Forensic Imperial Concubine novel Chapter 13

The toxins that Matthew suffered were extremely strong and aggressive. Even though Harper had helped to remove the toxins through acupuncture, it only made his legs look less terrible and recover to the normal size. The toxins inside his body were not removed completely and still remained in his legs.

"Your Highness, how do you feel?"

Harper was worried as she saw Matthew try to stand up. But in the end, he failed. His face was still cold, and there was no emotion on it. Her hands were shaking—she had been trying to remove the toxins using her needles for about four hours until now. Now her hands were too sore to even hold things as light as a pair of chopsticks.

"It seems that I underestimated you in the past," said Matthew.

Harper smiled awkwardly. "I'm flattered, Your Highness."

"Is Hailey Chu also a good physician like you?" Matthew followed immediately.

Harper, surprised by his quick question, looked at Matthew. Hailey was a paragon of beauty. More than that, she was appointed as an imperial physician. She was living a pretty good life, a life that could have been Harper's had Hailey not stole it away from her. But to give credit where it was due, Hailey was a good physician in her own right.

"Like me, she has learned medicine from our uncle since she was a child," replied Harper meekly. She did not answer Matthew's question. In a roundabout way, she just told him how they studied under the same teacher, letting him take from it whatever he wanted to. In any case, she wasn't really sure how good Hailey's skills were.

"What a cunning answer!" Mathew barked out a laugh.

Harper blushed at his comment. She wasn't trying to be cunning. She really had no idea about Hailey's medical skills. She did, however, hear praises about how kind Hailey was. She heard how people compared Hailey to a fairy. Lest she popped the bubble Hailey surrounded herself with, Harper wouldn't say anything about Hailey's vanity. After all, she knew for a fact how Hailey enjoyed the attention she got from men. Most women felt threatened with Hailey around.

"She probably enjoys the pomp and extravagance like a peacock," Matthew added.

Harper kept silent and did not made any reply, leaving him free to comment.

"By the way, why are you here?"

"My grandma is sick and we are short of several herbs to cure her. So I went out to gather those herbs. But unfortunately, the rope I was tied to broke. I fell off the cliff. I didn't expect to see Your Highness here and I didn't mean to offend you. Please forgive me," Harper replied immediately. His question made her remember the reason why she was out in the first place. "May I know what time is it, Your Highness?" she added.

"It's already midnight."

"Oh, how late. I should head back now," Harper responded, her voice growing lower as she looked at the cliff. It was really impossible for her to fly skywards or climb along the cliff upwards to leave here. The only thing she could do was to look at Matthew and hope that he could tell her the way out. She must hurry back before dawn or else the consequences might be serious.