Forensic Imperial Concubine novel Chapter 49

"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.

"Anabel, you said it broken again. What do you mean?" Harper asked in surprise.

Without raising her head, Anabel continued cleaning the pieces and answered, "Last night, Elsie accidentally 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 have to get another one tomorrow."

Harper pulled Anabel swiftly and stopped her from touching the broken pieces of the cup lid. Squatting down, she began to inspect one of the pieces. "My Lady, be careful. It may cut your hand," Anabel said with concern.

Harper picked 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 turned black. The water was now contaminated with poison.

"Oh my God!" Anabel screamed, her eyes wide in shock.

There was no expression 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.

"Clean all the mess. Let's just pretend that nothing has happened. You will watch carefully if anyone is wandering outside our house tonight. Be careful while you observe. We will soon know who is trying to kill me." She did not think she could take the risk of keeping Enya and Elsie in her house anymore. They were easy targets, easy ways for people to manipulate and do their dirty work for them. The stakes just got higher. She couldn't afford the risk anymore.