Forensic Imperial Concubine

After thinking for a while, Hollis shook his head and said, "Prince Matthew hasn't shown himself openly in public here, yet. If I
approach him rashly, he may suspect that I'm having him watched. If so, matters would only get worse."
Hearing that, the private assistant also felt perturbed. "Then let's simply pretend that we're unaware of his presence. If Prince
Matthew makes a move to prevent Alexander Chu's execution, you can ask him to provide you the evidence. If he can do so, you
will release Alexander Chu accordingly. If Marquis Pearce raises an objection, you can tell him what Prince Matthew has done
and let him deal with Prince Matthew. Then the two powerful men will fight, while all you need do is watch their fight."
Hollis clapped his hands and said, "Excellent plan! It's settled then. I pretend that I don't know Prince Matthew has come to the
River City. As long as they don't show themselves openly, I will pretend to be ignorant of their arrival, until Alexander is
executed."
"Very wise of you, My Lord," the private assistant said, giving Hollis a thumbs up.
At the same time, in Pearce's mansion, Matthew sat and drank a cup of tea silently, while Pearce also kept a gloomy silence.
The two of them had been sitting in this way without speaking for two hours.
The atmosphere in the hall was so frightening that the servants all lowered their heads. Matthew gave out a freezing aura, which
scared them to death. But they were more scared by the anger emitted from Pearce. They didn't know why neither of the two
powerful men said a word for such a long time.
Seeing Matthew keeping his silence after sitting down, Pearce knew clearly why he had come. However, he didn't want to
surrender so easily, so he decided to put on airs too. However, he never expected that Matthew would be so patient that he
wouldn't utter a word for two hours.
Pearce was forced to admit to himself that Matthew deserved his great power, because he had never known a man to be so
calm. The current emperor hated and feared princes with military power more than anything else. But it was not only that
Matthew had an army, but also that his soldiers were exceptionally loyal to him. The emperor would be extremely relieved if
Matthew died on the battlefield, but to his continual disappointment, Matthew was victorious in battle again and again, and
always came back to the imperial capital alive, driving the emperor nearly to madness.
Finally, Pearce could no longer bear the tense atmosphere. It was difficult for ordinary people to endure the sinister aura that
came from Matthew's experience on the battlefield. Pearce just thought that Matthew wouldn't dare to be so aggressive if his
father were still alive and present.

"Your Highness, you've been here for two hours. You have drunk several cups of tea already. Are you here for something else?"
He was hoping to imply that Matthew should leave now and that he didn't want Matthew to stay in his mansion any longer.
Matthew glanced at him casually and said lightly, "Alexander Chu."
Pearce breathed a deep sigh. Of course he already knew that Matthew came here for the boy. If it weren't for the pressure
Pearce had put on the mayor, Alexander would not have been sentenced to death so soon. Alexander was only a nine-year-old
child, after all. A murderer had to pay with his own life, but he already knew that Alexander was not the real murderer. He knew
he should help absolve Alexander, but he still felt it wasn't fair for him.
"It's up to the government," Pearce said indignantly. He was the father of the victim, and his wife wiped her face with tears all day
long. Their entire mansion was overwhelmed with sadness. How could Matthew demand that he deal with Alexander's case at
such a time?
"He wouldn't have been sentenced to death so soon if it weren't for your intervention," Matthew said coldly. "Do you want to kill
an innocent boy and let the real murderer escape being punished?"
"What do you mean? I never kill innocent people!" Pearce exclaimed defensively.
"Do I not speak accurately? You know that Alexander is not Alban's killer, but you have not lifted a hand to save him from death.
How should I describe your conduct?" Matthew said coldly. "According to the laws of the Bright Dynasty, if someone who is under
fourteen years old commits a murder, they will not be executed until after passing the age of fourteen years. You used your
power to fix the sentence. If it weren't for you, Alexander would not be in this situation."
Pearce opened his mouth, but found he wasn't able to gainsay Matthew. Nonetheless, he was not disposed to let Alexander off
so easily. It Alexander hadn't fought with his son, the real murderer wouldn't have had the chance to kill his son. In Pearce's view,
Alexander was an indirect murderer though he hadn't killed his son.
"My son wouldn't have been killed if Alexander Chu hadn't stirred up trouble."
"Are you giving a false account of the events?!" Matthew sneered coldly. "Several witnesses saw with their own eyes that it was
your son who initiated the fight. If it weren't for your son, Alexander would have been fine."
"Matthew Jun, what are you suggesting?" Pearce demanded, boiling with rage. "I know that even if my son hadn't been involved,
someone else would have died because of Alexander."

Raising his eyes, Matthew said, "I thought you had already forgotten how these dirty political games go, living a quiet life here for
so many years. But it seems that you understand that both Alexander and your son are the victims of power."
Silence engulfed Pearce. Of course he could descry the hidden fact. The reason why his father had chosen to step back from the
court in haste was because he knew that the current emperor could do anything to his subjects. If his father hadn't quit the court,
his clan would have been set up. Besides, at that time, his father had lost a leg. Therefore, he chose to be a marquis with no real
power, and he moved to the River City. However, neither the father nor the son had anticipated that their clan would still be
entangled in the struggle for imperial power many years later.