay in the capital?" the Holy Maiden curiously asked.
"I wanted to leave when all the medicinal herbs that we brought are sold. But my husband said that we should wait until the
Worship Ceremony is over," Harper answered with a simple smile. And just like that, the two women sat together while talking
about everything for two hours.
"How about you and your husband come to the Starry Palace as my guests? Let's say, one of these days, before you leave the
capital. Please let me entertain you to express my gratitude. What do you think?" Harper couldn't count how many times she had
been surprised that day. However, that invitation must be the most overwhelming of all.
"Your Grace, the Starry Palace is a holy place. How can we as normal citizens enter a place like that? I have already seen you,
and even got to sit with you and talk about a lot of things. I can say that I have no more regret in my life. My life is now complete,"
Harper said while waving her hand continuously.

But the Holy Maiden only handed a token to Harper. "Since I've invited you, it means that you can enter the palace. Besides, it's
not forbidden to enter the Starry Palace. The only place where outsiders are not allowed to enter is the library inside of it."
With the token in her hands, Harper looked very much flattered. "I see. In that case, thank you very much for this once in a
lifetime invitation, Your Grace."
"I think tomorrow is a good day. How about coming to the Starry Palace tomorrow? I'm honestly always so bored while staying
there by myself. It will be really amazing if you can accompany me. We can talk over tea, just like what we're doing now," the
Holy Maiden stated with confidence. She even ordered the keeper of the inn to escort Harper and her husband to the Starry
Palace tomorrow.
"Let me see you out," Harper said. While she led the Holy Maiden to the door, they happened to bump into Becky, who was
coming back into the inn. Becky didn't have any idea who the Holy Maiden was. But when she saw that Harper was with her
instead of Matthew, who was always by Harper's side, Becky instantly had an impulse to embarrass Harper.
"What are you doing? Have you realized that it's not good for you to be extremely jealous so you found a concubine for your
husband? Are you doing this in order to make him love you more?" Becky taunted Harper with outrageous questions. She then
looked at the face of the Holy Maiden and exclaimed, "What a very beautiful catch! Where did you find her? In a brothel?"
"How dare you?!" Harper scolded her.
Slap! As soon as Harper finished speaking, the Holy Maiden slapped Becky right across her face. She did it so quickly that
Becky wasn't able to avoid it. While looking at the Holy Maiden in disbelief, Becky placed one hand on her cheek which had been
slapped. "How dare you hit me?! Do you know that I'm a distinguished guest of Princess Diana from the Bright Dynasty?"
The Holy Maiden snorted before telling her, "Diana? Even if you're a distinguished guest of the king of the South Kingdom, I still
won't hesitate to slap you. Who do you think you are? How dare you act like a crazy person in front of me?! If you don't
understand the rules, I will teach you on behalf of the emperor of the Bright Dynasty!"
Apparently, Becky hadn't expected that the woman by Harper's side would have a powerful influence. When she mentioned
Diana, the woman didn't show a bit of fear and even said that the king of the South Kingdom would be unable to protect her as
well. Becky started to wonder who on earth she was.
She then looked at Harper and turned her resentment at her. She thought to herself, 'Harper must have known her identity, but
she didn't even remind me. Instead, she deliberately made me provoke this person so as to embarrass me. What a vicious
woman she is!'

Becky couldn't hold it any longer and asked, "Who are you then?"
"This is the Holy Maiden of the South Kingdom," Harper introduced with a small smile.
Becky's face turned pale. She had never imagined that Harper would be associated with the Holy Maiden. Based on the casual
and friendly atmosphere between the two, Becky figured that Harper and the Holy Maiden must have known each other for a
long time. It baffled her because she had no idea about it. She then wondered how many more secrets Harper had which she
didn't know.
"Your Grace, please forgive me. I didn't mean to deliberately offend you. The woman by your side is vicious and jealous. Every
woman who gets remotely close to her husband will end up miserable. When I saw a beautiful female standing by her side, I
misunderstood the situation. Please forgive me once again, Holy Maiden."
Perplexed, the Holy Maiden looked at Harper and asked, "Jealous?"
"Yes, I actually get jealous very easily. I require my husband not to marry any other woman in his lifetime. No woman except me
could be by his side," Harper frankly admitted.
With a smile of admiration on her face, the Holy Maiden said, "You want to be married to a faithful man and spend your entire life
with him in happiness. I do respect your courage. You must come to the Starry Palace tomorrow. Let's have a good chat then."
"Okay, I will," Harper replied, returning the smile.