Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

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Chodak left chicly and resolutely without turning back or hesitating. He was as swift as a breeze blowing across the lake, raising
a layer of ripples, and then in the next moment, peace was resumed and he was gone without even a trace.
Bored to death, Harper leafed through the Buddhist scripture. "Matthew, Chodak..." she mumbled.
"Chodak doesn't exist anymore. He died by the side of the lake. From now on, the person who is alive will be Rolando, the crown
prince of the Great Jade Kingdom," Matthew said while dealing with the letters he had received. "The emperor of the Great Jade
Kingdom is terminally ill. Being the crown prince, he can't stay here any longer."
"Even though his father is terminally ill, he is only a deposed crown prince..." Harper paused for a while as something came to
her mind all of a sudden. "Why on earth was he deprived of the title of the crown prince in the first place?"
"One reason was that he enjoyed high prestige, making his father view him as a threat; another reason was that he wanted to
look for the Heavenly Books," Matthew sneered. "He is decisive and always maintains a low profile. To avoid suspicion, he even
shaved his head and became a monk. Nobody would look for a former crown prince among monks."
"So, you know all the things about him," Harper said casually. "Although I am not sure why you had let him stay in the Bright
Dynasty, I'm quite sure that you must have struck a deal with him."
"Yes, you're right. I was poisoned once, and he was the one who saved my life with a pill. So, I provided him with a shelter in
return." Matthew explained the reason. For him, it was not a bad deal to exchange a shelter for his life.
Suddenly, someone knocked at the door and called out, "Your Highness."
Harper went for the door, and when she opened it, there was a young monk waiting outside. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Your Highness, our grandmaster ordered me to invite His Highness to play a game of Go," the young monk said respectfully,
after devoutly putting his palms together.

Hearing that, Matthew put away the letters he still hadn't dealt with and said, "All right. I've long wanted to play a game of Go with
Master Thubten. Now that I'm not too busy, I'll be happy to come. Harp, you may have a nap. I'll be back soon."

"Okay, go ahead," Harper said, nodding her head. As a matter of fact, Master Thubten was highly respected and admired by
common people, and enjoyed a higher status than Chodak. Now that Chodak had taken his leave abruptly, Matthew had to
explain the whole situation to Master Thubten.
After he left, Harper stretched herself, intending to relax and have a sleep. All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew in and
extinguished the candle in the room. Harper was alerted, but she didn't move an inch. She narrowed her eyes slightly and tried to
figure out what was happening. Suddenly, the candle was ignited once again. Harper saw a man in scarlet red sitting at the table.
She was quick to recognize him as Marquis Scarlet. With her eyes half closed, Harper moved her fingers, intending to strike at
him. However, Marquis Scarlet addressed her before she could get closer, "Dear junior sister, you turned so heartless that you
even set me up." But hearing his words, Harper was astounded. 'Junior sister? Who is he talking with?' she thought to herself.
She looked around to see who else was present in the room other than Marquis Scarlet and her. But surprisingly, there was
none. So, the man was referring to her as his junior sister? Despite the confusion in her heart, Harper sat down, maintaining her
calm. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Marquis Scarlet," she said.
"Junior sister, I never thought you would be so ruthless. After you went down the mountain, you even didn't recognize me as your
classmate. If you remember, we were classmates for five years. During those five years, we had spent a lot of time learning
together. But you seem to have completely abandoned our friendship." As he looked at Harper's face, Marquis Scarlet suddenly
laughed grimly. What Francis had said was true. He had been so stupid that he hadn't found out that the woman in front of him
was his junior sister.
Suddenly, Marquis Scarlet made a quick move and rushed towards Harper. However, she was quick to dodge his attack, as if
she could foresee what he was about to do. After failing in his first blow, Marquis Scarlet launched another attack, but Harper

dodged it again. Marquis Scarlet didn't use his internal force. The two of them exchanged more than a dozen blows by making
use of the catch skills that Harper was familiar with. "Stop!" Harper called to a halt. "Your Highness," Fred greeted Harper as he
rushed into the room fearing something was wrong. But there was no one but Harper in the room. The window was open, and a
gust of cold wind was blowing in. "Is everything alright, Your Highness?" Fred asked.

"I'm fine. You may leave now," Harper said. She walked to the window and closed it. But she was shocked and surprised,
wondering what was going on. How could it be possible? How was Marquis Scarlet able to use catch skills? Not everyone knew
how to use it.
Harper organized her memories—the memories she had, the broken memories of the original Harper from the Bright Dynasty.
No matter how hard she tried, she was unsuccessful in putting those missing memories together. She had her memories intact
only from those incidents from the place of execution.
"What's going on? Why?" Harper mumbled to herself, stroking her head. She was so distressed and felt a headache. She didn't
know whether the original Harper had something to do with Marquis Scarlet or she herself had something to do with him. In her
faint memory, she had a father and an elder brother. But if she had some connection with Marquis Scarlet, what appeared in her
memory wouldn't be true.
As soon as he left Harper's room, Marquis Scarlet was stopped by Barry. Without uttering a single word, Barry brandished his
sword at him. Without any fear, Marquis Scarlet fought back against Barry. He was no match for Matthew, but his strength was
enough to crush Barry.
Finally, Barry was knocked down by Marquis Scarlet, and then he made a quick escape. With no delay, Barry responded by
sending a signal flare to notify Matthew. Matthew saw the signal blossoming in the sky while he was playing the game of Go with
Master Thubten. He looked at the master and asked, "Master Thubten, monks never lie. Did you really call me here to play Go
with you?"
Putting his palms together devoutly, Thubten said, "Amitabha. Please forgive me, Your Highness. Someone asked me to invite
you to play Go with you."
"Good strategy! You were successful in luring me away from Harper," Matthew commented in a calm and collected manner. "You
are someone who has been disillusioned with the mortal world, right? Then, why did you still get involved in the worldly
affairs?"