Forensic Imperial Concubine novel Chapter 585

Nodding his head, Walden said, "It's my fault. I must have been out of my mind to make such a terrible mistake. Please forgive me, Father."

Matthew looked at Walden and then at his "wife", who was sitting calmly by his side. "Walden, how ridiculous to speak in that way! Can a person momentarily lose his mind and slaughter a whole family?"

His "wife" turned her eyes to Matthew. "Since you are so ruthless, you must pay the price."

With the expression on his face unchanged, Matthew toyed with the glass in his hand. Then his eyes fell upon the woman's neck. "Why didn't you wear the necklace I gave you?" he asked.

The woman's heart skipped a beat at his question, but she managed to keep her composure. "Sorry, I was in such a hurry to go out. I forgot it," she answered.

By now, Matthew was sure that she was not Harper. He had never given a necklace to Harper as a gift. As a matter of fact, he had once given Harper a pair of bracelets as a token of affection, which the woman by his side obviously had no idea about. Matthew suspected that this was the empress's new trick—substituting someone else for his wife.

"If it was Prince Walden who murdered Scott's family and stole the pills, how did Crown Prince Felix get his hand on the pills? Did he order you to do that?" one of the officials demanded. Everybody knew that Walden was working for Felix. Walden murdered Scott's family and snatched the pills. Then, the pills appeared in Felix's hand. It was a very obvious deduction that Felix was the mastermind of the plot.

"Father, I didn't do that," Felix explained immediately. Although he had told Walden to search for the pills, he had never told him to kill anyone to accomplish the mission.

The emperor had already been suspicious about Felix. Walden had committed murder and robbery, but the pills had reached Felix's hand. Furthermore, Walden and Felix were known to be getting along well with each other. In that light, it was unlikely that Felix was innocent.

"If you are innocent of this, then tell me why the pills came to be in your possession?" the emperor interrogated him. The pills were supposed to be given to him as a tribute, but if Felix had hired someone else to obtain them by force, then this tribute would be compromised.

"Well..." Felix failed to conjure up a quick excuse.

"I sent the pills onward to Felix's mansion," Walden said when he saw that Felix was in a dilemma. "After I had killed so many people and took the pills, I was afraid that my crime would be discovered, so I sent the pills to Felix's mansion."

Felix turned his eyes to Walden, but the latter avoided his glance. He understood that Walden could save him only by pinning the whole crime on himself, not on Felix. As long as Felix was still alive, Walden would have a hope of rising again.

"Father, the pills were indeed sent to me by someone. I even paid a lot of money to the one who delivered them, but I didn't know that man was Brother Walden's man," Felix said, disassociating himself from the charge.

With sweat in her palms, the empress dared not say anything to echo Felix and Walden. She knew clearly that she would only make things worse by opening her mouth. She could do nothing but await the outcome. However, she was quite pleased that Walden took all the blame on his own accord.

"Are you sure you really didn't know?" the emperor asked. Obviously, he didn't believe a word of what the two brothers said.

"Father, I really didn't know what had happened. I thought it was a miracle that someone sent the Longevity Pills to me because my filial piety regarding your birthday gift moved God. I didn't expect someone to frame me deliberately." The more he spoke, the more lies he made up. He was sure he would be okay as long as he could survive his father's suspicions this time.

"Do you have anything else to say, Walden?" the emperor asked. He had never liked Walden, and now that Walden had done such a thing, he disliked him even more. But even though he knew there was a chance of Felix's having something to do with the whole matter, he couldn't strip Felix of his title as the crown prince so easily.

"Father, I have nothing else to say," Walden said. He knew that he was out of luck for the time being. But if Felix succeeded to the throne and became the next emperor, he would have a chance of making a comeback. Therefore, he was trying his best to protect and support Felix.

"Your Majesty, my master was loyal and devoted to you. He was developing the Longevity Pill for many years in order to help you. But his fate was to die a miserable death. Your Majesty, please grant justice to my master," Hodge said, weeping heavily. As an orphan, he was brought up by Scott. He became an imperial physician later, but still had the utmost reverence for Scott, and even viewed Scott as his father. Now that he knew who the murderer was, he would definitely seek justice for Scott.

"Your Majesty, Walden is so vicious. He not only murdered Scott's whole family and stole the pills, but also committed arson and framed Felix. Please don't pardon him," Matthew said. On the strength of his words, Walden would be convicted of murder and robbery and would not escape punishment.

When Walden heard what Matthew said, he couldn't argue back. If he denied planting the pills on Felix, it would implicate Felix. He knew that he had to repay the support Felix had extended to him for so many years.

"Walden, how could you be so silly?" Francis exclaimed in astonishment, as if he could not believe what he had heard. "It would have been okay if you had just taken the pills. Why did you kill people and start a fire?"