Forensic Imperial Concubine

Chapter 545 Into The Silk Business (Part One)

"The Scarlet Devils is associated with somebody who is a member of the imperial court," Matthew said as he passed over a list to Harper, with records of the assassination dealings of the Scarlet Devils over the years. Most of the dealings were related to the assassinations of the officials in the court. Of course, some of the names on the list were unknown figures, and some others were pretty famous figures in the world of martial artists.

"That's a good way to plant one's own person," Harper said slowly as she looked at the list. "Eliminating some officials can make their positions vacant, and thus, one can plant his own people to replace the dead. Moreover, since some of them held less important positions, it didn't attract too much attention. Even though we knew that these people died mysteriously, the Scarlet Devils was careful not to leave any trace. They also made it look like an accident to cover up the truth."

Matthew's eyes lit up. It finally made sense to him why that person acted discreetly, leaving no trace at all. He used the Scarlet Devils to secretly kill the officials, and then he had his men arranged in the imperial court to take up those vacant positions. These positions were not important, and few people paid attention to them. However, at certain pivotal moments, these people could play a key role. Perhaps, if Matthew carried out an investigation on them based on this list, he could yield some unexpected harvest.

"I never thought of it that way. The man is indeed sophisticated and a hard nut to crack." Matthew sneered coldly. "If he were to fight against Felix, I doubt if the latter would survive. I'm curious about what is going to happen in the imperial capital."

"We'll know what will happen in the imperial capital as long as we stay here," Harper said as she put down her bowl and chopsticks. "Do you want to stay here?"

"Yes, let's stay. Since they don't want us to go back, we can spend the New Year here, in case we will meet too much trouble when we go back," Matthew said without hesitation. The hidden forces were

finally coming out of the shadow at the end of the year. Since they were never stingy with their tricks, there must be even more of them on the way. If Matthew was able to find out the newcomer of the imperial capital, he would be one step closer to the man behind the scene.

"Well, I need to prepare some more medicine. You have to order someone to take it to Francis. After this course, he no longer needs to take any medications, at least for the time being. According to his recovery, further treatments can be decided later. By then, we should get back to the imperial capital already," Harper said. Even though now they were in the River City, she couldn't forget about Francis' treatment. His condition had been under control recently, and it was important that he continued his medications. If he was not handled well enough, he was likely to suffer a relapse.

"Well, tell me after you have prepared the medications. I'll ask the guards to take them to him," Matthew said. Although he didn't like Francis, he wouldn't mind as long as Harper wouldn't stay with his nephew alone.

"The matter of the Scarlet Devils is now over. After Pearce and his wife officially adopt Alexander as their sworn son tomorrow, it will be better to send him back to his school to continue his study," said Harper. After thinking for a moment, she added, "Matthew, is there anyone in the River City who works for you?" Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

"What are you intending to do?" Matthew asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Since we are here, we can't go back empty-handed." Harper smiled, as her eyes sparkled. "The south region is indeed prosperous and the best place to earn some money."

The corner of Matthew's mouth twitched slightly. He was expecting something special from Harper, but it turned out that she wanted to make money. Though it sounded vulgar, money was something that everyone got attracted to.

"Do you know what the most profitable business in the south region is?" asked Matthew slowly.

"There are three kinds of most profitable business in the south region: first, the entertainment business, second, the salt business, which can make people rich overnight and third, the silk business." Harper listed out like an expert. Apparently, she had already done her research. "The entertainment business will also include the prostitution business, so I'm not going to get involved in it. The salt business in the south region is very subtle and a slight change in the business will influence the whole empire. Thus, I won't get involved in that too. As a result, my only option is the silk business."

"Although the silk business may be profitable, it's not easy to make it, especially in the River City…" Matthew said as he looked at his wife tenderly. "Actually, you don't need to work so hard to make money. Our mansion has other businesses to earn extra revenues in addition to those obtained from the businesses you have already known."

"I know that and the person in charge of the other businesses is Rufus." Harper picked up the conversation. "He had already asked me about some new ways to run businesses."

"Then why didn't you ask me about the businesses run by Rufus?" asked Matthew, without changing his face.

"No need," Harper said frankly. "What Rufus does is outside our mansion, but what I need to do is within our mansion. Even if I go out to make money, it is to support the life inside our mansion. So, I don't need to care about businesses outside our mansion. Moreover, it'd be a huge project and I don't want to worry about it."

Matthew then explained, "I have a lot of industries outside, but they are all private. I've been funneling the profits from those to support the Black Flag Army and offset its secret expenditure. I didn't want to tell you about it because if this secret is uncovered someday, I'm afraid that you too might get implicated in it."

"You don't have to worry about it. I don't care," Harper said calmly. "Matthew, I know that His Majesty has put you in a difficult position. For an outsider, you seem to be enjoying great glory and fortune, but I know that you are treading on thin ice and have to be careful with your every action. I also know how hard you have tried to protect our mansion, but it's not advisable to keep a defensive posture all the time."