Forensic Imperial Concubine novel Chapter 697

Francis glared at Rufus and said, "You are so good at argument. Just spit it out now! What information did you deliver?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to know when she's going to leave the Sleek Palace," Rufus insisted. "If you don't want to believe me, then there's nothing I can do about it."

"Did you come here by yourself?"

"I did not. I was with that woman's brother. It was him and not me who was trying to send a message." Rufus sold Howard out without thinking twice. "But I have no idea what it was about."

"The brother of Harper? Who are you talking about?" Francis was taken aback. 'Harper only has one younger brother who is studying in the River City at the moment. So, how come she has another brother I don't know of?'

"Howard Chu."

Francis squinted his eyes. Howard was a legendary figure in the imperial capital. As one of the three major generals of the Bright Dynasty, he fell into the tricks set up by Harper, which almost cost him his head. After he escaped, he helped Hoffman to deal with Felix. But he disappeared without a trace when Hoffman fell. Was everything he did just a show from the very start?

"You're saying that Howard is working for Harper?"

"Who knows who that freak is working for!" Rufus said, sounding so displeased. "He came to me and told me that Harper would kill Cynthia if she was kept inside the Sleek Palace. That was the reason why I came to the palace so urgently in the middle of the night. But he pushed me out as soon as I entered the palace. Thinking that I would be inevitably discovered, I decided that I should at least make sure Cynthia was safe. After that, I went inside the Sleek Palace without incident, but he suddenly disappeared. I don't know why he came looking for me, but I'm sure he went to the palace to find Harper!"

"Howard, I swear I'm going to catch you," Francis stressed. After pausing for a while, he asked, "Have you seen Cynthia?"

"No, I didn't find her in the main hall, so I went to the side hall. When I opened the door, I was hit on the head by Harper with a vase. When I was done dressing my wound and was driven out, your secret guards chased me all over the palace," Rufus said without giving it much thought, as though he didn't think his misery was that big of a deal. "I don't know whom that woman was guarding against. When I sneaked into her room at midnight, she didn't even hesitate and hit me so hard in the head with a vase. It felt like she wanted to hit me to death. Thank God that my head is sturdy enough."

The smile on Francis' face froze when he realized that he was the one that Harper was trying to catch off guard. Although he was keeping her imprisoned in the Imperial Palace, he did not intend to force her to love him. However, he also couldn't let her leave the palace.