Have you ever been rewarded for telling or showing the truth? In both stories, “The Emperor’s Test” and The Mystery Ingredient, both characters are given a test to prove themselves worthy. These stories show their theme in similar and different ways. . In the first story, “The Emperor’s Test,” the author develops the theme of honesty pays off in several ways. This shown because the main character, Ling, and many other people are given a seed to grow, to prove if they are fit to be emperor. But little do they know that the Emperor has boiled the seeds so they wouldn’t grow. In the story it states, “‘But what you did not know was that I had boiled the seeds beforehand, so that they would never grow.’” Ling was the only person who didn’t switch
