Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

"Don't be so formal with me, please. I think we are close enough to forgo all these polite remarks." Darren stretched out his hand
and tried to rub Harper's head, but was stopped by Matthew at once.
"Behave yourself!" the protective husband demanded. As he shook off Darren's hand, a look of danger filled his eyes.
"Oh, I forgot. You're married, so you're no longer the little girl you used to be. I'll go back then. I will let you know if I've come
upon any news," Darren finally said, forcing a polite smile.
"Okay," Harper replied. She nodded her head quickly, hinting that Darren should run out as fast as he could. An air of hostility
was already running high in the air, an aura way different from what she sensed whenever Zack was around. Matthew was on
the guard against Darren somehow, and it showed on his face every time Darren was near.
After Darren left, Harper looked at Matthew in confusion and asked, "Honey, why are you so hostile towards him?"
"I don't like that man!" That was the only explanation Matthew gave amidst his fit of unhappiness. He then deepened his frown to
further show his low opinion of her friend. But aside from that, he said no more. This had embarrassed Harper a lot, to the extent
that she found it hard to pick the right words to continue the topic, so she just started a new one. "Matthew, do you think that
Rolando is here, in the Phoenix City?"
"No, I don't think so," Matthew answered firmly. "There are too many spies here in the Phoenix City. If he sets foot in here, he
might as well be thoroughly exposed, inviting everyone to find him. He won't be that stupid. And even if he does slip inside, he
will disguise himself as an ordinary person so that no one will be suspicious of him."
Harper nodded in agreement. Rolando was indeed a careful person. 'A persistent one, too,' she thought. He would not give up
snatching the other half of the Sacred Seal from her, especially now that he had the Heavenly Book and the other half of the

seal. Rolando would do everything to find her and to get what he wanted from her.
But to Harper's surprise, instead of Rolando, it was a middle-aged woman who turned out to be a member of the long-hidden Qin
Clan that came knocking on her door soon after Darren's visit. "My name is Beth Qin, and I'm from the Qin Clan," the woman
revealed, looking at Harper rather indifferently. Harper could not sense even the slightest friendliness from the woman in front of

her. Actually, the woman seemed to be defensive towards her, even though she was the one who came to them first. She and
Matthew hadn't even started looking for the members of the clan.
"How is Felton?" asked Harper as she lifted her tea cup, blew on it, and sipped on it, "Is he all right?" Beth Qin looked at Harper,
and frowned the moment she noticed that her cold demeanor wasn't causing her to be alarmed. "He's fine," she replied, still
indifferently. "How are the children in the orphanage?" Harper then asked, without even looking at Beth Qin's face. For her, she
was just a stranger. No matter what the Qin Clan wanted from her, it all depended on whether she was willing to cooperate with
them or not. "Not bad." Looking at the calm and composed face of Harper, Beth Qin was quite unhappy. "Lady Victoria wants to
see you." Harper finally raised her head and asked the woman, "Who are you talking about?" "Victoria, your grandmother." Beth
Qin was frowning with a darkened face, showing no intention to hide her dissatisfaction. For
all these years, they had helped Harper a lot. Now it was time for the girl to repay them.
"But my grandmother died 20 years ago," Harper said indifferently. No one escaped from the disaster back in the imperial capital,
except her herself. The old lady this woman mentioned couldn't be her grandmother.
The middle-aged woman didn't expect that Harper would react like this. Normally, one should be happy to hear that his or her
grandmother was still alive. Why was Harper still so calm hearing the news?
"Victoria is our lord's concubine."
"Then whoever you are talking about is not my grandmother." Harper put down her tea cup and asked, "With due respect, is that

all you want to say coming all this way to find me? If that is everything, then you may leave now," Harper demanded in a casual
air. "What did you say, Harper Chu? Don't forget that you are a member of the Qin Clan!" Beth Qin said in an angry voice. She
had come and invited Harper in person, but this girl had gone too far as to be this unappreciative. With a forced sneer, Harper
looked at the woman and said, "Beth, it seems to me you know that my name is Harper Chu now. So you must have also
realized that my family name is Chu, not Qin.".

"You..." Beth Qin stretched out her finger and pointed at Harper, trembling with fury. In the past, none other than Felton in the
clan had ever contacted with Harper. Harper was only a name mentioned sometimes to most of them. But she didn't expect that
after Harper had gained her current position, with their help of course, she would just turn her back on the whole clan. This was
outrageous!
"So, are you trying to deny that you are a member of the Qin Clan?" she asked Harper again for confirmation.
"Have you and your clan ever considered me as a member of you?" Harper asked in reply. For all these years, she had met only
a few people of the Qin Clan. Other than Felton, his servants, and people in the orphanage, she had only heard about other few
members. But she didn't know too much about them, to tell the truth. It was fair to say that she didn't know how big the clan was,
and how many people were there. Now, Felton disappeared out of thin air, so did the children of the orphanage. And at this point,
the clan sent someone to summon her. It was inevitable that she felt she was being threatened with the safety of Felton and
those children.
Beth Qin blurted out, "Of course, without the help of our whole clan, you wouldn't have gained what you have in hand today!
Don't be so ungrateful!"
Hearing this, Harper was pissed off and laughed out loud. The woman in front of her claimed that the Qin Clan had helped her a
lot in the past years. But for all she knew, they had only told her some information and asked her to find a way to help them get
rid of the influence of the spiritual power. They had never helped her in any way other than that.
"Let me make it clear today. If the clan wants to see me, fine. Send Felton to invite me. Otherwise, who knows whether you are
from the Qin Clan or not? Now, security, come and see this lady out!" Without hesitation, Harper drove the woman away. She
was not fond of, or interested in anyone from the Qin Clan except for Felton!