Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

"Do you still want more?" Harper was astounded.

After stirring the soup with a spoon, Matthew said, "No, I'm done with it. It's my turn to feed you."

Harper felt uncomfortable and rolled her eyes. She said curtly, "Matthew, I can drink on my own."

"I like to feed you. What? Don't you like it?" Matthew's voice was still calm and even, but Harper

understood the threat contained

in his words. So she obediently opened her mouth and drank the ginger soup fed by him, but she also

stared at him with big

eyes, protesting silently.

He fed her at a moderate pace, paying no attention to her protests. Just when Harper finished drinking,

Matthew said to Francis,

"Get out of here now that you're awake."

Opening his mouth, Owen wanted to retort, but he was frightened away by a single glance from

Matthew. He dared not say a

word, completely losing the arrogance he displayed in front of Harper.

"Uncle Matthew, could you let them all out?" Francis sat up and asked quietly.

Even though Matthew didn't say a word, Harper waved her hand to signal for everyone to leave.

Seeing that Owen was still in

the room, Harper blocked Matthew's spoon and said, "Owen, you go out, too."

Giving Francis a glance, Owen walked out slowly, turning his head to look back repeatedly as he

walked. He was afraid that

Francis would be bullied by the couple when left alone with them.

"At the banquet in the palace, I set up Felix." Francis spoke when they were the only three people left

in the room.

"I know that." Matthew's response was cold. He was concentrated on feeding ginger soup to Harper,

and was in no mood to mind other people's business. "It was my father who poisoned me," Francis

stressed with anguish and anger. On the other hand, Matthew remained unmoved, as if he had

foreseen it. The emperor had never been a benevolent man. With such rumors abounding, the emperor

would never allow Francis to live in health and be a threat to his own throne. Harper already knew it, so

she was not surprised. It was not rare for an emperor to poison his son. There was no real father-and-

son or any brotherhood in a royal family. Their only values were power and profit.

"I don't understand why he wants to deprive me of everything. I am his son, his natural son. I grew up

in a wheelchair and lived a life of hell. I would rather he granted me a quick death than force me to

suffer from the pain of knowing the truth. How much I wish it was not him but the empress, Felix, or

anyone else! I never thought it was my father!" Francis covered his face and cried. "He doesn't love

anyone but Felix, does he?" Looking at Francis, who was crying hysterically, Harper fell silent. She

knew the actual truth was that the emperor didn't love anyone but himself.

"That's why you broadcast the news about the Longevity Pill through Scott, in order to lure Felix to grab

the pill? Even if Felix

didn't kill anyone to obtain the medicine, you would still kill everyone in Scott's mansion?" asked

Matthew slowly.

Francis shook his head and said, "I knew from the beginning that Scott wouldn't hand the pills out, and

Felix also wouldn't grab

them personally. He would certainly send Walden, the one whom he trusted the most, to do that.

Walden was a man of short

temper. If refused by Scott, he would definitely take it by force. However, I thought he would take the

pill and leave Scott's

mansion. By then, I would instigate Scott to sue him for robbery. I didn't expect that Walden would

actually have killed all the people in Scott's mansion!" "You want the throne?" Matthew looked at

Francis and asked seriously. Francis raised his head and looked at his uncle, saying, "Uncle Matthew, I

don't want any position or power. I just want to stay with my family and live a peaceful life with

someone I love. But why didn't my father allow it? Why did he drug me every day? Why didn't he kill me

directly? Wouldn't it be easier for him?"

"So you schemed against Felix to take revenge?" asked Harper in amazement.

"Yes, I hate him. Since he brought me into this world, why did he force me to be in a wheelchair? Since

he values only Felix and

supports him wholeheartedly, I wanted to let him know that after taking away my health, I would also

take his beloved son away!"

Francis exclaimed in anguish. "It's said that even a vicious tiger will not eat its cubs. Are members of a

royal family really worse

than beasts?"

"Don't drag me into this. I'm different from you." As soon as Matthew finished his words, he looked right

into Harper's eyes, as if

he was telling her specifically that he was different from them.

After a moment of silence, Harper asked, "Do you know Marquis Scarlet?"

Francis shook his head and asked as if he were puzzled, "Who is Marquis Scarlet? Is there such a

marquis in our dynasty?"

"Marquis Scarlet is the leader of a secret society of assassins. Hodge's son was saved by him," Harper

explained slowly. "He is a

heartless and wicked man who has committed all sorts of crimes."

"I don't know him. Hodge's son was found lying at the foot of the mountain and brought back by the

guards from Hodge's

mansion," Francis said, and the look on his face didn't seem to be false or affected.

"Did you arrange your rescue of the emperor on purpose?" Harper asked again. If Francis had

arranged that event deliberately,

she would really doubt his intentions.

Francis smiled bitterly. "How could I have arranged for it? Now I wish I had not rescued him, so that I

would still be ignorant of

the truth of my illness. I would even prefer that I died in the hall that day, rather than be heartbroken

now!"