The Tyrant's Sickly Consort Refuses to Die novel · Chapter 22 of 24
Chapter 22: Without the Cup
Su Ming put the kettle on the high shelf, where it could be seen and not reached.
Then he set the plain clay cup beside it, empty and clean, and blew out the brazier.
"Tonight there is no cup," he said.
"I saw," said Xiao Jue.
He was lying very straight on his back in the wide bed, in a white sleeping shirt, with his arms at his sides.
He did not look ready to sleep.
"It has been eleven days since the last dose of the tonic," said Su Ming. "The body is clear."
"The Imperial Physician's own physicians said so this morning. You can sleep without it, or you cannot, and we will know by dawn."
"And if I cannot."
"Then we will make the tea again, and no harm done," said Su Ming.
"Yes."
Su Ming blew out the lamp and got into the bed on the far side.
He lay on his back too, with the width of a hand between them.
The room was dark.
A little moon came through the paper window and laid a white square on the floor.
For a long time neither of them said anything.
He could hear the Emperor breathing.
It was shallow and a little too even, the breathing of a man holding himself in place.
"Su Ming," said Xiao Jue.
"Mm."
"The Dowager is gone. The Prime Minister is gone. The tonic is gone," said Xiao Jue.
"I noticed."
"You came into this palace because you were sold. The debt is cancelled," said Xiao Jue. His voice was careful.
"Your father has been paid once and will be paid again, and the Ministry will give you an estate and a title."
"There is nothing keeping you in this bed. I do not want you to stay in it because of the cup."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Tyrant's Sickly Consort Refuses to Die are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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