Forensic Imperial Concubine novel Chapter 184

As soon as Harper came back, Howard noticed that she was acting rather normal. In an instant, it dawned on him that even after their conversion, Katrina did not think that this person in front of him was an impostor. With this, he concluded that she was the real Harper. For the time being, all the facts at hand showed that there were only some changes in Harper's dispositions.

"What took you so long, Harper?" Mavis asked with confusion written all over her face.

"Lady Katrina asked me to come over because she wanted to ask me some questions. We talked for quite a long time, so I came back a bit late," Harper answered politely. "Fortunately, His Majesty and Her Majesty haven't arrived yet, or else it would have been impolite for me to come at this point."

"Have a cup of warm tea. Look at your face! It's bright red because of the coldness." True to her words, Mavis hurriedly handed a cup of tea to Harper, who took it with a smile and immediately took a sip.

On the other hand, Howard didn't say anything to her. He just carefully watched her movements as discretely as he could. He then shifted his attention to Zack, who was sitting diagonally opposite to him. He quickly noticed that ever since Harper had come back to her seat, Zack's gaze had been fixated on her.

"Father," Howard called to Charles in a very low voice. Then, he turned to switch his gaze to the direction where the Bu Clan was situated. Charles followed Howard's gaze and his eyes coincidentally met with Zack's.

Zack gave a bland smile to Charles and turned his eyes away. Then, he spoke to Caroline beside him and the woman immediately flashed a big smile on her face.

Harper was just quietly sipping her tea with her head lowered. In all honesty, she was still lost in vivid thoughts about Hailey's appearance inside the imperial palace. She firmly believed that the girl had only managed to do that with Howard's help. In the meantime, she was certain that Katrina had some other intentions for asking her to come over. She quietly thought to herself, 'What on earth is Katrina up to? What does Hailey intend to do?'

With these thoughts in mind, she carefully examined the food on the table. After a short while, she had checked everything and figured out that there was nothing wrong with them. That was to say, they hadn't intended to poison her with the food here. If that was the case, what kind of trap did they plan for her this time?

"Here comes His Majesty and Her Majesty."

Right after the palace attendant's voice came reverberating through the enormous hall, the emperor and the empress walked inside hand in hand. Immediately, all the officials knelt down and saluted, "Long live Your Majesties."

The emperor led the empress to the throne and sat down before he responded, "Get up and take your seats."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Harper was still immersed in her thoughts that she didn't even raise her head to take a look at the emperor or the empress. Although she had visited the Imperial Palace before, she had seen the emperor and the empress only a few times. Besides, she was a female imperial physician. From time to time, it had been her job to check pulses for the concubines. Strictly speaking, she had never seen the empress before in such close proximity.

"Today, a banquet is held in the palace to share our joy with all of you. Let us all leave what have come and welcome this new year. We wish peace, prosperity, and abundance to our country and to all of you! May everyone in the country lead a harmonious and content life with a good harvest throughout the year!" the emperor said with a smile. "Today, let us drink and eat to our heart's content. Don't be overcautious or restrict yourself and simply enjoy yourselves."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," all the officials beamed.

It was not until this moment that Harper looked up and looked around the hall, only to find that there was still one vacant seat. While she was confused who hadn't arrived yet, the emperor answered her question. "Matthew is late again!" His voice occupied the hall.

"Your Majesty, Matthew is often late in any engagement. I apologize on his stead but please don't be quite offended by this." When she finished speaking, the empress filled the emperor's goblet with wine. "You could command Matthew to drink as much as you wish when he arrives later."

"You're right, I must punish him for this." The emperor heartily laughed, as if punishing Matthew by making him drink so much wine was a rather pleasant and amusing thing.

"Here comes His Highness," the palace attendant announced.

"He has finally arrived. Is it so impossible for him to come a bit earlier?" the emperor said in a teasing and annoyed tone as if he was just an elder brother who was making fun of his younger brother.

When Matthew appeared by the door of the hall, everyone turned their eyes on him. Although he was sitting in a wheelchair, he still looked mighty and dignified. Barry was slowly pushing the wheelchair ahead with his hands firmly clutched on the back of the chair.

"Your Majesty, my deepest apologies for being late. Please find it in your heart to forgive me," Matthew sincerely and slowly stated.

"Matthew, you are late again. In every single banquet, you're late. Because of this conduct, you must be punished with wine!" Then, the emperor asked one of the servants to pour a goblet of wine for Matthew.

Matthew didn't refuse. He reached out for the wine and drank it without hesitation. After that, he said, "I admit that it is very wrong of me to be late, so I drink the wine as a punishment."

Barry pushed the wheelchair to Matthew's designated seat in the hall and assisted him with the transfer. Afterward, as if by some unknown cue, all the people present got more excited than they had ever been that day. They started to exchange some good wishes, urged each other to drink more wine, and even gave out a lot of compliments as if they would not run out.

In this scenario, Harper was quietly eating her own food, minding her own business. Even when everyone was looking at her, she was still heartily munching with her head down. For some reason, she didn't notice the attention on her.

"Harper!" Mavis quickly pinched Harper. Only after then did Harper finally come to her senses. As she raised her head, she was surprised and overwhelmed to found that everyone was looking at her. "Her Majesty just asked His Majesty to make arrangements for your marriage."

All of a sudden, the spoon in Harper's hand fell down on her plate. The sound it made quickly veiled the enormous hall with silence. Harper immediately stood up from her seat and responded in an unsteady voice, "Your Majesty, thank you for your concern about me. I genuinely appreciate it. However, I just want to spend my time with my parents and be filial to my grandmother. For the time being, I'm afraid that I don't have any intentions of getting married."

"Harper, you have to realize sooner rather than later that you are not young anymore. Have you not seen the women of your age? They are not only married, but also mothers already. How can you just indulge in enjoying your life with your parents?" Katrina sharply said while looking at Harper. "I know you are afraid that others would be apprehensive of you because Prince Kevin's son broke off the engagement to you last time, but that shouldn't stop you. You shouldn't be afraid because of that. I have just asked His Majesty for help in this regard to arrange your marriage."