The Mad King's Heir

Yan Jia owed her life to Li Jun’s mother. She had saved her from a pile of trash when she was a toddler. Ever since then, she had followed her wholeheartedly, vowing to die for her. When she was pregnant, she made a promise to take great care of the little prince. The then seven-year-old Yan Jia promised to protect him with her life.

Yet, it was Li Jun who was trying to protect her. "Three days?" she asked.

He patted her back, saying, "Three days and I will come back in one piece."

"You promise?"

In a serious tone, he said, "I promise," as he let her go.

Yan Jia composed herself and said, "Three days or I will wreak havoc."

He chuckled, knowing how serious she was. He was certain she would burn the imperial palace to the ground and kill anyone who stood in her way. "Now go, we are running out of time."

She nodded and said, "Don’t let them bully you. Whoever lays a hand on you, I will hunt them down and kill them." He nodded, and she did as instructed.

Li Jun, realizing he had forgotten something, said, "Wait, take this with you." He opened the bedside table and took out the token Yu Wen gave him. Yan Jia had never seen this before, but she didn’t ask.

"I will keep it safe," she said before turning to leave. She needed to get into the secret basement. There was an exit there that she could use.

Unwilling to be dragged to prison without a shower, he entered the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and took a quick shower. As soon as he put on his pants, the suite door burst open. With a sigh, Li Jun put on his shirt, but before he could button it up, three men armed with guns and clad in heavy gear walked in.

"On the ground, on the ground!" yelled one of them. Before he could even do that, he was kicked in the shoulder and fell over.

"Fuck! What are you doing?" one of them yelled.

The one who kicked him pressed his knee into his back, making him grimace in pain. While putting cuffs on him, he said, "I have been waiting to beat this little shit’s ass for ages."

His eyes filled with hatred, he said through gritted teeth, "You remember me? Your father confiscated my family’s properties and sent my father to fucking exile. And you were there, sitting by your father’s side with a smirk on your face."

Li Jun didn’t even know who he was talking about. His father had a long list of people he executed, exiled, or imprisoned, so how could he remember him or his family? He smiled and said, "He must have done something to deserve it, corruption maybe?"

Enraged, the man pressed the muzzle of his gun to his temple, his eyes crazed like a lunatic. "How about I fucking kill you now? You are dead man already, so why not?" he threatened, his spit flying everywhere as his finger twitched on the trigger.

Seeing that things were headed in the wrong direction, the other two started yelling at him while pulling him off. If Li Jun died here, then they would all follow him to the grave. They eventually managed to pull him off.

Li Jun was pulled from the ground and led out of the bedroom. The man, still looking for an outlet, started smashing and kicking things in his room in a fit of rage.

***

"General! General!"

A shout came from outside the room. Yu Wen, who was training in the simulator, had to shut it down immediately. He took off his gear and said, "Someone better be dying."

Alex, in between gasps, said, "It’s worse." He tapped his phone, and a large floating screen popped up. It was a news broadcast reporting that Li Jun had been arrested for high treason and endangering the empire.

They were playing live footage of Li Jun being led out of the club in handcuffs. His shirt was unbuttoned with hickeys all over his neck and chest, and his hair was still wet, sticking to his forehead. One would expect him to be angry or terrified in that kind of situation, but he had on an infuriating grin like he found this whole thing amusing.

Yu Wen’s entire body went numb. He knew that Li Jun didn’t do this, so what was Xiu Ying playing at? Li Jun had already given her everything, so why come up with such an evil ploy? His chest heaving, he said, "Let’s go to the imperial palace."

"Yes, sir," replied Alex, his legs a little weak from the intense pressure emanating from Yu Wen.

While he was going to have a talk with Xiu Ying, StarNet was up in flames. The entirety of Aurelia was at a standstill. They were all on their phones watching the breaking news. Comments flooded the live broadcast, most of them celebrating his downfall.

Gsgh263: Lock that lunatic in max and throw away the fucking key.

MarieZ322: Like father, like son. I say cut his head off in the square!!

Uma7826: He is a fucking rabid dog. Strip his name, strip his bloodline, and let him rot.

Caefs81: High Treason? What the fuck does that mean?

Tadoe202: He should have been executed on the spot. Every breath he takes is an insult to the throne.

WizardF78: It means he tried to kill our goddess. That bitch deserves to die a painful death.

JusyP932: Look at all those hickeys. Which slut did he fuck last night?

There were comments supporting Li Jun, but they were drowned out by the comments cursing him and calling for his death. All the floating screens in Aurelia were playing the live broadcast, with Li Jun’s arrest footage playing in a loop.

This meant that Li Yu also saw it. She had been by her mother’s bedside all this time. Her mother’s complexion was ashen, her eyes sunken, and her body weak. Compared to last night, she looked like she was at death’s door.

The doctors had managed to save her, and she was slowly recovering, but Li Yu couldn’t help but worry. The imperial guards had brought in experts, and the entire palace was turned upside down looking for the poison.

It was found laced in the ceremonial gown that Li Jun had given her yesterday. The poison was easy to test. The results came out quickly, and they found out that it came from Helion.

This was why the charge of endangering the empire was added. The imperial prince of Aurelia had colluded with Helion to murder the Imperial Queen. It was a crime that deserved a painful death.