Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

The new emperor's enthronement was a big event. All of the civil and military officials had long been waiting in the Imperial
Palace for the new emperor to hold the inauguration ceremony in the Temple of Heaven. The old emperor had passed away
several days ago, but the new emperor was yet to ascend the throne. Worried as the officials were, the new emperor was, at
last, willing to take the throne. Although it was quite absurd for Prince Matthew's wife, Harper to become the empress, they had
no choice but to accept the fact for the sake of the imperial court's steady status.
After all, the empress could be stripped of her status. Once the new emperor had successfully ascended the throne, they would
find fault with Harper in the future and force the new emperor to drive her out.
Maxwell thought that things were going so smoothly, but since Franklin had retired, it was very difficult for him to lower his level
and ask Zack. That being said, he was a straightforward man, so he had hard trouble keeping the words to himself. In the end,
he decided to move closer toward Zack.
"Lord Zack, do you feel that the atmosphere is quite dignified today?" Maxwell asked, trying his best to act natural.
"General, today is the day the new emperor ascends the throne, so the atmosphere is naturally dignified. After all, this is a very
significant event. How could it be not dignified?" Zack replied with a gentle smile.
You little fox! Maxwell cursed deep inside. As far as he was concerned, Zack was much harder to deal with than his father. He
was such a cunning man, and always performed well whenever he was doing his job. The people of the Bu Clan were all
cunning foxes, but Zack was more cunning than his father!
"I'm just curious. The Imperial Palace seems to be heavily guarded today."
"Given that the new emperor is about to ascend the throne, no mistake is allowed. Of course, the palace is heavily guarded."

At that moment, Maxwell really wanted to slap Zack across the face hard. 'Why are you acting like such a cunning fox? Why
haven't you learned from anyone other than your father? That man is so cunning and slick. Would it kill you to say something and
make a guess? You little fox!' he screamed in his heart. Then, he was no longer interested in talking to Zack. A faint smile
appeared on Zack's lips. "I heard that your wife succumbed to her illness a few days ago." Maxwell turned frigid, and then

responded in a serious tone, "Yes, we didn't want to disturb others because it was close to the old emperor's funeral. And we had
her buried peacefully."
Zack gave him a peculiar smile. As for Maxwell, he felt so uncomfortable seeing his smile, but when he thought that they
supported the same person, he was somewhat relieved. No wonder Zack became friends with Harper; he was just as heartless
and cunning as her. While the officials were waiting for the new emperor to come out, Lucas, who had already been dead and
buried, appeared out of the blue. Moreover, he brought along fifty thousand soldiers with him to have the entire Imperial Palace
completely surrounded! "What the hell!" The minister of the Ministry of Works rubbed his eyes, finding what he was seeing hard
to believe. Then, he pinched the vice minister beside him, which made the latter grimace in pain. "Prince Lucas has come back
to life! Did you see
that? Am I right?"
The vice minister replied at once, "My Lord, you are not mistaken. It really is Prince Lucas and he has come back to life."
The minister didn't loosen his grip on the waist of the vice minister at all. Instead, he pinched it even harder and said, "But I don't
feel any pain when I pinch myself. Is this just part of my dream?"
The vice minister almost cried out in pain, "My Lord, since I'm actually the one you're pinching, you wouldn't feel any pain."
Turning his head, the minister realized that he had indeed pinched someone else. He released his grip immediately and looked
at Lucas who was standing outside the gates of the Imperial Palace. "Your Highness, what are you doing? Why are you leading

your men to surround the Imperial Palace? Are you trying to rebel?" Lucas snorted with a grim face. These past few days, he
had been forced to disguise himself as a woman and work as the number one prostitute in a brothel. For that reason alone, he
had been depressed enough. "Minister, are you blind? Don't you see that the army I lead belongs to the emperor? This is not an
act of rebellion. I am merely ridding the emperor of evil ministers!" Staring at the general in front of the army, the minister asked
in surprise, "General Yu, what do you think you're doing?"

"The late emperor had issued an imperial edict that we Regal Guards should obey Prince Lucas' orders!" the general replied
seriously.
"Nonsense! You are the army belonging to the emperor. Shouldn't you be following the orders of the heir to the throne instead?"
As soon as the minister was done speaking, he realized that something was quite amiss. The Regal Guards led by General Yu
were taking orders from Lucas, indicating that the previous emperor had chosen Lucas as the heir to the throne. However,
Francis apparently had the testamentary edict in his hands to make him the new emperor. Knowing that, why were the imperial
guards following Lucas' orders? Could it be... The minister had a vague doubt on his mind that Francis might not be the legal heir
to the throne, but he dared not say it out loud.
"Your Highness, the late emperor has issued a testamentary edict declaring that Prince Francis is the heir to the throne. Now,
you are leading your troops to threaten the new emperor, and you are staging a rebellion and guilt of treason. You should be
sentenced to death!" The vice minister stepped forward and stated since the minister couldn't say a thing.
Lucas simply snorted and responded, "The late emperor has issued a testamentary edict declaring that Prince Francis is the heir
to the throne? Are you kidding me?"
"All of us have witnessed it with our very eyes. If you don't believe me, you can ask the officials present whether the late emperor
mentioned that Prince Francis would be the heir," the vice minister blurted out, overcome by emotions. 'Now, Prince Francis is
about to become the new emperor. You're already a dead man. How dare you show up just to rebel? Are you kidding?'
"Francis tried to murder my father and even framed Felix. Then, he killed Felix to keep the secret. How could my father possibly
pass down the throne to him?" Lucas' loud voice, mixed with his internal force, echoed throughout the Imperial
Palace..