Forensic Imperial Concubine

With her arms wrapped around Matthew's neck, Harper said with a charming smile, "Darling, is the show for today's birthday
banquet very interesting?"
"Do you really want to know?" Matthew asked with amusement when he saw that Harper's face was filled with interest.
"Although I have my personal guesses about the result, it will be interesting to hear it from you." Harper was an excellent
manipulator. By flattering Matthew, she had found a way to make him say what she wanted.
"Walden was stripped off his royal titles and was demoted as a commoner. He was also banished to the southeast. Meanwhile,
Felix is under house arrest." Matthew had stated his words so casually but it made Harper speechless for a few moments.
Because of her reaction, the smile in Matthew's eyes became more obvious.
"Is that all? It should be a very exciting story. Why did it become so pale and boring when you said it?" Harper asked, refusing to
accept that there wasn't more to the story.
"I summarized it for you and made it as simple as possible. Isn't that what you want?" Matthew didn't forget that when Harper
saw the files on his table the other day, she said that there was a lot of nonsense in those files. He was rather surprised to see
how annoyed she was at that point. She even suggested that his men should write the files in a simple and straight to the point
manner. If their reports were still full of so much nonsense, they should be severely punished. Now, he only did what she had
suggested before, didn't he?
Harper was choked for a while. Then she continued, "My suggestion was that the official files should be simple and straight to
the point. I wasn't talking about the stories. Since stories are meant for entertainment, they should be amusing. The more
strange and diverting elements there are, the better."
Matthew then removed her arms from his neck and put her down. "So you want to hear those kinds of stories, right? But the only
problem is that I don't want to tell a story like that."
Harper did not know what to say and slowly felt a little frustrated. She started to conclude that Matthew was still mad at her for
pretending that she didn't know him. "Darling, I'm sorry. I won't ever fake not knowing you again. I just want to see if you can
recognize me at a simple glance. Please don't be mad anymore."
"You left me with another woman who I didn't even know. If you want me to tell a story, perhaps, I should just tell it to that woman
in the Phoenix House." Just from his voice alone, it was hard to tell whether he was fine or upset. He wasn't shouting, but his
words made Harper shiver.

"Darling, do you smell the sour taste of jealousy in the air?"
"I think the whole room reeks of it. Do you know that I have been overly jealous?" Matthew took a long and meaningful look at
Harper. "Which prince has been as miserable as me? My enemy and my wife forced me to take a woman back."
Embarrassed, Harper explained, "I didn't mean to do that. Please believe me when I tell you that the empress set me up."
"But you didn't reveal it to me, did you?"
"Because as your wife, I know that you're not dumb. No one can fool you that easily. Even though that woman was dressed like
me, I knew that you would instantly recognize that it wasn't me. There is no doubt in my heart that you know me, the real me. I
have my trust in you." Harper quickly explained her side to Matthew, in an attempt to soothe him. She knew that for that matter,
she was in the wrong.
"Really?" Matthew asked, with a hint of doubt in his voice.
Harper briefly kissed him on the cheek before responding. "Of course. Why would I lie to you?"
In an instant, the darkness in Matthew's eyes disappeared as if it hadn't been there at all. "In this case, I'll forgive you. Do you
still want me to tell you the story?"
"I honestly don't since you've already told me the ending. There's no fun in hearing what happened." Then, Harper picked up the
teapot and poured a cup of tea. The tea was already cold so Matthew took the cup and reheated it using his internal force. After
a few seconds, he handed it to Harper before saying, "Francis had done things in a very ruthless way. He straight on turned
Walden into a commoner. He even made the emperor suspect Felix and put him under house arrest. Apparently, we have
underestimated Francis."
Harper sipped a little from the cup of hot tea. With a confused expression on her face, she asked, "Are you sure it was Francis
who did all of that?"
"Yes, I'm. Because the only two people who would have the intent to go against Felix was me or Francis. And since it wasn't me
who did that, the only plausible conclusion would be Francis." Giving Harper some time to process what he just said, Matthew
went to the door, gave orders to someone, and then went back to his seat. "You don't really think that Francis would be innocent
from all of this, do you?"

Harper put down the cup and stated, ""No, it's not that. I just didn't expect him to do something like that. After all, he is still
recovering. Even though he is almost healed, he shouldn't be in a hurry to act so recklessly. Is he not afraid that the emperor will
doubt him?"
"Do you think the emperor will ever be suspicious of him?" Matthew asked, with a hint of a laugh. With how elaborate Francis'
plan had been for years, Matthew thought that there was a bleak chance that the emperor would even suspect him.
Harper pursed her lips and exhaled before responding. "The emperor will never suspect him as long as you're here. He would
only assume that you framed Felix. No matter which son of his is in trouble, the first person that he will suspect is going to be
you."
Matthew carefully listened to her while he placed his hand on his lips, as if in deep thought. He then slowly said, "Francis did plan
well this time. First, he asked Hodge to sue Felix for killing people and robbing the medicine. Then, he made his son testify that
Walden is the murderer who killed the whole family. This way, he made everyone, including the emperor, think that Felix has
wicked motives. From beginning to end, Francis had effectively directed everyone's suspicions away from him that not a single
person would even doubt him. Perhaps, even Felix has never actually doubted him. Maybe, just like the emperor, he also
thought that it was me who did it."
"Yes, he had planned this very meticulously. But he had left out one thing. Because right now, we are suspicious of him. So it
seems like his perfect little plan is hanging in the balance, don't you think?" Harper said while she leaned against the chair with
her head tilted to one side.
"Yes, but in this round, he won," Matthew responded. At that point in time, someone knocked on the door so Matthew briefly
opened it. When he was walking back to his place, Harper noticed that he was carrying a tray of food. He put it on the table, took
out the food and said, "Come here and eat something. You must be hungry right now."