Forensic Imperial Concubine

"Harp, someone from the Qin Clan has just arrived. He claimed that the Qin Clan wants to make peace with you and that he has
a letter for you." Seeing how busy Harper was reading a book, Matthew immediately snatched the volume off her hand, even
giving her a look of disagreement. "Harp, you have to stop doing this. You're a pregnant woman! You shouldn't overwork
yourself!" he said exasperatedly.
"What? I'm just reading a book!" Harper was a bit speechless in front of the protective husband, who seemed to make a fuss
about anything that might cost her time and energy.
"Harp, come on. You know you'll get tired after reading for some time. The balance between work and rest is very important,
especially for someone expecting." Aside from strictly monitoring his pregnant wife's daily activities, Matthew made sure that he
had prepared every food that was good for pregnant women, as per their physician. He even cooked the chicken soup himself!
"You know what? Eating is better than reading. Come and have a taste of this chicken soup I made."
"Okay, didn't you just say that someone from the Qin Clan arrived? Then now isn't the time for chicken soup!" Harper said
confused to high heavens. Matthew didn't react whatsoever, and so Harper just gave up, taking the bowl of soup from his hand.
As she stirred it to cool it off, she said, "Let him in."
"What's with the rush?" asked Matthew immediately, "Drink the chicken soup first. There is plenty of time." With that, instead of
going ahead and calling the visitor in, he just sat by Harper's side, making sure she ate her food.
Harper knew that there was no way she would be able to convince Matthew any further, and so she resigned herself to finishing
the chicken soup. Matthew's eyes lit up with happiness when he saw that Harper was drinking more than he had expected. After
Harper emptied the bowl, he filled another one at once.
"One more, Harp," Matthew cheerfully urged.
"Matthew, your chicken soup is honestly one of the best chicken soups I have tasted, but having too much of it will make me sick.
Why don't you try it?" Before Matthew could respond, Harper quickly took the bowl from his hand, scooped a spoonful of soup,
and basically forced it to him. Though surprised, Matthew grinned widely, opened his mouth like a spoiled child, and closed his
eyes as he gulped the liquid down. The look on his face, however, suddenly changed.
"Bitter? Why does it taste like drug!" he grumbled, tears almost forming in his eyes.
"Bitter?" Harper asked, an amused smile on her face. "No, it's not. You worked so hard on it. So, drink it all!"

Seeing that Harper was in such high spirits, Matthew dared not reject her. 'It is just a bowl of chicken soup. Even though it tastes
like bitter medicine, it's not a big deal,' he thought. He would lap the soup all up in tears if need be. After all, he himself had
cooked it, and he could blame no one else.
After finishing his bowl of the soup he concocted, Matthew was in no mood to speak anymore. Harper, now free and unbothered
by Matthew, then asked one of her servants to usher Qin Clan's messenger in.
"Good day, Your Highness," greeted the man, who looked gentle and amiable. He turned out to be the new steward of the Qin
Clan.
"I believe you bring news from the Qin Clan?" asked Harper a bit drily. She had already made a clean break with the Qin Clan. It
wasn't that hard for her, as Felton was the only one she truly cared about.
"Lady Victoria wants you to go back to the Qin Clan. She wanted to discuss something important—the whole clan's inheritance."
The steward didn't know how Harper would react to the invitation, and so he tried to take a look of her face. Since he didn't want
her to decline the invitation, he was trying to be as cordial as humanly possible.
After a few moments of silence, Harper finally spoke. "Oh, I thought it would be something important. It turns out that it's only
about the inheritance. Please tell Lady Victoria that as a granddaughter married into another family, I'm not interested in the
inheritance of the clan at all. And besides, their inheritance only gets passed down to the sons of the clan. It isn't my place to
take any of it, so I'd better not meddle in things I'm not a part of," refused Harper rather indifferently.
Hearing this, the steward became anxious. "Your Highness, it's not like what you said. You are a member of the Qin Clan and
also the direct line of descent. I mean, if you are not qualified, who else deserves it? Lady Victoria even noted that you are the
most eligible person to inherit everything the clan has."
"I said I'm not interested," Harper reiterated in a tone a bit more hostile. She had no time to care about the Qin Clan. Currently,
her top priority was Derrick and how to effectively deal with him. He had proven to be incredibly cunning and ruthless that he
would even use his own son and daughter to get what he wanted. As he was clearly desperate, he would do and use anything to
his advantage.
The steward felt more anxious than ever before, but he made sure he didn't show it on his face. "I understand. Lady Victoria also
asked me to give this to you. She instructed me to tell you to read that first so that you'd understand her better."

Harper narrowed her eyes, but she didn't take the letter over. Seeing that, Matthew gestured to the maid, and the girl went to
take the letter over at once. After a careful check, she handed it to Harper finally.
Harper knew that Victoria wanted to get the Qin Clan's inheritance all the time, and she would never give up before she got what
she craved for. For this, Harper was expecting that there would merely be some fancy words in the letter, which aimed at luring
her to give a hand. But she was wrong. Yet, what was written in the letter was beyond her imagination!
"What's wrong?" Seeing that the expression on Harper's face changed, Matthew leaned forward and asked worriedly.
Harper didn't answer him. She instead raised her head and looked at the steward, "Go back and report to Lady Victoria that I'll
pay a visit as she wishes, in three days."
"Yes, Your Highness." The steward then left cheerfully. As soon as the man had left, the letter was handed to Matthew. After
reading it, he smiled.
"I have been wondering why the old lady has the courage to go against us. It turns out that she has colluded with Derrick for
quite a long time."
"You see, Matthew, what the old lady says is that she has the lord of the Phoenix City in her hand and asks us to discuss how to
deal with him. Besides, Daphne is also in her control. Now it could be said that she has the bargaining chips, so she wants to
negotiate with us, forcing me to go there this time," Harper analyzed indifferently. In fact, she didn't care if the old fox Derrick was
caught by the Qin Clan, but the problem was, Daphne had also fallen into their clutches!
"But Derrick is definitely a sly old fox, how come he would make the mistake and fall into the hands of Victoria? Unless this old
fox surrendered to her voluntarily." Matthew had seen the matter more clearly than Harper. "Derrick has built his authority
through years of scheming and calculating, while the old lady has been hiding in the deep mountain for many years. No matter
how clever she might be, the Qin Clan can't catch Derrick this easily. Derrick might only be a bait. I'm afraid they are inviting you
to a dinner full of conspiracies," Matthew reminded.