Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

Harper took a glance at the female matchmaker behind Barry and said with a smile, "The betrothal presents are ready?"
"Yes. Your Highness, please have a look," Barry said while he handed a box that he had been holding to Harper. She stretched
out her hands to take it. To her surprise, the box was so heavy that she almost dropped it.
"It seems like you came from a very wealthy family," Harper teased him. She opened the box and saw several deeds for different
lands, some banknotes, a few pieces of jewelry, and some gold and silver ingots. She figured that Barry must have kept all the
rewards that Matthew gave him.
Barry's face looked a little bit red. "Your Highness, will these be enough?" he nervously asked.
With the box in her hands, Harper walked towards her house and called out, "Anabel!"
"Your Highness, I'm here."
"Go and ask Nina to come here."
"Yes, Your Highness," Anabel answered while she immediately left with so much excitement to look for Nina. For quite a while,
Barry had been standing at the gate of the Phoenix House with a matchmaker by his side. So everyone knew that he was there
to give the betrothal presents.
When the matchmaker entered the receiving room, she began her job. She smiled brightly and said to Harper, "Your Highness,
Guard Barry is a handsome man, and Miss Nina is very beautiful. They're a perfect couple made by God. Guard Barry said that
in his lifetime, he wouldn't want to marry anybody else unless it's Nina, so I hope you can fulfill their wish and allow them to get
married."
With a calm smile, Harper knocked on the box with her fingers. For a while, she didn't utter a single word. Upon seeing that, the
matchmaker couldn't tell what decision Harper would make, so she couldn't do anything but awkwardly smile and stand aside.
She thought to herself, 'Lady Harper is a tough nut to crack. It seems like things won't go that smoothly today.'

When Nina finally came into the room, she briefly glanced at Barry before bowing to Harper. She then greeted her, "Your
Highness.".

"Nina, Barry is here to give you his betrothal presents. He says that he wants to marry you. He has quite a lot of wealth, including
a house in the imperial capital, several country houses, and a number of banknotes. Although there are only a few pieces of
jewelry, it doesn't matter that much. I called you here today because I want to ask for your opinion. Do you love him?" Harper
asked Nina seriously while her eyes were fixed on her. Nina immediately blushed so she lowered her head. In fact, she didn't
know how to answer the question. "Nina, please answer Her Highness," Barry encouraged her despite his anxiety. He was afraid
that Harper wouldn't agree to their marriage if Nina were to say that she didn't love him. Finally, Nina raised her head to take a
look at Barry before she shifted her eyes to Harper. Then she nodded her head firmly and stated with determination, "Your
Highness, yes, I do love him." "So, are you willing to marry him, live the rest of your life with him, share the joys and sorrows with
each other, and never give up on each other, no matter what will happen?" Harper asked in a very gentle voice, devoid of any
judgment. But everyone who heard her couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. "Yes, I am willing to do all of that with Barry."
"That's great," Harper remarked. Then she shifted her eyes back to Barry and asked, "Barry, if I demand that once you marry
Nina, you can never have a concubine in this lifetime and you can't divorce her unless she made a huge mistake, will you still
choose to marry her?"
"Yes!" Barry immediately answered without the least bit of hesitation. He then added, "Nina's place in my heart is too big to
accommodate any other woman. Please believe me when I say that I don't really want to marry anyone else."
"If someone forces you to have a concubine, what will you do?"
"I will never concede!"
"You will never concede even if it's Prince Matthew who will force you to do so?" Harper asked with utmost seriousness while
staring at him intently. She wanted to know if Barry had the ability to resist people with power.
"His Highness is my master. I wouldn't dare to disobey his orders. But I won't let Nina down either. In such a case, I wouldn't be

able to do anything but take my own life to show both my loyalty to His Highness and faithfulness to Nina," Barry responded with
determination after thinking about it for a while. With a smile that almost reached her ears, Harper said, "Go and ask the steward
to come here."

Noah came in a hurry. "What can I do for you, Your Highness?" he asked. "Barry doesn't have any family member. I guess
nobody is taking care of his own house outside of the mansion. You can select some people to go to his house and help him
clean and decorate his house. And choose a lucky day for the two of them so they can get married as soon as possible."
"Barry is going to get married. Congratulations!" Noah said while his eyes narrowed to form a smile. He then turned to Harper
and asked, "Your Highness, I have just read the almanac earlier. Tomorrow is actually an auspicious day. How about they get
married tomorrow?"
For a while, it looked like Harper was thinking very deeply. Tomorrow, there would be a ceremony in the Kong Clan mansion to
celebrate the birth of Jabari, which she had to attend. However, the ceremony wouldn't take place until noon, so there wouldn't
be a conflict in time. With such thoughts in mind, she said, "That's great. Get everything ready as soon as possible. Make sure
that it will be a perfect wedding ceremony."
"Yes, Your Highness. I will prepare for everything right away." Noah then left in a hurry, just like he had come right then.
Meanwhile, Barry felt a little dizzy. The wedding was going to be held much sooner than he had expected, so it all felt surreal to
him.
"Your Highness, I haven't prepared the wedding dress for the bride yet—"
"Don't worry. I have already prepared it beforehand. You don't have to worry about it. Just take care of yourself and prepare to be
the bridegroom," Harper said to Barry with a smile.
"Thank you very much, Your Highness. Please allow me to leave."
"Go ahead."
After Barry left, Harper held Nina's hands in hers and said, "I hope you can consider your own family after you get married. I
have confidence in Barry. He's kind and reliable."
"Yes, Your Highness."
While she was fixing Nina's hair, Harper said, "I have prepared dowries for all of you. Now that you're going to be married, it will
be their turn in the following days to get married. Later, I'll have someone bring the wedding dress in here for you to try on. You
don't need to work today. You just have to wait to be married."