"Criminal Su Liang, you have committed every manner of evil and are guilty of the most heinous crimes. By law, you must be executed. Do you have anything to say?"
Before the dragon throne, the empress was unyielding and impartial, yet her words were laced with bitter irony.
Su Liang was the empress's shadow, an unsung hero in the darkness, and the greatest contributor to Zhao reaching the pinnacle of power.
He secretly cleared obstacles for the empress, executed corrupt officials, confiscated the estates of powerful families, and made enemies of the nobility. He did everything wrong and earned the scorn of the court.
Not long ago, he had even become a cripple after risking his life to protect the empress.
But heroes never live long.
His selfless sacrifice earned him no praise. Instead, she was ruthless in her eagerness to kill him.
A blade loses its value once it grows dull. As my beloved subject, you should make one final contribution!
"If you have nothing to say, carry out the execution!"
Just as the empress was about to strike the fatal blow, envoys from four kingdoms arrived one after another, all with the same purpose.
A million taels to ransom a criminal? An entire city in exchange for a cripple?
Even a peerlessly beautiful woman came: the empress of Great Zhou bowed gracefully and said, "Sir, you are a peerless statesman. You should never have suffered such humiliation!"
A year later, when Su Liang stood before the empress once more, their positions seemed just as they had been the day before. But now the empress was kneeling before him, filled with regret.
"A Liang, I would even be your loyal dog. Will you come back to me?"
