Forensic Imperial Concubine novel Chapter 185

'You are the one who is apprehended!' Harper exclaimed to herself deep in her mind. Harper severely wished to retort. However, she kept herself from saying anything, fully aware that they were in a public setting. Katrina seemed to be quite good at tearing the scab right off someone else' sore. She could even pretend that she didn't notice the embarrassment on everyone's faces, especially on Harper's, as she continued with her speech.

"Your Majesty, Harper is reluctant to get married, because her last engagement had been broken off. However, it is worth noting that she is the only daughter of Prime Minister Charles right now. I don't want to see her grow old and lead her life all by herself. Please arrange a good marriage and find a reliable man for her." Katrina still pretended to beg the emperor for help as though she was very upset and concerned about Harper's situation. The people present were convinced by her words. They couldn't help but feel how kind of an aunt she was to Harper.

While she continued to listen to Katrina, Harper only felt that she was being treated like a mere item being put on sale. It felt like she was dependent upon who would make a good offer after she was carefully observed and evaluated. In short, she felt dehumanized. Katrina, who seemingly cared about Harper so much in front of others, was in fact, only adding insult to her injury. It seemed like embarrassing and humiliating Harper in front of everyone was the sole thing that could bring happiness in her life.

"Your Majesty, I am unwilling to marry not because my last engagement was broken off. In fact, I am not devastated about that either. Instead, I feel so lucky that Prince Kevin's son broke off the engagement to me. As for marriage, in general, I will certainly obey my parents' decisions. I really appreciate that Her Highness cares so much about my marriage. I give my gratitude towards this." As soon as Harper finished her words, she cast a glance at Katrina and bowed to her. Then, she indifferently sat back to her chair.

Katrina felt a little disgraced. Just now, Harper had said that she would follow her parents' arrangement for her marriage. In fact, she was reminding Katrina that she did not have the right to arrange her marriage. But if both Charles and Nicole reached an agreement about her marriage, Harper would not have a problem with this. Otherwise, if they had a problem with it, Harper wouldn't have a choice but to be on their side.

"Your Majesty, I've always shown great concern about my daughter's marriage. I won't let her suffer any grievance anymore." Nicole completely disagreed with Katrina's idea and finally made her voice heard. She couldn't believe that Katrina even wanted to arrange a marriage for Harper as she pleased.

"Nicole, I only meant that His Majesty could arrange a good marriage for Harper. I'm only looking out for your best interests. Especially, now that you're pregnant, you should not be stressed or bothered too much about this matter."

"Your Highness, thank you for your concern. You are really thoughtful and considerate. However, I reassure you that even if I am pregnant, I haven't forgotten about my duty to care about my own daughter's marriage." Nicole kept retorting against Katrina with inexplicable hostility towards her. Harper had been treating her with utmost sincerity and loyalty, so Nicole would certainly not allow anyone else to arbitrarily arrange a marriage for Harper.

"Aright, stop arguing." After interrupting their conversation, the emperor turned to look at Harper, who looked fairly attractive and talented to him. Although she had a bad temper, as observed from her words alone, at least she looked gentle and amiable. But, it was a pity that her engagement had been ceased.

Then, the emperor looked around to see which clans still had unmarried sons. But all the people in the great hall whose sons were still unmarried lowered their heads in succession. They were afraid that their son would be chosen to marry Harper. From their perspective, Harper was not the kind of woman who would be obedient and submissive to her husband. They thought that if their son married her, it would only bring chaos to their clan.

"Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty."

Carlson and Zack stated while they stood up together.

"Carlson, Zack, what's the matter?" the emperor unhappily asked, being interrupted from his thoughts.

"Your Majesty, may I—"

"Your Majesty!" Allen suddenly chipped in to interrupt his son. "My son is trying to ask if he could make some recommendations to you."

"Father!" Frustrated at what his father had said, Carlson explained, "Your Majesty, that is not what I want to say at all."

"Sit down!" Allen didn't care about what Carlson was thinking. Whatever it was, he couldn't let Harper marry his son and become a part of his clan. Moreover, he didn't want his son to marry such a cunning and complex woman. He also thought that the emperor must have other intentions for arranging this marriage.

Zack smiled as if he had foreseen it. But before he spoke out to reveal his proposal, the emperor said, "I think my brother Matthew is a good man. What do you think, Harper?"

Harper turned stiffly and looked at the emperor. After taking a look at Matthew, she was frightened so much that she immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I am too humble to even think about marrying His Highness."

"I think the two of you would make a good match." The emperor looked at Matthew who had an impassive face and then shifted his gaze to Harper, who was trembling out of fear. She was the only woman in the world that Matthew seemed to be interested in. He didn't want to let go of this opportunity.

"What do you think, Charles?" It was obvious then that the emperor was determined to facilitate the marriage between Harper and Matthew. Even for a second, Charles didn't dare to oppose him.

"Your Majesty, that's a wise choice!" Charles answered.

Zack was quite surprised. He looked at Matthew, hoping that the man could refuse the marriage. If the emperor really proclaimed the marriage, Harper's life would be ruined!

"Zack, sit down!" Franklin held Zack's elbow and asked him to sit down. Now that the emperor had proposed the marriage, he would not allow anyone to raise an objection against him. Even Harper or Matthew was not an exception.

Kneeling down on the floor, Harper dared not to look up. This was just what Katrina had intended to do. She wanted Harper to marry Matthew. But why did the emperor wanted her to marry Matthew? Harper only had this one question in her mind. As far as she knew, Matthew possessed much military power, while Charles served as the Prime Minister. Therefore, if the two clans would join hands with each other, the consequences would be unimaginable. This was just the reason why Harper was questioning the emperor's marriage arrangement. Matthew held great military power.

Harper immediately understood the key reason why Katrina had been so eager to facilitate this marriage arrangement. Matthew's mansion was guarded so strictly that it was extremely difficult for anyone else to sneak inside without being detected. Harper had actually visited the mansion a few times. As far as she remembered, the mansion was well guarded that no one could easily enter. However, it would be much easier for anyone with even a bit of evil intent against the mansion to gain access by getting any of their family members married into the clan. With this, it dawned on Harper that at this banquet, she was not the sole target, it turned out that Matthew was the target as well.

With this thought in mind, Harper felt her hands and feet rather freezing due to fear. To the best of her knowledge, Matthew couldn't be easily fooled. Hence, she would immediately be put to death after stepping into his mansion at the night of their wedding if he had any doubts that she had any ulterior motive.