Forensic Imperial Concubine

Chapter 964 You're Back (Part One)

Victoria found herself pinned on a chair, the person pinning her down none other than her own daughter-in-law, Beth, who had been nothing but obedient to her until that moment.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Victoria snapped, her eyes wide. "Beth, are you really planning on betraying me and our clan?"

Beth let out a loud, mocking laugh. "Mother, lest you forget: you are just a concubine! You are not the legal leader of this clan!"

Victoria's face was immediately drained of color. The thing she hated the most was when people referred to her as a concubine. For years, she had worked hard to erase that part of her life so that she could be seen and revered as the leader of their clan!

"What do you want, Harper?!"

"Your Highness, we have found her."

Harper nodded in acknowledgement. Finally, she heard some good news—Daphne had been found. Now, the main thing they had to deal with was Derrick. Being the lord of the city, he still had a significant control over the place, so it was hard to know how many spies were working for him. Harper would take this opportunity to weed them all out, because if not, they would only bring her endless troubles.

Chaos, however, had already started taking hold of Phoenix City. The guards had betrayed the imperial court and the whole city had already become a battlefield. An army had already made its way to Matthew's foothold just outside the city limits, but when they arrived, they found no one there. Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

"Shit, it's a trap! Withdraw! Withdraw!"

"Where are you going? You just got here! Don't tell me you're leaving already!" Rolando called out, evidently amused. His boisterous laughs then followed.

The assassins, now more stunned than ever, immediately tried to flee as being in the same place as Rolando only meant one thing: certain death. Unfortunately for them, it seemed that dying was inevitable. As soon as they got out, numerous arrows came flying towards them, killing some of them instantaneously. With that, they had no other choice but to hide until they had an opportunity to escape. Rolando, however, made sure that they wouldn't see such an opportunity. Immediately, he ordered his people drench the whole place in oil and to light it on fire, burning every assassin alive.

Being burned alive or being shot by an arrow to death, the assassins were doomed.

While Felton felt uncomfortable with this kind of violence, he decided that it would be better if he did not say anything. Besides, the assassins were sent there to kill him and his companions, so he should not be too soft-hearted towards them. Aside from that, he could not jeopardize their plan that was already in full swing: he had already destroyed all the secret footholds of the Qin Clan in and around Phoenix City, and as for the mansion of the Qin Clan, with Harper there, Victoria would not be able to make any kind of move against them.

Darren stood by the gates of the lord's mansion wielding a sword, his expression calm yet stone-cold, as if he had expected all the chaos around him.

"Darren, my son," Derrick called out.

"Stop calling me that. It makes me feel sick," Darren responded hostilely. "You have already killed your dear son."

Derrick let out a chuckle and said, "Fine, fine. Whatever you say. But can you just surrender now? Stop making this hard for the both of us. You know well enough that you're no match for someone like me."

Darren didn't look threatened and just bluntly asked, "Is that so? Aren't you gravely overestimating your abilities?"

Derrick couldn't help but laugh. "Confident, aren't you, lad? I can tell it's because of your connections with that Harper and her husband," he said as he donned a ferocious smile. "A bit of bad news, however: there is no way they can come here. Actually, anyone outside the city would not be able to get anywhere near here to lend you a hand. You're isolated, helpless, and cornered, Darren. Poor you."

"I have no intention of surrendering, especially to you. I will kill you. It will be quick and painless, so don't worry," Darren responded, unaffected by Derrick's snide remarks. It was said that a vicious tiger would not eat its cubs. It meant that when Derrick killed his own son, he became worse than an instinct-driven beast!

"How dare you threaten me! Kill him!" Derrick bellowed as he signaled for his minions to attack. His army immediately leapt to their feet and launched several attacks against Darren. Darren remained unflinching in the face of such danger. One by one he fought each and every one of Derrick's soldiers, not even breaking a sweat in the process. His face was devoid of fear or any emotion related to that as hordes of armed men continue to hound him.

Upon seeing this, Derrick cackled and rushed towards Darren, his sword in his hand. He was the one who trained his son, so he should be the one to end the fight. His soldiers got out of his way, creating a space wherein he and Darren could face each other off. Everyone knew that none of them could take on Darren except his father!

"Hey, General Joshua, when will you go down there to help our young lord?" Quincey asked as he stared at Joshua and gnashed his teeth. The man said he was coming to help Darren, but it seemed like he was contented on watching the brewing showdown from a far with no plans of lending a hand.

"Darren knows what he's doing. Just wait," said Joshua calmly. It was not the time for him to offer help. Derrick didn't show his trump card yet. Thus, he couldn't act rashly.

Darren had been injured and poisoned. Although he was detoxified, he was still relatively weak. What was more, fighting against the traitors had consumed a lot of his energy. It was also a bit difficult for him to fight against Derrick. But Darren was still fighting fiercely. All the moves he used were what Chad had learned in the army. Derrick thought that he knew his son very well, but it turned out that he didn't know him at all. After dozens of rounds, Derrick couldn't get the slightest advantage and had to back off.

"Go! Kill him!" Derrick ordered at once as he had already lost his patience. In order to get the secret treasure, he could even sacrifice his son and daughter. If he got the treasures of the Qin Clan and the pills that could help him live forever, he wouldn't have to worry about having no children!

Supporting his body with the sword, Darren said coldly, "Do you still want to sit back and watch the show? Are you pushing me to rob Harper of your prince?"

When he heard what Darren said, Joshua touched his nose. He didn't dare to let Darren do that. With a wave of his hand, several archers appeared on the roof, shooting at the traitors below.

The unexpected change surprised Derrick. He fended off the arrows with his sword, but couldn't withstand so many of them and got injured. Seeing that all the traitors were fallen, Joshua raised his palm, signaling to the archers to stop shooting.

"Lord Darren, now that the traitors have fallen, do you want me to deal with this bastard?" Joshua asked with a grin.

"Thank you," Darren said and then left coldly. Even though he didn't admit Derrick was his father, he was still his natural son. He couldn't kill him himself. Joshua was willing to help him, and he couldn't be more grateful for that.

With a smile, Joshua jumped down from the roof and pointed at the ground with his sword, "Lord Derrick, as requested, I, Joshua, need to see you off to hell. Remember, it's me who sends you there!"