Forensic Imperial Concubine

"Guest?" Diana moved her eyes vengefully on Harper from head to toe and sneered at her. "What kind of a guest would destroy
the host's palace in this way?"
Harper remained unmoved by Diana's disrespectful remark. Rather, she refuted, "In fact, it is me who should be asking this to
you. I was invited to attend the Worship Ceremony in your country. However, during the ceremony, I was framed to assassinate
Prince Kile of the Wonder Kingdom. Later somehow I got locked up in the library where I was almost about to lose
consciousness out of starvation. As if that was not enough, even the library collapsed. Had it not been for my luck being by my
side, I would have died and crushed under your palace. Don't you think the South Kingdom should explain everything that I have
suffered to me?" Harper reasoned with the two eminent ladies. She had always been very smart in proving her point. Since
neither side had any evidence of what really had happened, she could very conveniently narrate her version of the story.
Catherine took a step forward and said, "Lady Harper, please give the Holy Article of our country back to me."
Looking straight at Catherine with meaningful eyes, Harper said, "Your Grace, haven't you used the Holy Article of the South
Kingdom as a gift? Look, I haven't received any gift from you. Why are you expecting to take the Holy Article back from me?"
"Lady Harper, please stop beating around the bush. If you hadn't touched the Holy Article of the South Kingdom, the library
would not have collapsed in the first place," Catherine said, narrowing her eyes on Harper. Her face hardened and her eyes
exuded a lethal stillness. For the first time, she was so exasperated to see how shameless Harper could be.
"Your Grace, could you please tell me how the Holy Article looks like."
"It's a jade pendant," Catherine answered calmly, staring at Harper. "Lady Harper, please give the jade pendant back to me now."
Harper gave an impish smile at Catherine and took out several jade pendants from her clothes. Then she went on introducing
the jade pendants to Catherine and Diana one by one. "This is the jade pendant I was given by the royal family on my wedding
day. This one is a gift from my husband when he was in a good mood one day. This is the one that my mother left to me. This
one, I bought from a store. Which one do you want, please?"
Catherine narrowed her eyes and replied in a colder voice, "Lady Harper, I don't want to fight with you."
Seemingly helplessly, Harper put away all the jade pendants and looked at Catherine with a rather bemused expression. "Your
Grace, you're too unreasonable. I was accidentally sucked into the library in your South Kingdom for some unknown reason.
Then the library collapsed, which almost killed me. I had a hard time getting back my life, but you're questioning me about
something that I have absolutely no clue about. Don't you think you're going too far?"

"Going too far?" Diana opened her mouth at this point. "I don't think so!"
Taking a step forward, Diana warned, "Harper, get one thing very straight and clear. Today, if you don't give the Holy Article back
to us, you will not be able to step out of the Starry Palace!"
Harper's eyes flickered for once. At a lightning speed, she made a swift move and grabbed Diana's neck. Then she pricked
Diana at her acupuncture point with a needle. Immediately, Diana could not move her limbs. She just stared at Harper in utter
disbelief.
"Princess Diana, don't move. I know you are deft at using poisons on others. Pardon me for using this little trick on you. Your
Grace, could you please tell your people to step aside?" Harper said, seizing Diana as a hostage. "Otherwise, your beloved
younger sister might have to lose her life."
Catherine froze at the spot. She shifted her gaze from Harper to Diana. Diana never looked so helpless in her entire life. She
seemed unwilling to give in. Her eyes welled up. She could never imagine that she would fall into Harper's hands in this way
without any ability to fight back.
"Cut the crap, Harper. You can kill me if you want to, but you can't threaten... Ouch..." Diana's face winced in pain.
Harper tightened her grip on Diana and narrowed her eyes as she glanced at the soldiers around her. A sly smile lurked at the
corner of her lips as she said in a sardonic tone, "Princess Diana, you might be a princess in the South Kingdom, but for me,
you're not even as significant as an ant. Even if I kill you, Lance would not be able to do anything to me, because I have the
entire Bright Dynasty, the three hundred thousand troops of the Black Flag Army, and Matthew as my support. You see, I won't
get hurt even if I kill you right here, right now. So, dare not provoke me. You may be useful for now. But if you make me angry, I
will definitely disable you for the rest of your life."
Diana's face changed into a ghastly expression. She felt ashamed and angry at the same time because Harper had spoken
about the exact thoughts that were there in her mind at the moment. She had planned to threaten Harper with her identity as the
princess of the South Kingdom. But she had forgotten that Harper had a more powerful background than her. If Harper used her
power on Diana, she would be nowhere.
"Harper Chu, just give the Holy Article back to me and release her. I promise I will let you go after that," Catherine said slowly in
an assuring tone. Although she didn't want to save Diana, yet she was conscious about having so many people around them. If
Lance got to know that she did nothing to save Diana, it would leave a bad impact on her position.
Harper let out a smile and shook her head, saying, "Your Grace, ask your people to get out of the way. Don't try my patience."

"Just give me the Holy Article!" Catherine insisted.
"Okay. If you insist on being obstinate, then I don't have much of a choice here." Harper's eyes glinted angrily as she shook her
head. Then she called out, "Twelve secret guards, make the way for me to leave!"
"Yes." Twelve shadows jumped out of the dark in the blink of an eye and brandished their swords towards the soldiers of the
South Kingdom. With just one sway of their swords, they beheaded the soldiers of the South Kingdom. In the meanwhile, Harper
walked outwards holding Diana in her tight stranglehold. The ordinary soldiers of the South Kingdom were no match for the
secret guards at all. In the blink of an eye, their heavy siege fell apart and Harper took Diana out of the siege circle. Catherine
made a swift move and quickly blocked the way in front of Harper. However, much to Harper's surprise, this time Catherine
hurled a fierce five-finger attack on Diana, who was under Harper's grip.
Diana looked at Catherine with helplessness and disbelief in her eyes. What was her elder sister up to? Was she going to kill
her?
Harper was completely taken aback by this unprecedented action on Catherine's behalf. Yet she was prompt enough to move
Diana to dodge the attack from her critical position. As a result, Catherine's five fingers landed on Diana's shoulder instead of her
chest. Diana screamed out in pain. Catherine pulled out her hand and hurled the attack to kill Diana once again. Just in time, a
figure flew out from the dark and kicked Catherine. As she defended herself from the figure, Harper found a chance to escape.
"Hurry up!"
The moment Harper saw it was Howard, she was overjoyed. She held Diana tightly and escaped with Howard covering her
retreat. The twelve secret guards retreated one by one and caught up with Harper.
"Stop them! Don't let them climb down the mountain!" Catherine shouted. Her voice trailed off as Harper flew out with all her
might. Moving out of the Starry Palace, Harper felt something was moving in the dark. Furthermore, they were met with heavy
blockage all the way down the mountain. Trying to make way forcibly would bring about great losses for them. However, through
all these obstacles, one thing that kept lingering in Harper's mind was why Catherine wanted to kill
Diana.