The Mad King's Heir

Li Jun knew how to end this fuss. It was to give the jealous one a gift too. He hadn’t forgotten about his uncle. It’s just that he didn’t think he would give him the gift today. He said, "Uncle Ian, I got you something too, but I can’t give it to you now."

Damian was just as easy to coax. Just Li Jun calling him Uncle Ian like he used to when he was little, was enough to have him open up his bank account. "I knew I was your favorite."

"How shameless," said Draco and Damian laughed so hard his eyes crinkled into crescent moons.

"Who did I get my shamelessness from? It wasn’t from mum. Don’t they always say like father like son?" he said and Draco denied it. It didn’t take much for insults to start flying again.

Li Jun, "..."

He was starting to think he was switched at birth. How could this be his family? His maternal side loved arguing and his paternal side was filled with lunatics. He sent Damian a holographic image of the mech suit designed by Master Arcanist Veyra Solenne, Aurelia’s most celebrated designer. Her mech suits were crafted with nanite alloys and kinetic absorption tech. They stored incoming force and unleashed it with unimaginable power.

Because it was only one of five, Li Jun had to get it by calling in a few favors. The only thing he failed to do was convince her to join his company. She respected his paternal grandfather but she didn’t want to be associated with him.

Li Jun wanted her to supply mech suits for Blue Sapphire, but she wasn’t interested. He didn’t hold it against her. At least he brought his uncle a suitable mech suit. Damian was so happy that he wished he could jump out of the screen and pinch those cheeks.

"Should I mail it to you?" he asked and Damian replied,

"No, isn’t it that you are leaving that place soon. You can give it to me then," he had been urging Li Jun to leave the imperial city ever since his father died but Li Jun said he had unfinished business that needed to be taken care of. Looking at his father staring at the holographic image of the mech suit, he asked in a teasing tone, "Jealous?"

Draco sneered. What was there to be jealous about? He was just mad that his skills didn’t expand to mech suits otherwise, why would his grandson have to waste money buying this overpriced junk? Fine, it wasn’t junk. It was actually good but he thought he could do better.

"By the way, you said something is going down?" Li Jun asked, touching the tools on the workbench.

Draco sat beside him and said, "The woman on the throne has been behaving strangely. I heard that she threw a fit and injured her most trusted attendant. Rumor has it that it has something to do with the general." They didn’t even need to name which general. The three of them knew who they were talking about.

Damian curled his lips with a look of disdain. He disliked Yu Wen and they had clashed a couple of times in the past. He could be described as a ruthless beast on the battlefield. Yu Wen, on the other hand, was like a peerless immortal, not even letting his mech get bloodstains on it. It was freaking weird.

Li Jun, on the other hand, felt his heart jolt. He clenched his fist underneath the table, praying they didn’t know the full story. Draco said, "I heard she brought that crazy woman, Lu Anu, to the imperial palace for breakfast and took her straight to Li Yu. I am guessing she was expecting to catch the two lovers in the act."

"Grandpa, she is not crazy," said Li Jun, defending her. She wasn’t as bad as everyone made her out to be. Unconventional? Yes. Crazy? No... She was just like his mother, minus the fighting.

"What, she called a couple of noble women whores and bitches and told them they could come suck her dick. How she even gave birth to someone like Yu Wen is truly puzzling," he said. Li Jun had witnessed the entire drama on StarNet. At the time, he asked himself the same question. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Little Jun, you saw Yu Wen that day, what did he say?" asked Draco curiously. He only found out while trying to figure out what had gotten that crazy woman riled up. It turns out that Yu Wen left the imperial palace and came to Club Nova.

Li Jun cleared his throat and said, "Nothing much. He was asking about Lorino. He thought I killed him." He hoped that would be the last question they would ask about that night.

Damian sneered. "How could you have anything to do with it? Seriously, why does he always have to harass you?" Li Jun shrugged, looking all innocent.

"Since their plan didn’t work, I reckon she is plotting something big. She has been making moves that don’t make sense. Her birthday is coming up and I think she is going to try to force my hand, using you. If she can’t get her hands on Red Valkyrie right now, she will make a move on Blue Sapphire. I heard one of your uncles is gathering forces, making her anxious. He wants her off that seat."

Li Jun sighed. Even if he didn’t want to be a part of this infighting, they still wanted to involve him. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Then let her plan succeed. I will get arrested, then fake my death. I want it to be public and the performance should be grand. They should believe I am dead. After that, I am free from all the drama."

Damian was not happy with this plan. He asked, "Does it really have to go that way? I don’t want them to keep talking bad about you."

"Who cares. They were going to talk anyway. My father’s reputation makes it hard for me to defend myself. We will just play into it and end this," he said with a smile that reassured them both.

No matter how many resources they could dedicate to washing Li Jun’s name clean, his enemies would fuel the flames, all so that he didn’t gain the favor of the people and become the Imperial king. If it’s not Xiu Ying, it would be one of his uncles disparaging him.

"Now that’s decided, we can commence with the plan," he said, crossing his leg over the other, appearing relaxed.