Forensic Imperial Concubine

Lance's eyes widened in shock. "Really? But she is just a woman! How could she be so powerful?"
"There is something else you might not know about. She is a close friend of Daphne, the young lady from Phoenix City!" Diana
told him. She was not a stupid woman. Even though she was ridiculous and pretended to be worthless, she never forgot that she
was the princess of the South Kingdom.
Lance's eyes widened in disbelief when he heard his daughter's words. Suddenly, a member of a certain clan came to mind. His
pupils contracted violently. He couldn't help but swallow and then asked, "Who the hell is Harper?"
"She is Matthew's wife!"
"Who was she before she became Matthew's wife?"
"She was Charles' daughter, who was not favored and even tortured by her whole clan." Diana told Lance what she had found
out about Harper as she had vetted her.
"Do you know her mother's last name?" Lance asked as his body trembled violently, a thought crossing his mind.
"Yes. Her last name is Qin," Diana blurted out.
Hearing that, Lance struggled to rise, but failed and had to give up. Yet the fear remained in his eyes. Harper's mother's last
name was Qin, which meant that Harper had inherited the Qin Clan's bloodline!
"Yes. Her last name is Qin. So what?" asked Diana. She did not understand why her father had such an extreme reaction.
"Diana, listen to me. Don't be her enemy!" Lance warned in a frightened tone. He now regretted what he had done. If he had
known earlier that Harper was a descendant of the Qin Clan, he would have given her the Holy Article himself instead of
repeatedly scheming against her.
"Yes. I've decided to acknowledge her as my master, and I don't want to be her enemy. But why?" asked Diana.
After a moment's silence, Lance said, "Diana, I want to see her. Can you arrange this for me?" He ignored Diana's question.
Diana thought for a while and answered, "Okay. I will arrange it. Father, we need her help to remove the venomous poison in
your body. There is nothing I can do to help you. I'm so useless, Father. I'm sorry."

"Don't say that, Diana. Catherine is merely more talented than you in terms of poisoning, plus she..." He swallowed back the
words on the tip of his tongue. "You'd better leave as soon as possible. Catherine will be here soon. Remember to bring Harper
to see me. I need to confirm something and we need to be face to face."
"Yes, Father."
"Leave now! Hurry!"
Diana heard meowing from the outside. It was the signal she had agreed on with Howard. It was time for her to leave.
"Father, please take care of yourself. I will find a way to bring her here to see you!"
Diana said. Then she jumped through the window and ran away. As soon as she left, Catherine rushed in feeling a twinge of
panic seeing the guards lying on the ground. She immediately marched in but was instantly relieved to find Lance was still here.
She glanced around the room but couldn't find anyone. Frowning, she went to the bed and asked, "I know that you are awake.
Who came here?"
Lance didn't open his eyes and pretended to go back to sleep. With a slight frown, Catherine grabbed him by his collar and said,
"I'm asking you! Who was here?"
Lance opened his eyes and glanced at Catherine. With one look at her, he closed them again. He knew that Catherine was in a
state of madness and would not listen to anything he said.
"Was it some court official? Are you looking for someone to help you?" Catherine asked. She then released her grip, dropping
him on the bed with a heavy thud. It was painful. He frowned but said nothing. "You'd better give up. The ministers can't save
you. Moreover, you've been poisoned and Diana is already dead. They will not let an old man rule this country!" Catherine
warned.
It was true that he was old, but he had hope now. Diana was still alive. Then came the revelation that Harper was actually a
descendant of the Qin Clan. He knew that it was time for him to pay back the debt that he owed years before.
"Catherine, aside for that man, what else do you see?" Lance asked instead. "He had met so many powerful and influential
women, all wanting to be his wife. Why did he finally choose Harper? Did you ever think of that?"

"That doesn't matter!" Catherine answered coldly. "Harper is already dead. There would never be another Harper in this world.
Matthew needs time to recover from the pain of losing his wife. Once he's over her, I can swoop in."
"Are you certain you want to live your life with a man who doesn't love you?" asked Lance in disbelief.
"Doesn't every woman live such a life?" Catherine asked with contempt. "Do you like those beauties in the palace? Maybe you
did love them at the beginning when you made them your concubines, but you soon dismissed all thoughts of them. Did you
forget? Every woman around you lives her life that way. Am I wrong to want to live my life with a man that I love?"
All she wanted was Matthew. She could only feel happy as long as he was with her. Whether or not he loved her, that wasn't
something she wanted to think about. Catherine's words kept echoing in Lance's head. Yes, women were born as ornaments for
men. That was how Lance had thought of them. But why did it feel wrong when he thought of that in relation to his daughter? He
didn't want his daughter to live with a man who didn't love her for the rest of her life. He wanted her to live for herself.
'Harper is not the kind of woman who would live for a man!' Lance then thought inwardly.