The Taster Who Caught the Regent's Poison novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: The Sentence
The Regent knelt on the red carpet in his white prisoner's robe, with his hands tied in front of him.
He had gone down without being told.
Two hundred ministers watched the man who had ruled Liang for four years bow until his forehead was nearly on the stone.
"Untie him," said the Emperor.
A guard cut the cord, and the Regent's hands fell open on the floor.
Zhao Yunhe sat on the dragon throne with a blanket over his knees.
He had not looked at anyone since the Hu brothers were led out.
He looked at his Regent now for a long time.
"You took two years of my life," he said. "You say you knew what you were doing."
"I knew," Duan Shiyan said, to the floor.
"The law says the rope."
"Yes, Majesty."
"I have been thinking about the rope since the roof. I have thought about it more than you."
The boy's good hand was clenched on the arm of the throne.
"A rope is quick."
"A rope is a speech, and then it is done, and the people who loved you are left to carry it."
"I have had enough of men who leave me something to carry."
"Majesty," said the Censor from the front rank, in a trembling voice. "The law..."
"The law says an Emperor may lessen a sentence. Look it up."
The Censor closed his mouth.
"Duan Shiyan," said the Emperor of Great Liang. "You are stripped of the regency. The seal is mine."
The boy held out his good hand.
Linyuan climbed the steps, took the little grey tiger from his robe, and put it in the boy's palm.
The boy closed his fingers on it.
"For one year," he said, "you will serve at my table as my taster."
"You will wear the grey-green coat with the sleeves tied back in white cord."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Taster Who Caught the Regent's Poison are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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