Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

Harper took Rolando's hand and carefully alighted from the carriage as she looked around the bustling city. Every capital that
she had been in had always been full of life and devoid of fears of war. "There are so many people here," she sighed.
"This is the busiest street in here," Rolando said proudly. The two of them then walked side by side. Harper looked bright and
lively in her blue-green dress while Rolando looked even more gentle and dashing in his creamy white get-up. The women and
girls in the street all stood shocked and motionless at the sight of Rolando as they fixed their eyes on him. Harper didn't care,
however, as she was busy looking at the stalls on both sides of the street.
"Madam, please take a look. These are not expensive but they are definitely delicate and beautifully made," a vendor said to
Harper excitedly as soon as she came upon his stall. He handed a butterfly-shaped hairpin to Harper and said, "This hairpin is
perfect for your dress today."
Harper took over the hairpin from him and examined it closely. The more she looked at it, the more she realized how much she
liked it. Indeed, it was cheap but exquisitely made. It was too bad that she wasn't really big on showy accessories, so she put it
down after looking at it for a while. Rolando, however, noticed this and walked toward the stall, picked up the hairpin, and put it
on her bun. "Well, I think it really suits you quite well. I will take it."
"You have a good taste, Mister. Your wife looks so beautiful with it. And this hairpin is not expensive. It only costs one tael of
silver," the vendor said.
Rolando handed a big silver ingot to the vendor and said, "Keep the change."
"Thank you, Mister. Thank you very much!" the vendor replied excitedly, ecstatic because of Rolando's generosity.
Seeing that Rolando gave the vendor ten taels of silver, Harper said, "You're so generous! He demanded one tael of silver, but

you paid ten! But then no matter how rich you are, you can't spend money like that!"
Upon hearing that, Rolando smiled softly. "If it's for something I like, money will never be an issue. I am willing to spend more.
After all, it's not easy to be in a good mood." "Well, I guess you're right," Harper said as she smiled and nodded her head.

"Several days ago, I lost the jade pendant I always wore. I haven't found one that I like just as much yet, so I'm thinking that
since we're out and about, would you like to choose one for me?" Rolando said suddenly.
"Sure," Harper agreed even without thinking. "But I doubt you can wear any jade pendant from a place like this. Obviously, the
ones they're selling don't have very high quality." "It's just a jade pendant. I will treasure it as long as it's chosen by you." "You
trust me too much sometimes," Harper responded, rolling her eyes. The two of them then walked into a jade store to search for a
jade pendant that Rolando would like. Diana was in the vicinity, and she was surprised when she caught sight of Harper from a
certain distance. She was about to call her when her mouth was covered by an unknown hand and she was dragged into an
alley. "What are you doing? She is my master." "I know. She is also our hostess!" Zorro sulkily said, his face full of anguish. He
found it extremely insidious of Rolando to take
Harper to his palace. Forsythia was the only one allowed to accompany Harper, while the rest companions had been forbidden to
enter the capital. They then decided to sneak in. Now that they finally made it, if Rolando found them, Zorro was sure that they
would be unable to continue to stay because Rolando would definitely drive them out of the city.
"Then why didn't you let me meet my master?"
"Do you want to be thrown out of the capital by Rolando?" Zorro asked her in a low voice. "Don't forget that it was Rolando who
stopped us from entering this wretched place."
Diana was not a fool. She knew what Rolando had done, but she just could not understand why he had done that. "Why would
Rolando do that? It doesn't make sense. Also, isn't he an emperor? How is he able to go shopping outside with my master?"

"Humph, when the weasel goes to pay his respects to the hen, he must have no good intention. I have to send a message to
Prince Matthew as soon as possible!" Zorro believed that Rolando was a bad guy and wanted to take Harper away from their
prince. Unfortunately, Harper was so naive and kind that she still hadn't realized that Rolando was vicious and that he was only
deceiving her. If Diana knew what Zorro was thinking about, she would be laughing until her lungs caved in. In her opinion,
Harper was by no

means naive and kind. Maybe she was not a ruthless person, but she was the opposite of naive. After all, she knew how Harper
had successfully framed people for numerous times.
"Does Rolando want to hold my master as a hostage? If so, should we rescue her?" After saying that, Diana felt that something
was not adding up when it came to her assumption. "But then if Rolando wanted to take my master hostage, he wouldn't have
taken her out to go shopping. Right?"
"Aren't you the one always boasting about how easily you can see through men? Can't you understand what is going on?" Zorro
asked teasingly. He really wanted to knock Diana's head out to see if she had a functioning brain.
"You mean, Rolando... Rolando loves my master?" Diana exclaimed in a raised voice. Zorro hurriedly covered her mouth and
dragged her away. If Rolando's men found out where they were, things would take a terrible turn for them.
"Can you please turn it down!" Zorro hissed. When he finally let go of her, he noted how Diana looked so excited, like she was
looking forward to watching a good play. He asked, "What's up with you?"
"I'm so excited at the thought of how spectacular the fighting scene between Prince Matthew and Emperor Rolando would be!
Can you imagine them fighting to the death, just for my master?" Diana said, clapping her hands excitedly. "I wonder when
Prince Matthew will arrive. If he knew that my master went shopping with Emperor Rolando happily, I am sure that he would
slash Rolando's throat mercilessly!"
The corner of Zorro's mouth twitched violently. 'Is this woman taking pleasure in Prince Matthew's misfortune?' he thought. Diana
was indeed looking forward to seeing Matthew and Rolando have a fierce fight. After thinking for a while, Zorro admitted that he,
too, wanted to watch such a scene. However, he immediately realized that before those two powerful men fought against each
other, he and other secret guards would be the ones who would suffer first..