The Taster Who Caught the Regent's Poison novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Command Me
Linyuan told him standing, with the study door still open behind him and his lungs on fire.
The Regent sat at his desk with a cold supper tray at his elbow and a brush in his fingers.
Linyuan gave him all of it: the seal, the crate, the tablet and the needle.
He did not stop for breath, and the Regent did not ask him to.
The Regent listened without moving.
When Linyuan said "Gu Jin," the brush slipped and made a long black line across the page.
It was the first time the Regent had heard the full name.
"Jin," Duan Shiyan said, very softly.
He tried it again.
"Jin."
"Aren't you going to shout?" Linyuan said.
"No."
"Aren't you going to call the guard?"
"No." The Regent set down the brush. "I am going to say that I am not surprised."
"Not surprised."
"Someone with a knife for Jin's sake was always going to come."
"I have thought about that door for two years," the Regent said. "Whether I would lock it."
"And?"
"I would have opened it."
The room tilted.
"I would have opened the door, Linyuan, and stood in the middle of the floor, and let him."
"Don't."
"It is the truth."
"Don't say it. Don't you dare say it again."
The Regent looked up at him with that steady, tired, terrible gentleness.
"Tomorrow at first light I will go to the kitchens," he said. "I will kneel in front of Master Gu and say the name."
"Then he may do whatever he likes to me, and the boy will have the rest of the Empire."
"You're doing it again."
"What?"
"Offering your neck! Offering it like a plate!"
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.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend