Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

Sue had been eagerly waiting for Harper to make a move. However, Harper didn't make one yet. She

merely greeted Mavis and

Charles for two days in a row. After this, she would head back to her own house.

Quickly, the wedding day approached, but Harper hadn't taken any actions yet. Sue was pacing back

and forth, anxiously

wondering what Harper was up to. Just then, one of the maids reported that Harper had come.

"Good timing!" she mumbled. Sue's mind was filled with schemes that were dying to be put into action.

One could tell she had

vicious plans just by looking into her eyes. No matter what, Sue was determined to make Harper suffer

for everything she had

done.

Harper was followed by Annie and a young maid whom Sue had never seen before. When she saw the

box in the maid's hands,

Sue's eyes flashed with greed. "You came!"

"Greetings, Mother." Sue showed a caring look when Harper saluted her. She requested Harper to sit

next to her.

"Please don't behave so politely. After all, we are family," Sue said, feigning a very gentle smile. As she

spoke, Annie looked at

her from the corner of her eyes but didn't utter a single word.

"I see that Nanny Annie has come along. So tell me, is there any message for me from Mother?" Sue

asked, curious to know if

they were here on Mavis' request. Although she held a strong dislike towards Mavis, she didn't dare to

go against her.

Annie bowed, put the box in her hands on the table, and said, "Lady Mavis are very happy that Lady

Felicia and Lady Yvonne

will get married soon. As their grandmother, she has prepared something for both of them. Please give

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them to the two ladies."

"On behalf of my two daughters, I thank her. Please convey my gratitude when you return," Sue said in

a joyful voice. Whatever

Mavis had prepared, she was certain they must be of great value. Even if they had to be divided into

two shares, they were

bound to be extravagant.

Noticing that this news had filled Sue with elation, Harper immediately asked her maid to bring out her

gifts. "Mother, I have

prepared these gifts for my two sisters. Please give the gifts to them."

"Oh, you too have something for us," Sue said and eagerly took them out. On opening, she saw it

contained two sets of jewels,

but the jade used was different on each set. It depicted the difference in their status. "You are so

thoughtful, Harper."

"I hope my two sisters will like them," Harper said with a smile. "I am aware they have many rare

treasures to relish. Yet I hope

my gifts will be of some value to them."

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"Of course they are! They are not just gifts; they are your love and affection. How could they not like

them? I bet they will be

thrilled to see them." Sue was trying her best to pretend kindness. To someone who knew Sue well, it

would look weird. Annie

was already starting to frown.

"Thank you, Mother. Your words have truly relieved of my worries." Harper breathed a sigh of relief. "It's

getting hot these days,

and Grandma doesn't seem to have a good appetite. I think I should be leaving and go visiting

Grandma."

"If that's the case, then I think you should be leaving. I will go visit Mother later with Felicia and

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Yvonne." Sue sent her away, and

her eyes suddenly fell on the maid behind Harper. Sue pointed her finger to the new maid and asked,

"She is new here, isn't

she?"

"Yes, she is new. I am just showing her around," Harper said in a very casual manner. Due to this, Sue

didn't suspect anything.

Today was a good day and Sue's spirit was high. Once Harper was dead, no one would remember that

she was a concubine.

"Make sure you take good care of Mother. Hailey is not here and you are the only one with medical

skills. Hence the responsibility of looking after your grandma falls to you. While doing so, don't neglect

paying attention to your own health. You could get too tired otherwise." "Thanks for your concern. I will

take good care of myself." Then Harper left with Annie and the maid. She was so calm that no one

could detect anything odd about her behavior. Annie sneaked a quick glance at Harper. 'She looked

absolutely innocent in front of Sue. However, if she was really that innocent, she wouldn't have

managed to stay alive. If her biological mother was still alive, her life would have been so much easier, '

she thought. In order to please Mavis, Harper went back to the Peony House and made lotus leaf

porridge for her. "Grandma, try it. It is fresh and delicious with lotus leaf that has just been fetched. Try

it, Grandma." The old lady looked at Harper's childish behavior and couldn't help laughing. "I know how

to eat. But you are treating me like a kid who can't do anything." Mavis took the bowl from Harper and

ate the delicious lotus leaf porridge. Once she was done, she felt pretty satisfied. "You are getting

better at cooking, Harper." "You think so? Thank you very much. I wish to cook for you every day,"

Harper answered. Mavis was the only hope she had in the Chu Clan. If anything happened to Mavis,

there would be no place for her to live. While taking care of Mavis, she was in fact

fighting for her own life. "You can ask the cook to do that. You're the lady of the Chu Clan, so you

shouldn't be cooking all the time. But yes, every now and then I would love to have something cooked

by you. I cannot thank you enough for being so sweet to me. Rest assured that as long as I am still

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breathing, no one will dare to hurt you." After uttering these words, Mavis gently pressed Harper's

hands. She knew the concerns that were going around in Harper's mind. After all, Sue was waiting for

an opportunity to harm her. Harper nodded, "I have nothing to worry about since you are here. I know

you don't have a good appetite. I'll ask Nanny Annie to

prepare some sweet-sour plum juice and cool it down with well water for you. You'll love it."

