Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

In order for the guards outside to be able to come into the Harmony Palace and extinguish the fiercely raging fire, Miguel
destroyed the array set up by Harper. Soon after entering, the guards found the palace's maids and eunuchs in a secluded hall.
They all passed out, as if someone drugged them or targeted their sleep acupuncture points.
"Your Majesty, please spare me!" one pleaded as soon as he came around.
Miguel took a look at the man and his face darkened. "Who knocked you out?" he asked.
"Princess Harper," answered all the servants who just regained their consciousness. "After she called us in, she attacked us,
targeting our acupuncture points... And that's the last thing I remember!"
"Your Majesty..." Miguel looked worriedly at Rolando, who was looking like a mess as his hair had been singed at the ends.
"Princess Harper... has escaped."
Rolando clenched his fists tightly. Of course Harper would escape! Despite everything that he had done to deter her from trying
to leave, he should have known that she would still try, especially considering how strong-headed she was. Was she the one
who created the array so that it would cover her tracks and prevent people from entering the Harmony Palace?
"Lock the gates of the city and make sure that no one leaves! Search every house in this goddamn capital and don't stop until
you've found Harper!" The expression on Rolando's face was horrifying—it was obvious that his anger had already consumed his
whole being!
"Yes, Your Majesty," Miguel responded, asking his people to block the city gates at once and to go house to house in search of
Harper. He knew that if she had already escaped from the Imperial Palace, the first thing she would do was leave the city
immediately. 'Though the city gates have been closed in preparation for the coronation ceremony which is slated tomorrow, it
wouldn't be hard for her and Matthew to find another way out,' he thought. "It's just been over an hour since this fire started. I'm
sure they haven't gone that far. We can still apprehend them," Rolando said. "I'll lead the guards to look for them." The Imperial
Palace was flooded with bright lights and hordes of guards were stationed everywhere. The servants were extra careful as they

were afraid of causing more trouble. When the news of the Harmony Palace burning broke out, they trembled in fear even more.
As soon as Matthew and Harper escaped the Harmony Palace, they immediately tried to make their way out of the city.
"We don't have much time. We must get out of the city as soon as possible! Once Rolando learns that the Harmony Palace has
caught on fire, he'll discover that I'm not there and I've escaped. I'm sure he'll order his forces to block the city gates at once and
search the whole city for me," said Harper decisively. "Well then, let's look for Zorro first. There are many ways to exit this city,"
Matthew said calmly. The moment the escape was made known to Rolando, he was sure that Rolando would know he was the
one who had taken Harper away. With how careful Rolando was, he would definitely be locking the whole city down with his men
littering the streets, so they needed to be extra
cautious. There was no way for them to sneak around, so now, their goal was to get underground and navigate their way out to
safety.
"We don't have much time left. Fred, tell your people to disguise as us and walk towards the gates of the city. We need to get
them distracted so that we'd have an opportunity to look for a way out."
"No need," Harper interjected, shaking her head. "Our forces are few, so we can't lose anyone at this time. All of us will head to
our base and then escape this place together. We just have to get out of the capital, because if we do, it will be almost
impossible for Rolando to track us down."
Matthew, however, disagreed with Harper's plan, saying, "I am not sure whether or not Rolando has found out our bases in the
capital, but to look one way and row another is the best way to deal with this. Besides, we already have an agreement with some
people who have lived in the capital for many years. They will help us escape as long as they are not caught. So do as I say—
send people to disguise as us to attract Rolando's attention. The others, follow me out of the city!" "Yes, Your Highness."
Rolando led the guards to look for Harper throughout the whole Imperial Palace, but unfortunately, they weren't able to find any
trace of her anywhere. With that, he immediately sent his men to raid Matthew's bases in the capital. As he made sure that it
wouldn't be easy for Matthew to smuggle Harper out of the capital, he could only be in one of his bases planning their escape.

"Your Majesty, we have found thirteen bases. Our men are already on their way to find out if Prince Matthew and Princess
Harper are there. Once any of them finds our escapees, they will send a signal to inform us."
Rolando nodded silently as he sighed deeply. He even hid the Heavenly Book away so that Harper would at least have
something to stay back for, but it obviously didn't work. It turned out that he overestimated its importance to her. 'The secrets of
the Qin Clan are not important to her at all!' he thought, anger welling inside of him.
He collected his thoughts and feelings over a period of a few silent minutes. Suddenly, he said, "Fernando, follow me out of the
city." Rolando was quite aware that Harper would leave the capital as soon as she left the Imperial Palace. 'She would do
whatever it takes,' he thought. 'If I want to stop her, I must stop her before she gets out of my territory!'
Harper and Matthew continued on without taking a rest. They even had to rush to the north domain in order to remind Shawn to
be prepared. After all, Rolando was someone who had nothing to fear: if he became too anguished and attacked the Bright
Dynasty, he wouldn't experience any lingering repercussions.
"Before I left the north domain, I had sent a message to Shawn asking him to be careful and to be on the lookout in case the
Great Jade Kingdom decides to attack them. He is not someone I would consider careless, but I'm worried that Rolando may
have a back-up plan," Matthew said worriedly.
"We'll be there in less than three days. Don't worry," Harper replied, advancing at an equal pace with her
husband.