The Mad King's Heir

Lu Anu was glad her son could see it too. The real question now was, how did he do it? How did he manage to swap places with a lookalike right under Xiu Ying’s nose? "How do you think he did it? Who helped him swap places?" she asked, eager to solve the mystery.

Yu Wen wanted to confirm this theory. He wanted to make sure that the person who died that day wasn’t Li Jun. Only then could he feel at ease. "Let me investigate. I will tell you if I find anything," he said, the fog in his mind clearing.

Seeing the spark in her son’s eyes, Lu Anu didn’t dare stay longer. Staying here would only delay him. If she was right and Li Jun was alive, then Yu Wen wouldn’t be so sad anymore. "Just be discreet. This stays between the two of us," she warned.

She was preaching to the choir. Yu Wen wouldn’t risk anyone knowing about this. If anyone was to find Li Jun, it was going to be him, and when he did, he would settle old and new grudges. "Mn," he said, and Lu Anu got up to leave.

"Don’t overwork yourself. Get some sleep first. You look like a zombie," she said before turning to leave.

As she reached the collapsed door, Yu Wen said, "Mum." Lu Anu turned around, meeting his gaze. "Thank you."

She gave him a warm smile before stepping through the door and walking out. He looked at the floating screen with open files on Xiu Ying before taking them down. He decided to take his mother’s advice and sleep. When he wakes up, his mind would be refreshed, and he would be much sharper.

***

When he woke up the next day, the first thing Yu Wen did was head to the club that was now closed down. The place had been tightly sealed by the imperial guards, the security airtight. But with his identity, he could get in as he wished. The place now lacked the charm that it used to have. It was cold and lifeless like it knew its owner had abandoned it. He headed straight for Li Jun’s suite.

The suite that was once immaculate, with only a few things casually tossed by Li Jun, was now a chaotic mess, like a hurricane had torn through the room. The furniture had been overturned, the curtains were torn, and the floors were littered with debris. Yu Wen saw the couch that he had made out on with Li Jun. It had been slashed through by a dagger and its armrest broken.

The place that was once filled with warmth had been thoroughly violated. In its place was now a cold and hostile emptiness that made his chest ache. Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from the bedroom. Yu Wen’s body moved before his rationality could intervene. ’Was it Li Jun? Had he come back for something?’ That was the thought in his mind as he rushed over with a surge of adrenaline. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his ears.

His muscles were tense with anticipation, his breath quickening. He was hoping it was him, and when he caught him, he would never let him slip through his fingers again.

When he entered the bedroom, he didn’t see that familiar smug grin. Instead, it was a masked man, way shorter than Li Jun. The sight of a strange man desecrating Li Jun’s place enraged him. He grabbed the man by the back of his collar and slammed him so hard on the floor that something cracked. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The man screamed in pain. Yu Wen drew his weapon and pressed it against his temple. "Keep screaming, and it will give me an excuse to kill you," he threatened him.

The man stopped squealing like a pig and trembled in fear. Yu Wen ordered, "Take the mask off." His fingers trembling, he took it off. Yu Wen’s eyes twitched seeing that underwear-stealing pervert, Dec.

Dec’s soul almost flew out of his body in fear. Since Li Jun died, the market value of his things had skyrocketed, so he came to steal clothes, shoes, and underwear. But the place was almost cleaned out with only a few things remaining. There wasn’t even any valuable jewellery in the room. Just when he had put everything in a bag, this devil showed up with a vengeance. He was sure that this time, Yu Wen wouldn’t let him go.

"I I," he stammered, sweat dripping down his forehead as he shivered in fear.

Yu Wen gritted his teeth. He couldn’t deal with him here. He couldn’t let this man’s filth defile Li Jun’s place. "Get lost," he said, and Dec froze in disbelief. General Yu was actually going to let him go. It was unbelievable. What he didn’t realise was that his reckoning had just been delayed by a few hours. Having escaped with his life, he crawled away like a coward and left the way he came in.

Yu Wen watched the trembling figure climb through the window, the rage in his heart unabated. He picked up the bag where Li Jun’s clothes had been packed. There were shirts, t-shirts, pants, socks, and lots of underwear. Yu Wen clicked his tongue in annoyance. He scanned around and found that the bedroom was even worse.

The bedding was strewn across the ground, the mattress was skewed, and its frame was askew. The mirrors had been shattered with fragments all over the floor, and all the drawers were open like they had been ransacked for any valuables. As for the walk-in closet, it was almost emptied out with only a few garments crumpled up on the floor.

He walked inside the walk-in closet and bent down to pick up a shirt. It was the one Li Jun had been wearing the last time he was here. Dec probably hadn’t finished packing all the clothes when he walked in. He straightened the shirt out like he was holding something extremely precious.

Just then, he noticed something on the wall. Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed it, but he did. He tapped it, and the wall split, revealing a security surveillance console for the entire club. There were surveillance cameras everywhere, including the private lounges. Li Jun must have forgotten about the surveillance system before he left. Without any hesitation, he copied everything onto his device.

On a distant planet, Yan Jia received a system notification warning her of a breach and suspicious activity. She took a look and saw someone was transferring data from the server at the club. "Fuck," she swore, blaming herself for missing this. But who could fault her for forgetting to erase the server?

The surveillance system was well hidden, and no one would go looking in that direction. But someone did, and she had to find out who, so before erasing everything, she accessed the camera, and who she saw made her grit her teeth. It was Yu Wen. Of course, it would be that crazy bastard, Yu Wen.