"Lady Harper is very concerned about you, Lady Mavis," Annie said, praising Harper.

"Nanny Annie, you too should have a bowl of sweet-sour plum juice. After all, it is considered extremely

good for the

summertime," Harper smiled.

"Thank you, Lady Harper." Annie grinned from ear to ear, and the wrinkles on her face seemed to

become smooth. Harper

insisted on staying there as she had decided to learn embroidery from Annie. When Annie was young,

she had been good at

embroidery. During those days, she had managed to surpass the embroidery girls in the Imperial

Palace with her double-sided

embroidery.

The thing was that embroidery required a lot of patience. Knowing very well that Harper had had a

tiring day, Annie thought she

might not be in a mood for such an activity. Hence she carried on with her work, preparing tea and

dessert. However, Harper

broached the subject of embroidery. It turned out she still had some energy left. Without complaining,

she sat with Annie to learn

the work.

"My Lady, you're so clever. Many people can't do the double-sided embroidery this well. You have

managed to learn it in such a

short span of time. Your work is brilliant! After witnessing this, I don't believe you have clumsy hands.

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Clumsy hands could never

do what you have done!" Annie said, utterly impressed with Harper's work.

"Nanny Annie, you need to stop showering me with praises! You are spoiling me." Harper looked

flattered. "I've been thinking about embroidering a fan for Grandma. And the weather is particularly hot.

I think it would be amazing to make use of this new skill and make an embroidered fan for her." "That

sounds like a great idea!" Annie said, nodding her head. "I am sure Lady Mavis would be thrilled to

have a fan made by you."

Then they both got busy making a fan. Just when they were done making it, they heard some noise

coming from outside. "Nanny Annie, what happened? Why is it so noisy outside?" The Peony House

was the quietest place in the Chu Clan mansion. Mavis didn't like noise, so it was very rare for any

chaos to happen there.

"I'll go out and take a look." Annie put down the things in her hands, turned around and went out to see

what happened. Even

Mavis, who had rested, was awakened by the mayhem. Harper put down the fan and helped her up.

"Grandma, you are awake!"

"What happened? Why is it so noisy outside?" She frowned with displeasure at the people arguing

outside.

"I don't know. But I have sent Nanny Annie out to take a look. We will soon know what the matter is."

Even though she pretended

like she had no idea, she believed Sue was the cause of this disorder. Earlier, she believed Sue would

wait a day or two before

taking any action. However, it turned out she had no patience.

Annie came back rushing. Her face had a sullen look. "My Ladies, something happened in the

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Splendor House and the

Excellence House."

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"What?" Mavis was taken aback. "What happened?"

Annie took a look at Harper and then turned to Mavis. "Both Lady Yvonne and Lady Felicia are

poisoned. Now the physician is at

Lady Felicia's place. Lady Yvonne..."

"I'll go and check on Yvonne." Harper stood up and was about to leave, but Annie stopped her.

"No need to rush, My Lady." Annie looked at Mavis, and said with embarrassment, "Lady Sue is

causing trouble outside, claiming

Lady Harper is the one who has poisoned them."

"How is that even possible?!" Listening to this, Mavis was so startled that she dropped her tea cup to

the floor. She realized Sue

was going too far. It was beyond crazy how she framed Harper like this.

Annie sighed with resignation. Slowly, she went on and elaborated, "They said that Lady Harper had

added poison onto the two

sets of jewels that she gave to Lady Yvonne and Lady Felicia."

Mavis' fury intensified on hearing this explanation. She was the one who had prepared the two sets of

jewels that Harper had

given to her two sisters. So according to this, Sue was implying that she, Mavis, had poisoned her

granddaughters!

"What does Sue want?" Mavis spat out, not wanting to repress her anger any longer.

Annie cast a glance at Harper and said, "Lady Sue is going to take Lady Harper into custody and wait

until Prime Minister

Charles gets back."

"Okay, I'm coming with you, Harper. Let's see how vicious she can be!" Mavis walked out with Annie's

help, and Harper followed

them obediently.

The anger and hatred were written all over Sue's face when she saw Harper coming out. Ignoring

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Mavis, Sue rushed to Harper

and slapped her in the face. It was so hard that Harper fell onto the ground.

"Are you insane? How dare you!" Mavis trembled with rage. She raised her walking stick and hit Sue.

Sue didn't expect that

Mavis would go to this extent in order to protect Harper.

"Mother, Harper is a vicious girl! She is jealous of Yvonne and Felicia marrying His Highness. Hence

she poisoned them. How

could you still protect her? She dared to poison her sisters today, and I am sure she won't think twice

before poisoning you in the

future!" Sue had spoken very cleverly. If Mavis hadn't known that it was impossible for Harper to poison

anyone, she might have

believed her!

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