Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

.

Zorro had long noticed where Travis was hiding. Naturally, he was very dissatisfied with the behavior of the marquis. The twelve
secret guards had a huge admiration for Harper, so they hated anyone who would dare to offend or go against her.
At the ward, Harper was getting worried that Wendy was still too weak, so she fed the lady the precious medicine, saussurea
involucrata which she had been keeping for a long time. She hoped that it would help her overcome the hardest part of her
recuperation process.
"Your Highness, the saussurea involucrata..." Zorro hesitated.
"It's not a big deal. The saussurea involucrata is nothing but a medicine without life. Once all of it is gone, we can still look for
new supplies. But once a human's life is gone, we can never get it back," Harper slowly said. In her opinion, medicinal resources
should be used without hesitation. No matter how valuable they were, they could only be regarded as trash if they couldn't be
used in saving a human's life.
Zorro looked at the Travis, who was still wandering aimlessly at the gate of the yard, then at Harper, who was inside the ward.
Through telepathy, he said, "Your Highness, Marquis Travis has been roaming outside. I guess he probably wants to find an
opportunity to come inside. Should I do anything to him?"
"Just ignore him and let him be. It's his mansion after all. We are merely his guests. He is free to go wherever and do anything he
wants to," Harper plainly said. In fact, she could see clearly Travis' hostility towards her so she could understand Zorro's
concerns. However, when she had previously worked at the Imperial Academy of Medicine, Travis had never been so adverse to
her like this. She didn't know when he had begun to be cold towards her.
Travis lingered around for a long time, but he still didn't see Harper come out of the ward. He was somewhat irritable already.
After all, he was older than Harper. He thought Harper should give him an out by initiating to make peace with him.

But despite this, Harper still wouldn't come out. Travis furiously gritted his teeth. He believed that Harper was taking this chance
to embarrass him. However, it was too difficult for him to bow his head and apologize to a young woman. In the meantime,
Forsythia woke up after getting only two hours of sleep. Nevertheless, she had regained all of her energy once more. In a rush,

she came to the ward to replace Harper, informing her that she didn't need to rest any longer. It was not until then that Harper
came out of the room and immediately found out that Travis was still wandering nearby. "Marquis Travis, did you come to visit
Lady Wendy?" Harper asked while she made her way towards Travis. She had thought that Travis had been trying to figure out a
way to break in the ward, but she realized that he was simply roaming outside the gate
without any intention of forcing himself into the room. It ultimately confused her. "Young lady, I've been here for far too long. Why
didn't you invite me to have a cup of tea?" The corners of Harper's mouth twitched a little. "Marquis Travis, this is your mansion,
not mine." The expression on Travis' face stiffened. "Since you've been staying in this house, then you're the host for the time
being. So, of course, you should invite me to tea!" Harper smiled, thinking that it wasn't that big of a deal. She turned to a maid
and commanded, "Go and make a pot of tea." The maid immediately went to make a pot of high-end tea. In the meantime, Travis
and Harper sat down in one of the pavilions of the yard. "I heard that you once saved my son's life?" he asked.
"No, that's not really true," Harper said while shaking her head without hesitation. As far as she could remember, she had never
saved Shawn's life.
"Shawn said that it was you who once saved his life in the Imperial Palace many years ago. The late emperor was very
suspicious. I was given a lot of recognition and I only had one son. It was inevitable that someone would set him up. You saved
him at that time," Travis said in a solemn tone.
"I don't really remember it," Harper honestly said. She didn't intend to ask for anything in return, which left Travis at a loss for
words.
"You... you saved my only son. Don't you know that you had made a great contribution to our clan?"

"I don't mean to offend you but since I've already forgotten about that, I think it's a trivial matter that's not worth mentioning." At
this moment, the maid came with a pot of hot tea and two cups. Harper personally poured a cup for Travis and said, "Please
have some tea, Marquis Travis." "You're an awful woman. You're not likable at all!" "Yes, I know that. Perhaps, that's why my
father doesn't like me either," Harper said, fully at ease with the conversation. Before having a sip of the tea, Travis said,
"Actually, I didn't hate you before. I began to dislike you when Shawn decided to go to

the north domain."
Harper nodded her head in understanding. After all, Shawn was Travis' only son. Once he decided to go to the north domain, he
would face the Great Jade Kingdom and the Wonder Kingdom where a war might happen at any time. If anything were to
happen to Shawn and he died, Travis would lose his heir.
"Marquis Travis, you didn't want Marquis Shawn to serve in the north domain?"
Looking at Harper with eyes seemingly filled with sparks, Travis replied, "No, that was fine. I just didn't want him to be controlled
by a woman! I certainly know what kind of person my son is. As soon as he came back from the army, he began to inquire about
the daughters of every major clan. However, after he took a trip to Prince Matthew's mansion later on, it seemed like he had lost
his soul. Then, he had a violent fight against Prince Matthew and even went to the north domain. I heard from his deputy general
that it was you who had asked him to go there. I immediately understood what was wrong with him, so I began to hate you."
"Marquis Travis, I admit that it was my fault for not considering your feelings back then."
"No, I started to hate you, not because you asked him to go to the north domain, but because you failed to make him realize the
fact that you're married already and could no longer have a romantic relationship with him. Didn't you know that he has affection
for you? Affections more than what a friend should have." Travis finally told her the entire truth.
With a confused look on her face, Harper could only stare at Travis, as if she heard something so impossible. "Marquis Travis,
are you making a joke?" she asked.
"Look at me. Do you really think that I'm joking?" Travis was so annoyed that he put on a stern expression on his face. Harper
looked so innocent, without even a trace of guilt. It seemed like she didn't know his son's true feelings towards her at all.
Realizing that, Travis couldn't help but wonder if he did something wrong by telling everything to
Harper.