Forensic Imperial Concubine

After giving it some thoughts, Harper accepted the invitation, saying, "Yes, of course. That would be work for me." She, then
stood up, calling out, "Fred, let's leave now."
With the sword resting on his shoulder, Fred followed Harper out of the palace. The murderous look on his face remained
unchanged. Catherine watched Harper leave the palace and regretted having missed the opportunity to trap her. At the moment,
Catherine had to tend to her mother. Her mother had no idea about her misdeeds, though she must be speculating something
after what she had witnessed. If her mother knew what she had done, she would surely be very disappointed.
"Mother, I..." Catherine then stammered. She didn't know where to begin with.
"Catherine, bring your sister back to the palace. I am going to pay a visit to your father," the queen said tenderly. She came close
to Catherine and flicked her hair behind her ear just like she would cajole a little girl. "You should never forget that we are a
family. We must always support each other."
Catherine felt the heaviness in her heart and her vision became blurred. Her throat constricted and she could not utter a single
word. After that, the queen turned around and went to Lance's palace. It had been more than ten years since she visited his
palace for the last time. Now as she walked to that palace, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.
As the sound from outside reached Lance's ears, he had a strong urge to walk outside to welcome his wife inside his palace.
However, after struggling a lot, he could only open his eyes. He was very excited to see the queen inside his palace after so
many years. "What brings you here?" he asked, trying to smile through his pains.
"It was so noisy outside, that I had to come out of my palace to see what was going on," the queen replied. She then took a seat
on the side of Lance's bed. She lifted his hand and began to feel his pulse skillfully to diagnose him. "You're getting old. You are
poisoned by the venomous insect poison."
"Yes, you are right. I'm getting old. And you're as beautiful and gentle as before. Time and tide do not wait for me. But it seems to
have stopped for you," Lance replied, his voice still sounding weak.
"Your Majesty, I saw her inside the palace today," the queen said softly. "You must have seen her before if I am not wrong."
"Yes. I have," Lance said twisting his lips into a bitter smile. "I never expected to meet a descendant of the Qin Clan in this way.
Strangely, they have their lineage still living in this world. I thought it to be a mere coincidence. After all, there are many similar
looking people in the world. I didn't expect that she would really be the descendant of the Qin Clan. No wonder she was able to
destroy the library," Lance remarked. "Besides, it seems that she has a lot of grudge in her mind," he added.

"Can you tell me what's going on between Catherine and Diana? They seem to have a fight," the queen asked again. Her voice
was as gentle and calm as ever. She had no idea about the intensity of the matter. In her eyes, there might be a minor tiff
between the two sisters. She could never imagine that the fight was so serious that Catherine even attempted to kill Diana.
A bitter smile appeared on Lance's face. He turned his face aside and said in a dejected tone, "Catherine doesn't want to be the
Holy Maiden. I think it is high time that we abolish the tradition of having a Holy Maiden in the South Kingdom."
The queen remained silent after hearing Lance's words. Then she heaved a sigh and said in her habitual gentle tone, "If she
doesn't want to be the Holy Maiden, then she doesn't have to be. Catherine can do whatever she wants. I thought she wanted to
be the Holy Maiden, so I had stopped Diana from competing with her. I had no idea that she didn't like it. Moreover, she didn't
even speak about it to me. It was entirely my mistake."
Catherine was standing outside the door, listening to the conversation between her parents. She was taken aback by the words
she heard. As it turned out to be, Diana had never tried to compete with her. Rather, their mother had made Diana move out of
Catherine's way because she felt that Catherine wanted to become the Holy Maiden. 'How could I have misunderstood my family
members for so many years?!' Catherine's heart wrenched at the very thought of it.
"Honestly, I am tired of all this. Now I plan to abdicate," Lance said in a feeble voice after a moment of silence. "And then let's
find a place to live in seclusion, where we can live a normal life just like any other ordinary couple. What do you think about it?"
"I think that would be a great idea. I just hope that Catherine and Diana don't find it difficult to take care of this country. As the
elder sister, Catherine would have to pay more attention to everything. Diana has always been very impulsive. Even I've
corrected her for her reckless behaviors so many times, but she still turns a deaf ear to my words. Catherine is going to have a
hard time getting along with her," the queen replied. She still considered the fight between her daughters to be a minor issue. In
her eyes, no matter how much difference they might be having, they were a family, and they could never turn against each other.
They can always forgive each other and come together as a family.
"No, it's not like that anymore," Lance corrected the queen. "Diana has become a sensible girl now. She can take care of herself
and will not be so reckless anymore. You will be surprised if you meet her now." He then used all his strength to move his hand.
He tried hard for a long time but he found himself too weak to move even a finger. Then, he sighed helplessly, "Ah, I'm getting
old. I'm becoming more useless day by day. Now I don't even have the strength to raise my hand."
"Don't worry. The poison in your body will be detoxified soon. You are the king of the South Kingdom for the time being. No
matter how powerful the poison may be, it can't keep you down like this for a long time. You will be fine. You will rise very soon
and take control of the kingdom in your own hands. Have faith," the queen comforted her husband. With the angelic smile on her

face, she looked like God's messenger who had descended from her heavenly orb to give assurance to Lance that everything
would be like before. Lance smiled back at her before closing his eyes.
Catherine, who had been listening to her parents' conversation from afar, found something changing inside her heart as she
heard her father sounding so down and out. Her newly acquired knowledge about her parents' stance regarding her position as
the Holy Maiden also melted her heart. Catherine could no longer bear it anymore. She turned around and ran away, while she
repented vehemently. How much she had misunderstood her family members! She had always thought that her father didn't like
her, so he pushed her out and made her the Holy Maiden. She even despised Diana all these years because initially Diana was
supposed to be the Holy Maiden instead of her. In her original theory, Diana escaped from the selection of the Holy Maiden
because her father favored her and wanted her to live a free life. Now she knew that she had a wrong notion about everyone.
'Why? Why did I have to know about all this now? Why so late?' Catherine screamed inside her head. All her ploys that she had
been scheming against her father and her sister seemed to be making fun of her now. It was as if something very heavy that had
fallen on her shoulders made her stoop down. She wanted to run away from it, so she started running. She ran as fast as she
could until she knocked someone down. In the process, she even hurt her knees. Ignoring the pain, she quickly got up and kept
walking ahead. But suddenly, she was stopped by someone.
"Catherine, since when have you become such a reckless woman? Isn't it me who is supposed to act like this?" Catherine looked
around and found the owner of the familiar voice. It was Diana standing at a distance, smirking at her. "Oh! I understand. You
must have got tired of being oppressed all the time and so you want to try the feeling of being free. Am I right?" Diana provoked
Catherine.
Catherine raised her head and looked at the sly smile on Diana's face which enraged her once again. She had the impulse to
slap Diana right in the face, and she did. With the impact of the slap, Diana's face turned aside and flushed immediately.
Diana caressed her red cheek tenderly and shouted, "Catherine, don't you know you should not slap anyone in the face? How
could you do this to me? How should I explain to Father and Mother? I can't just tell them that I fell to your hand and got my
cheek swollen!"
"Why not? I think it's a good excuse. You walked carelessly and fell on my hand by accident. That's why your face has turned
red!" Catherine sneered back.
Diana, however, merely snorted, "If it were not for Mother's sake, I would have a fight with you!"
"Anytime!"

Catherine said and then walked past Diana to go out of the palace. But Diana called out again, "Catherine!"
"What now?" Catherine retorted furiously.
"Well, never mind. Let's go to see Father and Mother together!" Diana suggested.