Forensic Imperial Concubine

"Get me some water from the kitchen," Harper said calmly. There were only four maids in the Emerald House. Harper did not ask for more in order to avoid this kind of unexpected thing to happen. Unfortunately, trouble had its way of happening even when she had done everything to avoid it.

Nina soon fetched some water and put it into a bowl. Harper took a sip. The water was clean.

"What do you think, My Lady?" Nina asked anxiously.

"There is no problem with the water." Frowning, Harper wondered how the bird's nest soup had been poisoned. Frustrated that she couldn't figure it out, Harper went to inspect the kitchen. Enya and Elsie didn't know what happened to make Harper's mood sour but they sensed they had to stay silent.

Harper checked the water tank in the kitchen and the bird's nest again. Then she looked at the roof and the windowsill. Even the ash in the stove did not have a trace of the poison. But there was poison in the soup. That much she was certain.

'It's so strange!' Harper thought for a long time, but still was unable to figure out a possibility. It took a certain brand of brilliance and cunning to be able to poison her so subtly. If it weren't for her medical background, she wouldn't detect the poison at all. They would have been poisoned to their deaths. If someone had run into the Emerald House to poison her, her maids should have noticed that person's presence. What on earth could have happened?

With a serious face, she sat by the table, staring at a point as her fingers tapped on the table slightly. Suddenly, her hand tipped the cup lid by accident. The lid rolled and fell to the floor before it broke into several pieces.

"Ah, it broke again." Upon seeing that, Anabel immediately went to clean the debris.

you said it broken again. What do you mean?" Harper

broke the lid. So I went and got another new one from the storage house. I didn't expect it to break again now. It seems that we

swiftly and stopped her from touching the broken pieces of the cup lid. Squatting down, she began to inspect

up the pieces, and asked Nina to get another bowl of water. Then, she put all the pieces into the water. After a while, she pulled out a silver hairpin from her head and put it into the water. The silver hairpin

my God!" Anabel screamed, her eyes

on Harper's face. Both Nina and Anabel held their breaths and dared not say anything, afraid they might interrupt Harper's thinking. They waited silently for Harper's plan.

she could take the risk of keeping Enya and Elsie in

Nina and

came back. "Are you sure that Harper accepted the bird's nest?" She had been asking Shirley this question more than ten times now.

with my own eyes. And I also heard Nina say she would stew it for Lady Harper to enjoy," Shirley replied honestly. Truth be told, Shirley was a little scared. Harper was the daughter of Charles' first wife, after all. If anything unusual happened to her after she ate the bird's nest, it would be obvious that Carrie would be the

had been fidgeting at her handkerchief anxiously. If her plan went well, Harper would have eaten the bird's nest by now. Her dead body should have caused a stir in the Emerald House. However, it all seemed silent over at Harper's side. The silence made Carrie uneasy. What would Harper do if she discovered that

yet nothing happened. Finally, she could not handle the suspense anymore. She turned to Shirley and said, "Let's go check what's

troublesome for us," Shirley persuaded, trying to stop Carrie from doing anything crazy. She knew that Carrie must keep her head low and stay on her lane. She shouldn't do anything that could offend Harper. Although Harper was not favored by her father, her

if she is found to be poisoned, it will have nothing to do with me anyway!" Carrie said darkly. "If she is lucky