Female Novel
Chapter 702 Grin And Bear It
The news of Harper's divorce agreement had spread like wildfire all over the country. The newsreached Matthew, along with the bracelets he gave to Harper before their wedding.
Barry felt the cold aura around Matthew, so he took a few steps back. He knew the consequences ofMatthew exploding with anger. Last time Matthew got this angry, he destroyed a yard in the northdomain!
However, contrary to Barry's expectation, Matthew suddenly restrained himself. He tore the divorceagreement into pieces and carefully put the bracelet away. "I have to go now."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Even though Barry knew that the situation would be difficult for them if Matthewhad left them at that moment, he dared not to stop him. Rolando feared Matthew and considered himas a great threat. If it was possible, he would do whatever it took to make Matthew stay in the GreatJade Kingdom. For the time being, Rolando was bound by the treaty, and he couldn't make a moveagainst Matthew. But it couldn't prevent him from making trouble for Matthew and his country.
After Matthew left, a man who looked like the spitting image of Matthew came out and took his place inthe team. The man asked, "Do you think he believes it?"
"If he believed it, he would be extremely furious. But he seemed to have his anger under control, whichmeans otherwise. One way or another, he will try to verify it himself." Barry sighed helplessly, "PrinceFrancis has made a colossal mistake. Master was very irritated this time."
"I am not sure if we can get back to the imperial capital before the day of Prince Francis' ascension tothe throne. I can't wait to see that big spectacle. Prince Francis would dare challenge our master androb him of his wife," the man said.
"I'm also looking forward to it eagerly," Barry sighed.
The day of the new emperor's ascension to the throne was nearing, but the Sleek Palace was ratherquiet. Harper seemed cool as ever, and was busy with her own business. Even Cynthia couldn't remaincalm.
"Harper, what on earth are you thinking?" Harper had sent a divorce agreement to Matthew. Cynthiaknew about this and took a secret pleasure in it, thinking that Harper was just stupid to give up Matthewfor Francis. She believed that Matthew was way better than Francis.
Harper was practicing calligraphy. She tried to focus her mind and calmed down. Jason had given her acopy of the divorce agreement that Francis forged. She noticed that Francis used the handwriting of theformer Harper, which was different from hers. Matthew was the only one who knew her realhandwriting, so he would know the agreement was a fake.
"Harper, may I ask you something?"
"Cynthia, I'm Prince Matthew's wife," Harper said, without even raising her head. "Please address mecorrectly."
"But you have already divorced Prince Matthew," Army, Cynthia's maid, blurted out.
"Forsythia, slap her." Harper had no patience for the people she didn't like. Forsythia would never allowothers to offend her master. She knew very well that Harper had never written the divorce agreement.She immediately grabbed the maid and slapped her across the face. Not until the maid's teeth wereknocked out did she stop the slapping.
The maid slumped onto the floor, her cheeks swollen badly, her face covered with blood. Cynthia'spupils contracted sharply upon seeing this. The Harper she saw in the past few days was always gentleand kind. But how could she make the mistake of forgetting that this woman could never be asofthearted one!
"Your Highness, please forgive my maid. She didn't mean to offend you. I beg your pardon," Cynthiapleaded. Amy had been serving her since she was a little girl. They grew up together. Slapping Amywas nothing short of a humiliation for Cynthia. Cynthia suddenly realized that even living here as acaptive, Harper could still decide her fate. She dared not act rashly, as that would affect her ownsurvival.
Harper continued to write. "I tolerate Francis just because I'm outnumbered now. It is not a good timefor me to take off the gloves. I put up with Jason because he's my old friend. But I shall not endure anydisrespect from others, including Lady Sherry, not to mention a humble maid like her. Cynthia, besmart. If you continue to be so naive and unaware of your place, with such an arrogant maid around,you will die in the Imperial Palace sooner or later," she gushed out in anger.
Cynthia was totally irritated, but had no other go than to suppress her anger. Being a sensible woman,she knew well that she was a piece of meat on the chopping block. She couldn't afford to offend Jasonand Francis. But none of them frightened her like Harper did. Jason and Francis wouldn't hurt her forthe sake of the Xiao Clan. But Harper had no qualms about it.
"Thank you for your lesson. I will…" Cynthia was interrupted abruptly.
"You should address me as 'Your Highness'." Harper raised her eyebrow and gave a cold glance atCynthia.
Cynthia's face turned pale. She bit her lower lip hard and then said, "Thank you so much for youradvice, Your Highness."
"You're welcome. If it weren't for Rufus' sake, I wouldn't have even spoken to you," Harper said coldly."From now on, restrain yourself from showing up in front of me. Otherwise, I may decide to teach yousome rules."
