Forensic Imperial Concubine novel Chapter 42

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 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."

"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 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 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. 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 Splendor House and the Excellence House."

"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 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!