Forensic Imperial Concubine

Unable to hold it back any longer, Lance spat out the blood in his mouth. The eunuch and the guards became frightened.
"Shamans! Call the shamans right this second."
The situation in the Imperial Palace was nothing short of chaos. While Lance was spitting blood, a lot of shamans came to the
palace in a hurry. Meanwhile, Matthew with his troops, was attacking the cities of the South Kingdom. It was reported that the
Starry Palace had been destroyed. All of the people in the South Kingdom were hysterical. If Lance became seriously ill, the
kingdom would be ruined soon enough!
"Shaman, how is the emperor?"
Being summoned by Lance, all the officials of the South Kingdom rushed to the palace. Their kingdom was in grave danger at
that time. If anything bad happened to Lance who was an important pillar of the entire kingdom, it would suddenly turn this
chaotic situation into a hopeless one.
"His Majesty spat blood and then fainted due to excessive rage. He is fine now. He has already woken up, but he can't be
stressed out or provoked. His Majesty calls for all of you," the shaman announced.
"Okay," the officials stated in chorus.
All of them walked into the room one by one. Meanwhile, Lance leaned against his bed with a pale face and said, "You are all
here."
"Your Majesty."
"You already know the current situation of our kingdom. Matthew with his Black Flag Army is now heading towards the south and
soon they will arrive at our capital. To put it plainly, it's going to be hard for our soldiers to resist. I'm afraid it won't be long before
the South Kingdom falls." Lance coughed twice before he continued, "I didn't expect that it would turn out to be a big mistake to
invite the envoys of the three kingdoms to attend the ceremony."
"Your Majesty, Prince Matthew will certainly retreat after we hand over Princess Harper to him," an official responded right away.
'Why is Prince Matthew attacking the South Kingdom? It was all because of Princess Harper,' he thought. The officials were all
thinking that before Prince Matthew and his army could come to the kingdom, he needed to know that Princess Harper was safe
and sound. As long as she was fine, they didn't have to worry about Prince Matthew's invasion.
When Lance heard that suggestion, a hint of hatred appeared in his eyes. "Speaking of Harper... She kidnapped Diana and
strayed into the Labyrinth Swamp with her."

The faces of all the officials turned pale as soon as they heard the news. They couldn't believe the grim reality that they were
facing. Once a person went into the swamp, their corpses couldn't even be found. No one had ever entered the swamp and
come out alive to tell about it. What was more, a lot of highly skilled shamans once tried to enter the swamp, looking for secret
medicines to make those long-lost secret remedies. However, their efforts were in vain as they had never come back. Even as a
member of the South Kingdom, they couldn't resist the miasma inside the swamp.
The prime minister was now in a panic. "What? What should we do now? Princess Harper went to the Labyrinth Swamp herself.
It's not our responsibility, right?"
Lance bitterly smiled and asked, "Do you think Matthew is a reasonable man? If she had been fine in our kingdom, why would
she have risked going to the Labyrinth Swamp?"
The crowd looked at each other in dismay. How could they know what Harper was thinking? She was the one who dared to go to
the swamp on her own! Was she courting death? They wouldn't know. Besides, why did she hold the princess as a hostage and
took her to the Labyrinth Swamp?
"Your Majesty, why did Princess Harper abduct the princess and run to the Labyrinth Swamp with her?"
The expression on Lance's face dramatically changed. In order to take back the Holy Article of the South Kingdom which had
been stolen by Harper, he had sent guards to surround the Starry Palace. Harper abducted his daughter so that she could
escape. On her way out, she was so agitated that she must have chosen to enter the Labyrinth Swamp on a whim!
"She took away our kingdom's Holy Article and tried to flee with it. But she took the wrong way and entered the Labyrinth
Swamp." Lance chose his words carefully so he could shift the blame on Harper. If Matthew looked into the matter, the South
Kingdom would evade the responsibility as well. In the worst-case scenario, he could give ten beautiful women to Matthew as the
replacement and each of them would be more beautiful than Harper!
All of the officials were keen and immediately understood their king's actual intention. To put it bluntly, Lance wanted to take the
Holy Article back from Harper, but she refused. So, he sent people to siege and force her into the Labyrinth Swamp, but they
couldn't expose their king's lie. They also had to help him make the lie believable.
"Prince Harper shouldn't have stolen the Holy Article of our kingdom. If she had just been honest and told us that she wanted to
borrow it from us, she could've just said so. Why did she have to do that? Now, she lost her way and found herself in the
Labyrinth Swamp. How could we explain this entire situation to Prince Matthew?"

Lance's eyes lit up as soon as he heard that. "Yes, that's it! Harper got lost and went into the Labyrinth Swamp. It has nothing to
do with us!"
The officials all nodded in agreement. It was Harper's fault. She was unfamiliar with this place and she even stole a valuable
thing belonging to the South Kingdom. She succeeded in taking the Holy Article but in return went into the Labyrinth Swamp.
This time, even if God was with her for help, it would be impossible to save her from the dangerous swamp!
"Your Majesty, then, Princess Diana—" One official tried to bring it up, but couldn't finish his sentence.
At the mention of Diana, the smile on Lance's face vanished in an instant. In terms of spells and poison making, his treasured
and younger daughter Diana was as good as her elder sister Catherine. He had always been fond of his younger daughter more.
He didn't expect that in his old age, there was a possibility that his younger daughter would die before him. Harper forced Diana
to enter the Labyrinth Swamp so her life was in grave danger. Harper, herself wouldn't even be able to protect herself. How could
she protect his beloved daughter?!
"You may leave now. I want to be alone." Lance waved his hand, gesturing for the officials to leave. At that moment, he seemed
to have grown old, not an aloof and proud king, but an old man who had lost his beloved daughter. "Diana, my daughter, I'm
sorry."