Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

The steward of Francis's mansion came in to report, "Your Highness, Lord Andy is here."

Francis nodded slightly and continued to mold the sugar figurine in his hand. Interestingly, it was in his

own shape this time. "Let

him in."

"Good evening, Your Highness," Andy greeted Francis with a smile and bowed down.

"Please rise, Lord Andy," Francis said in a soft tone. "How is Father?"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. His Majesty is fine. He's just worried about your health. That's why he

ordered me to bring you

some ginseng to add your nutrition. The imperial physician informed His Majesty that you have lost too

much blood. After hearing

that, His Majesty ordered me to send you all the top quality ginseng from the storehouse."

"I am so grateful to Father for his kindness and concern," said Francis. He struggled hard to sit up and

make a kowtow to

express his gratitude, but his wound was affected. Immediately, he opened his mouth and gasped in

pain. Andy rushed forward

to stop him and said, "Your Highness, please don't move. The wound is not fully healed. It might get

even worse if it gets torn.

His Majesty knows quite well about your love and respect for him and cares about your health very

much."

"I can walk now. It's just that my wound got pulled up because of my excitement," Francis said with a

smile. "Please tell Father

that I'm recovering well. Also, please tell him not to worry about me. He should pay more attention to

take care of himself."

"Your Highness, I will surely convey your words to His Majesty. Please have a good rest. I'm going back

to the Imperial Palace

and report to His Majesty right away." Lord Andy smiled like the Maitreya Buddha and took permission

to leave. Among all the

sons of the emperor, Francis was the most easygoing.

"Send Lord Andy out," Francis ordered the steward.

Before Andy walked out with a smile, the sugar figurines molded by Francis came into his sight. He

couldn't help but feel funny.

He was quite surprised to find that Francis had such a hobby. The news about Matthew's return to the

imperial capital was already swirling in the town. In Maxwell's mansion, he was reviewing the military

reports in his study. His wife, Ivy, came with a cup of ginseng tea. "Maxwell, it's already late at night.

You should take care of yourself. I've made a cup of ginseng tea for you." "Put it down. I will drink it

later," Maxwell said without even raising his head.

Hearing this, she placed the tea on the desk. But she didn't leave immediately but kept staring at him

for quite a while. Then she asked hesitantly, "Maxwell, have you been dissatisfied with your concubines

in our mansion recently?" Maxwell stopped writing as soon as he heard the question. He raised his

head, and asked, "What do you mean?" "Recently, you have not been visiting any of your concubines.

Instead, you are regularly sleeping in the study. If you're tired of all of them, I can recruit two other

beautiful concubines for you... Cough." Ivy began to cough. Recently, she coughed a lot, and always

felt weak. "You think too much. I'm just busy with my work these days. It's cold, so you'd better wear

some warm clothes. If you feel unhealthy, just call the physician in the mansion to diagnose you,"

Maxwell said in a flat tone. "Besides, what's the use of having more concubines? None of them can

bear a child for me."

Hearing Maxwell's words, his wife felt uneasy and her face suddenly turned pale. "Sorry, Maxwell, it's

my entire fault. I wish I had

borne a child for you."

"All right. You can leave now. I have to finish with these files," Maxwell said impatiently. He was no

longer interested in dealing

with any of the women in his mansion. He understood that more women would result in inviting more

trouble. The female

population in his mansion was so stupendous that he couldn't even find out who had poisoned him.

Fortunately, he remembered

what Harper had told him. She had shared her observation that the woman who had poisoned him

would have similar physical

conditions as that to him. That was when he decided to check all the women in his mansion for

similarities with him, but couldn't

come to a conclusion, as several among them were akin to him. "General." The deputy general walked

in. "Prepared well?" Maxwell asked in an apathetic tone. "Yes, everything is ready. It's perfectly

arranged and no one would cast any doubt," the deputy general said decisively. But he was confused

about Maxwell's future course of action. He even wondered if Maxwell was mentally stimulated, as he

himself incited his concubine to cheat on him, and would go to catch their adultery in bed.

"If everything is ready, you may leave now," Maxwell ordered immediately. His intention was to remove

one of the questionable

concubines. Although he wasn't sure which of his concubines had poisoned him, he would rather kill

them all than let go of the

real criminal.

"Yes."

Tonight, Maxwell's mansion was doomed to be devoid of peace. Due to her poor health recently, Ivy

seldom slept tight. So, she

got easily disturbed by the noise coming from outside. It was the middle of the night, and she felt

something unusual. She

immediately asked her maid, "What's happening outside? It's so noisy."

"My Lady, it's because something happened in Lady Chelsea's house. She committed adultery and was

caught cheating in the

bed by the General," the maid said in a low voice. "General is in Lady Chelsea's yard now. He has

ordered to kill her."

Ivy felt restless at the news. She got dressed quickly, and said, "Let's go and have a look."

"Yes, My Lady."

She then led a group of people to Chelsea's yard. When they arrived there, what they witnessed was a

pathetic scene. Maxwell

had ordered the servants to blindfold Chelsea, and she was about to be drowned into a pond. Naked,

Chelsea was tied up tightly

with a rope, and her beautiful face was filled with fear. She couldn't help but shake her head. She

wanted to open her mouth to

beg for mercy, but she couldn't say a word, as her mouth was stuffed with a cloth.

"Maxwell, this..." Ivy mumbled. She felt embarrassed because of the scandal in the clan. But, when she

came here, to her

surprise, she found that all of the concubines were present there. Obviously, Maxwell wanted to take

the chance to warn other

women despite the shame.

"Throw her down," Maxwell ordered coldly. He was sitting on a chair in the yard and was directing the

whole proceedings. Then

several guards lifted Chelsea, and threw her into the pond.