"Yes. Now if you will excuse me, Your Highness." Cynthia and Amy left in a hurry. Cynthia had neverbeen insulted like this in all her life. Being the young lady of the Swan Castle, many people dotted onher. Now she was in the imperial capital, and yet Harper insulted her like this!
"My Lady, it's my entire fault," Amy said as she tried to apologize.novelbin
"She wanted to insult me. Even if it wasn't for you, she would have found out another excuse!" Cynthiawas annoyed. "She wrote the divorce agreement herself, and now she still pretends to be Matthew'swife. How ridiculous!"
"My Lady…" Amy stopped abruptly. The earlier experience alerted her. She looked around and wasrelieved to see that no one was around. "This is the Imperial Palace, not the Swan Castle."
Cynthia took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She decided to keep a low profile and put upwith everything. She couldn't wait to see how that woman would face Matthew!
Her eyes were full of malice. She wasn't sure if Matthew could make it back to the imperial capitalbefore the new emperor's enthronement. It would definitely be an enjoyable show if he could. Shewanted to see how Harper would react then!
Seeing Cynthia leaving in fury, Harper felt much more cheerful. She continued with the calligraphy. Shewrote so hard that the brush pen almost pierced through the paper!
"Your Highness." The maids from the embroidery house brought the empress's attire to Harper, so thatshe could try it on. They knew she was Prince Matthew's former wife. As far as they were concerned,she had divorced Prince Matthew to marry Prince Francis, and soon would be the empress. Many ofthem disdained her and thought she was a slut, but at the same time they couldn't help but envy her.
The maids were kneeling on the ground and awaiting Harper's order, but she seemed to have ignoredthem. They felt embarrassed and when they raised their heads to look at Harper; they found that she
was still practicing her calligraphy. So once again, they said in a louder voice, "Lady Harper, we arehere on Prince Francis' order. If you can, please try the clothes on."
Harper ignored them again. She was never a pushover. Those who thought they could force her intosubmission were making a tremendous mistake.
The maids soon realized that Harper was trying to embarrass them by ignoring them. So they just kneltthere and said nothing more. In the meantime, Harper finished her last character. She threw the brushpen away and walked straight towards the gate of the Sleek Palace.
Forsythia immediately followed her. The guards at the door tried to stop them, and said, "Prince Francishas ordered that you shouldn't be allowed to leave the Sleek Palace."
Harper didn't listen to them at all, and proceeded towards the Tranquil Hall. Francis wasn't yet crownedas the emperor, so all the official meetings were held in the side hall of Tranquil Hall. She wanted tosee Francis.
"Lady Harper, if you leave the Sleek Palace, all the guards' lives will be forfeit." The guard quickly drewhis sword and held it close to his own throat to threaten Harper.
Harper sneered, and didn't even slow her pace for a second. When the guard saw Harper walkingaway, he killed himself. The other guards followed suit. Soon there were many corpses on the floor, butnone of them could stop her from leaving.
The leader of the maids of the embroidery house was so scared that her legs went weak. She alwaysknew that Harper was a tough nut. Now, despite so many guards killing themselves, she didn't stopeven for a second. How heartless she was!
"Nanny, what should we do?" The maids were about to burst into tears. The smell of thick blood filledthe Sleek Palace. All the guards of the Sleek Palace had killed themselves. The blood-stink filled theirnostrils and made them nauseous, but they didn't dare to vomit.
"Keep kneeling here!" The nanny managed to calm her nerves. "You saw nothing and heard nothing.That is the only way to survive a fight between masters. Remember, this is the Imperial Palace, andanyone here may take your life."
Before the secret guards could convey the incidents in the Sleek Palace to Francis, Harper had alreadyreached the Tranquil Hall. Since Francis was in a discussion about the state affairs with the officials,none of the secret guards dared to disturb him. They waited patiently to convey the incidents in theSleek Palace.
When they saw Harper approaching at the door of the Tranquil Hall, the secret guards' hearts sank.Why did she come here?
Standing in the doorway of the side hall, Harper could hear the voice coming from inside clearly. "YourHighness, I've heard that Prince Matthew was killed on his way back. Is that true?" asked one of theofficials.
Francis explained, "I don't know the specific situation. I've sent someone to look into it. Uncle Matthewis the hero of the Bright Dynasty. He is the leader of the Black Flag Army and directly commands threehundred thousand soldiers. If anything happened to him, there could be a terrible mutiny in the army. Itwould be extremely hard to deal with. So, who do you think can go to head up the army?"
The officials looked at one another and dared not to make a sound. They knew very well about theBlack Flag Army. No one else could command it, except for Matthew. They could hardly get into thebarracks of the army, not to mention head up it.
"Nobody wants to take on this task?" Francis asked in his ever-gentle voice. "If the news about UncleMatthew's death spreads around the Black Flag Army, there is bound to be a mutiny. If they take uparms against us, could the imperial capital defend against three hundred thousandsoldiers?"