Rufus' face turned pale the moment Harper's words faded away. He looked at Matthew in worry. The previous betrayal of the Xiao Clan had almost led to Matthew's doom. If he had been less lucky, he would have died with his mother.

"Harp," Matthew said, casting Harper a doubtful glance. He always thought that he and the Xiao Clan were fully independent of each other. The Xiao Clan had never declared loyalty to him, so they couldn't betray him. The person they had betrayed was his mother.

Harper fell silent immediately. She had never mentioned the Chu Clan to anybody unless someone else mentioned them first, because she thought they had already been left behind her. She didn't like to continually dwell on things that had happened long ago, nor did she like to reopen anyone else's old wounds. If Rufus hadn't annoyed her first, she wouldn't

xwell's concubine. The most remarkable part of it was that His Majesty wanted me to pay with my life."

"General Maxwell had never had a son until then. Finally, his concubine was pregnant with a son, but the baby died, and they thought you did it. It made sense that they wanted to kill you," Rufus said, reasoning quickly.

"But I was wronged and I didn't want to die. It was not until then that I completely renounced the Chu Clan. When I asked Matthew for help, I wanted everyone else in the Chu Clan to die with me. But later my anger subsided and I realized that my testimony alone would be insufficient to bring justice against those of the Chu Clan who set me up. Therefore, I decided to use my knowledge to clear myself of suspicion." While speaking, Harper looked very peaceful, as if she were talking about someone else's experience.