Chapter 94: Li Jun the menace
After what Xiu Ying did to the memorial hall, they didn’t want her on the imperial throne. They wanted Li Zimo to take her place. But others defended her, saying that there was no reason to order her to abdicate the throne. They were in crisis, and changing the Imperial leader would not only affect morale but also cause chaos.
While they were fighting back and forth, Li Zimo entered the hall with a smug expression. He could almost see himself sitting on that throne just as he had dreamed for decades. "How is it, brother?" he whispered to himself as though speaking to Li Mingze. "Do you regret not killing me, huh?"
As siblings, they all disliked each other, but they all hated Li Mingze even more. They wanted him dead, but Li Mingze was much more powerful than them and he was always a step ahead.
In the struggle for power, he killed several of his siblings who challenged him. To Li Zimo and the rest of Aurelia, they were murdered in cold blood, but to Li Mingze, it was kill or be killed. They plotted against him, intending to end his life, and he retaliated.
Li Zimo could finally see himself sitting on the throne that they had fought over for years. He took a step forward, and the hall fell silent. He intended to use the imperial law to force Xiu Ying to abdicate, but before he could even speak, he felt a surging heat come from his chest.
He pressed his chest with a look of confusion on his face. Before he could realize what was going on, he threw up blood and collapsed to the ground. The hall gasped in shock as some reached over to help him and others leaned close to take a look.
Li Zimo’s face and neck were covered in red cracks. His eyes were blood red, as though bleeding, as he convulsed on the floor. "Don’t touch him. It’s Helion poison." This attack was right at their doorstep. But how could Helion get to an imperial prince in the capital? It was unimaginable.
The physician arrived, and as they were attempting to stabilize him, news came in telling them that the remaining members of the imperial family had suffered the same fate. They had all been poisoned by a toxin specific to Helion. This news sent the entire hall into a spiral.
Voices blaming Xiu Ying grew louder. She had to be the one who did this. Her throne was about to be challenged, so she took out the competition. She was the most plausible suspect. Just then, another attendant rushed in and told them, "The Imperial Queen was poisoned."
The officials who were just about to blame her for this were shocked into silence. Surely Xiu Ying wouldn’t poison herself to remove suspicions on her, right? They would like to think she wasn’t that crazy, but after seeing that video, they were beginning to scrutinize her every move. They thought back to Li Jun and that poisoning incident.
It was all starting to look like a setup. They looked at each other, but they didn’t dare speak. They were all part of Li Zimo’s faction, and if Xiu Ying survives but Li Zimo dies, they would surely be the first on the chopping block.
***
Li Jun wasn’t aware of what was happening in the imperial capital or the rest of Aurelia. He was busy running around the estate on Nox like a menace. You would think that Draco would be driven crazy by him, but he looked like a proud grandpa.
He could see his daughter in him. Haku Ume used to be just as menacing as her son, but back then, he would get angry at her. She would kick a pebble, looking remorseful and apologize, but ten minutes later, she would be up to no good, and Damian would be dragged into it. It’s not like he had a choice.
Now, looking at Li Jun causing havoc, he was just smiling like a fool. Damian suddenly walked over and sat beside him. Draco didn’t even look at him as he asked, "What were you up to? I haven’t seen you in two days."
Damian poured out some tea for both of them while saying, "If I did half the shit he is doing, you would have punished me already."
Draco snorted and said, "Are you deflecting? Do you want me to go to his house?" Whose house, you ask? Well, Uncle Ian had a secret boyfriend that he was hiding, and his father knew about it.
Damian’s eyes widened, but he quickly composed himself and said, "The world is burning, and you are worried about my affairs?"
The old man picked up the cup and asked, "What happened this time?"
"The rest of the imperial family was poisoned. There is no word on whether they are going to recover. That woman was also poisoned, but she is already on her feet. Well, she is in a wheelchair, and she is going to make a speech. It seemed she was ahead of Li Zimo," he explained what he had found out.
Draco’s lips twitched. "That Li Zimo never stood a chance. Xiu Ying is too cunning," he said before taking another sip. The two of them drank in silence for a while, watching Li Jun sparring in the garden. He had stepped on a few of his grandpa’s peonies, but Draco didn’t even flinch.
"Are we really not going to do anything about it?" Damian finally asked. The way things were looking, not getting involved would be a terrible idea. Eventually, war would reach their front door.
But Draco was stubborn. He had sacrificed a lot for Aurelia already. He had lost a lot of his men during the war. His resources were almost depleted, and worse of all, he lost his daughter and almost lost his son.
His grandson was treated like the enemy by all those people despite all his contributions. They had taken so much from him and his family yet they were ungrateful. If he continued down this path, his wife might crawl out of her grave and slap him to death.
