Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

On the way to South Kingdom, the journey went smoothly for Matthew and everyone else. In fact, it was way beyond their
expectations. When the envoys arrived at the station of the Birch Pass, Luther, who was responsible for guarding the south
domain, personally led his soldiers to receive them.
"Your Highnesses, good day to you all. I'm Luther Lu." With thick and seemingly impenetrable armor, Luther looked like a mighty
general. The innocent face that he once had was nowhere to be seen. After strenuous training, he gave people the impression of
being steady and sophisticated.
Matthew lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked at Luther. The prince actually thought highly of the general. He got promoted
to this position solely because of his military prowess and didn't keep close relationships with the courtiers.
"You, are Luther?" Actually, a lot of people were surprised when the late emperor chose Luther to take over the south domain's
army. After all, he didn't attract much attention at the imperial court. If the late emperor hadn't suddenly promoted him as a
commander in chief, only a few people would have known his name.
"That's right, Your Highness. I am Luther, the commander in chief of the south domain's army," Luther plainly answered in a tone
that was neither humble nor rude. The army of the south domain had always been a headache for the imperial court. It was all
because the place was located near South Kingdom where the people were very skilled at using poison. Additionally, the soldiers
in the south domain were arrogant. It was impossible for them to passively obey an order from anyone who they regarded as
incompetent and undignified.
"How many soldiers are in the garrison of the south domain?" Matthew asked slowly.

"Your Highness, in total, there are 200, 000 soldiers in the garrison. The troop of 100, 000 soldiers is directly under my
command. The other 100, 000 are being led by General Xu and General Wei." More than what Matthew was asking for, Luther
explained in great detail the division of the south domain's army. Including himself, there were three leaders in the army.
However, even when a prince had come to the Birch Pass, the other two generals didn't show up. Even though Luther didn't say
anything outright, he was actually trying to snitch on the other two generals. "Where do you live right now?" Matthew then asked.

After entering the Birch Pass, he had been deciding whether they should stay in the official inn or in the military camp. "Your
Highness, the late emperor gave me the former marquis's mansion as the general's residence. I've already asked my men to
clean up the guest room. You may go there right now so you can take a rest. You must be really tired after traveling for so long."
It seemed like Luther already had an idea about Matthew's concerns. He even prepared their accommodation in advance.
With one hand resting on her chin, Harper smiled. "General Luther, you're very considerate. Thank you very much." "Well, then
please lead the way, General Luther," Matthew said. There was a time when the mansion was extremely grand because the
former marquis Harrison had guarded the south domain for an awful lot of years. But the man used his influence over the people
for their own selfish and avaricious gains. They robbed a lot of people's properties and assets. When everything that they owned
was confiscated, all of the treasures almost filled half of the national treasure house.
As soon as Matthew and Harper entered the mansion, they noticed that the layout was very simple, other than the fact that the
estate was very large. With a slight change of the original layout, the magnificent mansion had become a simple and stunning
residence.
"You have good taste, General Luther," Harper praised.
"I'm flattered, Your Highness. I'm not particularly good at designs. It's just that I like it to be simple, so I tried my best to organize
the mansion in this way," Luther slowly replied with a small smile on his face.

"You're too modest, General. This place is indeed well arranged. Now I feel sorry as we'll have to trouble you in the following two
days." "It's my pleasure. I'll take you to your room. Please follow me." Luther led the way, giving Harper a chance to observe the
interiors of the mansion more closely. Although Luther was very humble, he had actually put a lot of effort in decorating the
mansion. It was apparent that he had unique tastes compared to ordinary martial generals. Luther had arranged a picturesque
and tranquil house for them. Harper was very satisfied with it so she instantly had a good impression of the general.
"So apparently, it's true that Luther is capable," Matthew idly stated while looking at the dishes served to them. The food was
neither too luxurious nor too shabby. They were actually delicate and delicious. It was obvious then that Luther made a lot of .

effort to prepare the meal, the accommodation, and the journey to be as comfortable as it could be.
While enjoying the delectable dishes, Harper couldn't help but praise Luther a lot. "He knows us very well."
"Yes, I think you're right. He is very thoughtful and detail-oriented. He has a good understanding of our concerns," Matthew said
while his eyes lit up.
While Harper continued to eat, she picked up some food for Matthew. "This tastes good. Give a try."
Matthew always ate at a very quick pace, which was a habit that he picked up from the military camp. Although he had changed
a lot since he got married, he was yet to get rid of that habit. Compared with Matthew's, Harper's pace of eating was very slow.
When she finished eating about half of her meal, Matthew already put down his chopsticks and bowl.
"I've told you many times already. Don't eat so fast. It's not good for your digestion. Do you know the repercussions of not giving
yourself enough time to digest your food?" Harper asked while she continued to eat.
"You'll have a stomachache?" Matthew tried to guess.
"It's not as simple as that!" Harper swallowed the food in her mouth before continuing, "If a person is killed and his death time
cannot be recognized due to external reasons, another way is to open his stomach and see the contents. We will then calculate
the time of his death based on the food digested in his stomach because once a person dies, his stomach would, of course, stop
digesting. With that, we can roughly know the death time from the amount and state of food that is digested."
"You're eating," Matthew reminded her. He was at a loss while he looked at Harper. She was talking about cutting open a dead
person's stomach while eating the food as if it was nothing.