Female Novel
Chapter 721 Changes In The South Domain (Part One)
For the past few days, Ken had been taking his men to annihilate Francis' force. In the middle of it all,they found someone who took them by surprise. When the person was taken back to Matthew'smansion, everyone was too stunned to speak because they had all thought that the person in front ofthem was already dead.
Harper was no exception. She couldn't believe her eyes. After reaching out to carefully touch theperson's face, she said, "You're real. Everyone, he's not fake."novelbin
The person in front of her—Jack, wanted to cry but he didn't have any tear. "Your Highness, how couldyou have been so heartless? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been captured by Prince Francis!" hecomplained.
Harper pointed at her own nose with her finger. With an innocent expression on her face, she asked,"Did it have anything to do with me?"
Even while listening to Harper at that moment, Jack felt extremely weak. Since he fell into Francis'hands, he had been imprisoned for nearly a year. In the beginning, there had been someone who wasconstantly observing him and imitating his movements, tone, and martial arts skills. He was locked upin a black prison and there was nothing he could do to escape. But every time he pondered on theperson's purpose for closely observing and copying him, he was so furious that his whole bodytrembled with anger.
"One of Francis' followers was disguised as your maid. That was how they fooled me into their trap,"Jack explained, wishing he could cry out. The entire time which he had been abducted, he actuallythought that Harper's maid had betrayed her. He didn't have any idea that it was an enemy's trick.Thus, he had walked into the trap and been captured. What was more horrible was that someone haddisguised as him and gone back to Matthew's mansion. Even Jack couldn't figure out any differencebetween the fake one and himself.
"Oh, I see. No wonder something like that happened to you despite your shrewdness. I would think thatit would more likely happen to Fred or Barry. I guess those wicked people were just really skilled inmanipulation," Harper willfully stated.
"Go and receive your punishment," Matthew ordered in an indifferent tone. Although his face wasdevoid of any expression, Harper could tell that Matthew was very glad. After all, Jack was one of theguards who had grown up with him. When he found out that Jack had betrayed him back then, he wasinconsolable. Later on, they did find out that the impostor wasn't actually Jack. However, none of themhad thought or even imagined that Jack could still be alive.
"Yes, Your Highness," Jack briefly answered with sorrow on his face. He thought that Matthew didn'tcare about him at all even when he just escaped from being the enemy's prisoner. He made up hismind that he would take revenge on Francis. Jack even vowed that he wouldn't show any mercy forhim once he'd been caught. But in the meantime, Jack couldn't understand why Matthew was treatinghim like that. Before he left, Jack looked at Anabel with a deep grievance. For her, he had fallen intothe enemy's trap because he suspected that she had betrayed Harper. If it weren't for her, he wouldn'thave been abducted in the first place.
After Jack left, Harper held Matthew's hands and asked, "You're very happy to see him alive. So whyare you still going to punish him?"
"Order will never be maintained without rules or standards. He is too sloppy. Among my four strongestguards, he is the weakest one when it comes to martial arts. I guess that's why Francis chose tocapture him and had someone else imitate him. Because of his carelessness, someone had infiltratedus," Matthew impassively stated.
Harper had to admit that Francis might not have succeeded if he had done the same thing to Barry orFred. The reason that Jack had been captured was not only because he had the weakest martial artsskills among the four, but also because he wasn't vigilant enough. Barry might look like a nerd, but he
was extremely cautious and mindful. Fred, on the other hand, had powerful martial arts skills. He couldbecome unnaturally strong when he needed to be. As for Ken, the fact that the late emperor had neverdiscovered his true identity was an indication of how cautious he had been.
Shifting the topic of the conversation, Matthew said, "By the way, we have received an invitation letterfrom the South Kingdom. Including us, they're requesting the presence of the other countries to watchtheir Worship Ceremony. This is actually out of character for the South Kingdom. The WorshipCeremony is extremely important to them. In order to avoid any trouble from happening, they havenever allowed outsiders to watch the rites. But this time, they have asked all the other countries to sendrepresentatives there to witness the ritual."
"Francis went to the South Kingdom so they are now his allies," Harper asserted, immediatelyunderstanding what he meant. Now that Francis had been defeated and fled away, he had nowhere togo within the Bright Dynasty. It would be difficult for Matthew and Harper to find him if he was hiding inthe South Kingdom. But if he had reached an agreement to be allied with them in such a short time, hemust have had something to trade with them.
"I suspect that Francis has spies in the south domain's army. Lance's daughter had tried multiple timesto rescue Hoffman. He grew up in the south domain's military camp. Even though he had beenrelegated to a civilian and imprisoned in the Repenting Tower, it would be impossible to completelyremove his influence on the south domain in such a short period of time. What's more, Harrison hadbeen guarding the south domain for many years, so he must still have some spies hidden deeply in thesouth domain's army. When the Imperial Palace had been in chaos the last time, Hoffman attempted torun away. But he only ended up being killed, which is actually strange if you ask me." Matthew statedhis suspicions.
"It doesn't matter if Francis is in the South Kingdom or not. We have to go there. I would also prefer apublic journey, rather than a secret one. Come to think of it, I want to know how many spies are there in
the south domain's army," Harper stated while her eyes glowed with so many ideas.
"It will be risky," Matthew reminded her.
"Matthew, by giving us this news, Francis is basically announcing that he's in the South Kingdom. Evenif we refuse this time, he will definitely find another way to force us to go. Besides, the commander ofthe south domain's army has been changed again and again, which we both know has causednumerous problems. Our south domain borders on the South Kingdom. The latter has been staring atour Bright Dynasty like a tiger watching its prey. You don't want our nation to be attacked by enemiesfrom different directions, do you? Because I can assure you that if we don't act now, they're going to beknocking on our doors one day. And before we know it, they have taken everything precious to us.Moreover, in order to investigate the matter of the Qin Clan, we have to go there sooner or later. SinceFrancis laid a path for us, let's go there right now." Harper tried to persuade her husband with everylogical reason she could think of.
With a tight frown, Matthew announced, "I'll go to the South Kingdom alone!"
"If you weren't afraid that something bad may happen to me once I go to the South Kingdom alone,then try doing it on your own now. I'm not a weak woman. Besides, people in the South Kingdom arevery good at using poisons. Can you guarantee that you won't be targeted with the venomous insectpoison if you go there by yourself?" Harper said, crossing her arms over her chest to show herdispleasure. She even turned her head and pretended to ignore her husband.