Forensic Imperial Concubine

After Matthew left, Harper slowly walked into the hall. As soon as she heard the footsteps, Catherine wiped her tears and
pretended nothing had happened. She turned around and discovered it was Harper. "Did you see everything?" she asked.
"No, I was worried, so I decided to check up on you. I know how wayward Princess Diana is," Harper said as she approached.
"Your Grace, did you cry?"
"No, I didn't. I just had something in my eyes," Catherine said, her voice as gentle as ever. Her tone didn't give away any of her
feelings. There was no trace of sadness on her face now.
"Your Grace, do you want to hear a story?" Harper turned around, sat down on the stairs, and looked at the scenery outside.
When Catherine didn't move, she patted the place beside her. "You've told me so many stories about the South Kingdom today.
Now let me tell you a story."
Catherine walked gracefully to Harper and sat down next to her as Harper started telling her story. "I remember when I first came
to the Starry Palace, I enjoyed sitting on stairs like this and looking outside. I wondered when my family would come and visit.
However, as the days turned to years, they never showed up. Later, when I realized that they would never visit me, I stopped
sitting here and waiting for them," Catherine said sadly.
"Your Grace, once upon a time, there was a little girl just like you. She spent years hoping that her father could pay more
attention to her. That girl did a lot of things in hopes of that happening. Instead, her father ended up hating her more and more.
Things escalated to the extent that he'd even wanted her to die," "What happened to that girl then?"
Catherine asked in a clear but angry voice.
"She lived a good life while her father lost everything. He ended up living in pain for the rest of his life."
Harper told Catherine the entire story of the little girl. When she explained how the father didn't hesitate to take the girl's life for
the promising future of his concubine's daughter, Catherine's face turned grim.
"That damn father!"
"Yes, such a father really deserved nothing but death," Harper intoned. "It is said that even a vicious tiger would never eat its
cubs. He was worse than a beast. He tried his best to secure personal gains all his life and used his children to strive for a
brighter future. But in the end, he found out that the son and daughter he loved most were not his biological children. It turned
out that he had raised another man's children for almost twenty years, which he had treated as the apples of his eye."

"Karma got him then," Catherine said forcefully. "He deserved it. He toyed with his own child's life to pave the path for another
man's children. It had to be karma."
"That's precisely how I feel. God is always watching what humans do. Evil people will eventually pay for their deeds, and it's only
a matter of time." Even though Harper's tone was devoid of any emotion, Catherine felt a chill from her words.
"Is this your personal story?"
"No, of course not. It's someone else's story," Harper said gravely. "By the way, your performance of the worship dance was
absolutely incredible. I heard that envoys from different countries would come all the way here to watch the ceremony. Why were
the Bright Dynasty's envoys the only ones present?"
"Today's worship was merely the opening. The actual Worship Ceremony will take place in five days. I guess the envoys from the
other two countries will be arriving in a couple of days."
Harper frowned at the explanation. The invitation letter to the Bright Dynasty had stated the Worship Ceremony was scheduled
for today. However, the South Kingdom's Holy Maiden was now claiming that the Worship Ceremony would be held in five days.
Harper wondered why they were given different dates.
"I thought that was today. My husband and I had decided on leaving the South Kingdom capital as soon as we saw the Worship
Ceremony s we almost sold out our herbs. We weren't aware that today's ceremony was merely an opening show," Harper said
in a flat tone. She wasn't sure whether to be glad or to be angry, but her eyes looked cold. Why did Francis make them go to the
South Kingdom so ahead of time?
"Where is your husband?"
"He said he wanted to take a walk by himself. He should be returning right about now," Harper responded carefully. As soon as
her words were out, she caught sight of Matthew's handsome figure slowly approaching them.
"Darling, did you enjoy the scenery around the Starry Palace?" Harper's face split with a smile.
"The entire Starry Palace is all white. It looks desolate if I'm being honest. There is not much to see here," Matthew answered
simply.
After his comment, the Holy Maiden's eyes misted over. Everyone thought the Starry Palace was great, but that wasn't true. It
was white, cold, and still. It did not differ from a cold palace, except that it looked more luxurious.

"It's getting late. We should probably return now," Harper said in a gentle voice. "I will come to see you again some other time."
"Okay." The Holy Maiden saw them off, then went to the library. Seeing that there was nothing out of place, she left.
On their way down the mountain, Matthew grabbed Harper and rushed all the way to the bottom at a high speed. They were like
a blur to the guards stationed on duty as they passed them. It didn't take the couple long to arrive at the foot of the mountain.
"What did you find out?" Harper asked in a low voice on the way.
"The library changed again. I couldn't find a way to get in. I'm afraid we won't be able to get inside the library without the Holy
Maiden's help," Matthew answered, frowning at what that meant. "I'm afraid it will not be easy for us to get
in."