Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

"The Scarlet Devils is associated with somebody who is a member of the imperial court," Matthew said

as he passed over a list

to Harper, with records of the assassination dealings of the Scarlet Devils over the years. Most of the

dealings were related to

the assassinations of the officials in the court. Of course, some of the names on the list were unknown

figures, and some others

were pretty famous figures in the world of martial artists.

"That's a good way to plant one's own person," Harper said slowly as she looked at the list. "Eliminating

some officials can make

their positions vacant, and thus, one can plant his own people to replace the dead. Moreover, since

some of them held less

important positions, it didn't attract too much attention. Even though we knew that these people died

mysteriously, the Scarlet

Devils was careful not to leave any trace. They also made it look like an accident to cover up the truth."

Matthew's eyes lit up. It finally made sense to him why that person acted discreetly, leaving no trace at

all. He used the Scarlet

Devils to secretly kill the officials, and then he had his men arranged in the imperial court to take up

those vacant positions.

These positions were not important, and few people paid attention to them. However, at certain pivotal

moments, these people

could play a key role. Perhaps, if Matthew carried out an investigation on them based on this list, he

could yield some

unexpected harvest.

"I never thought of it that way. The man is indeed sophisticated and a hard nut to crack." Matthew

sneered coldly. "If he were to

fight against Felix, I doubt if the latter would survive. I'm curious about what is going to happen in the

imperial capital."

"We'll know what will happen in the imperial capital as long as we stay here," Harper said as she put

down her bowl and

chopsticks. "Do you want to stay here?" "Yes, let's stay. Since they don't want us to go back, we can

spend the New Year here, in case we will meet too much trouble when we go back," Matthew said

without hesitation. The hidden forces were finally coming out of the shadow at the end of the year.

Since they were never stingy with their tricks, there must be even more of them on the way. If Matthew

was able to find out the newcomer of the imperial capital, he would be one step closer to the man

behind the scene. "Well, I need to prepare some more medicine. You have to order someone to take it

to Francis. After this course, he no longer needs to take any medications, at least for the time being.

According to his recovery, further treatments can be decided later. By then, we should get back to the

imperial capital already," Harper said. Even though now they were in the River City, she couldn't forget

about Francis' treatment. His condition had been under control recently, and it was important that he

continued his medications. If he was not handled well enough, he was likely to suffer a relapse.

"Well, tell me after you have prepared the medications. I'll ask the guards to take them to him,"

Matthew said. Although he didn't like Francis, he wouldn't mind as long as Harper wouldn't stay with his

nephew alone. "The matter of the Scarlet Devils is now over. After Pearce and his wife officially adopt

Alexander as their sworn son tomorrow, it

will be better to send him back to his school to continue his study," said Harper. After thinking for a

moment, she added,

"Matthew, is there anyone in the River City who works for you?"

"What are you intending to do?" Matthew asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Since we are here, we can't go back empty-handed." Harper smiled, as her eyes sparkled. "The south

region is indeed

prosperous and the best place to earn some money."

The corner of Matthew's mouth twitched slightly. He was expecting something special from Harper, but

it turned out that she

wanted to make money. Though it sounded vulgar, money was something that everyone got attracted

to. "Do you know what the most profitable business in the south region is?" asked Matthew slowly.

"There are three kinds of most profitable business in the south region: first, the entertainment business,

second, the salt business, which can make people rich overnight and third, the silk business." Harper

listed out like an expert. Apparently, she had already done her research. "The entertainment business

will also include the prostitution business, so I'm not going to get involved in it. The salt business in the

south region is very subtle and a slight change in the business will influence the whole

empire. Thus, I won't get involved in that too. As a result, my only option is the silk business."

"Although the silk business may be profitable, it's not easy to make it, especially in the River City..."

Matthew said as he looked

at his wife tenderly. "Actually, you don't need to work so hard to make money. Our mansion has other

businesses to earn extra

revenues in addition to those obtained from the businesses you have already known."

"I know that and the person in charge of the other businesses is Rufus." Harper picked up the

conversation. "He had already

asked me about some new ways to run businesses."

"Then why didn't you ask me about the businesses run by Rufus?" asked Matthew, without changing

his face.

"No need," Harper said frankly. "What Rufus does is outside our mansion, but what I need to do is

within our mansion. Even if I

go out to make money, it is to support the life inside our mansion. So, I don't need to care about

businesses outside our mansion.

Moreover, it'd be a huge project and I don't want to worry about it."

Matthew then explained, "I have a lot of industries outside, but they are all private. I've been funneling

the profits from those to

support the Black Flag Army and offset its secret expenditure. I didn't want to tell you about it because

if this secret is uncovered

someday, I'm afraid that you too might get implicated in it."

"You don't have to worry about it. I don't care," Harper said calmly. "Matthew, I know that His Majesty

has put you in a difficult

position. For an outsider, you seem to be enjoying great glory and fortune, but I know that you are

treading on thin ice and have

to be careful with your every action. I also know how hard you have tried to protect our mansion, but it's

not advisable to keep a

defensive posture all the time."