Chapter 1020: Die with Pride

"Where exactly is that guy hiding?" Long Chen stood outside the Emperor's room, confused. 

He had thought that the Emperor was hiding his son in his room, but now, it was evident that it wasn't the case. So, where exactly could he be hiding? 

It was a confusing question that he didn't have an answer to. The Palace was enormous. He could be hiding that guy anywhere. The only thing which was certain was that the man was still inside the Palace. 

"Could it be that he has a Spatial Treasure as well? Is he carrying that guy with him in a treasure? Like the Fake world?"

"That's right. Why didn't I think of this before? I can change the future. If Mingyu is inside the Fake World, no one can harm her. First, I need to keep her safe. Then take out her enemies. Then I can release her. How dumb could I have been for leaving her in her room," he let out as he smacked his forehead. 

He started moving towards Mingyu's room.

"Do you want to hear my opinion?"

Just as Long Chen was flying towards Mingyu's room, he heard a voice that belonged to Xun. 

Xun flew beside him.

"Now is not the time of nonsense. So I hope you won't give some bad suggestions like I should surrender or not for anything because it's risky for me," Long Chen said while giving her permission to speak. 

"Don't worry. I won't tell you to surrender. I know you won't do it anyway. As for telling you not to do anything, I know that's a stupid suggestion. What I want to tell you is something else. Which I have noticed quite often," Xun said calmly. 

"What's that?" Long Chen asked without stopping. 

"It's that sometimes, you don't think before you do anything like last time when you got angry at the Emperor. I don't know why, but I feel like your arrogance is holding you back. You're pretty clever sometimes, but when you're angry, you make decisions that you don't think the consequences of," Xun answered.

"Now, you can ignore what I saw here. Or you can think about it when you have time. But I'm just saying, half your problems might not even exist if you're not agitated so fast," she added. 

"You're talking about the fact that I left the Royal Chamber against the Emperor's will because I was angry?" Long Chen questioned. 

"That's just one of the instances," Xun answered. 

"I know I sometimes don't make the best decision. Maybe it's because I'm arrogant, as you said. Or maybe because I'm sometimes still naive. Or maybe I get a bit emotional. But I still think that was the right decision. Staying behind when no one trusts you, that is something I don't want to face," Long Chen replied, turning left at a cross-section in the palace. 

" I'll live with my pride, and I'll die with my pride. No one will change that. And no one can change that. But yeah, I do think that I acted rashly. Leaving Mingyu behind was wrong. I should've done more for her," he added.

"I don't want you to do anything. All I say is that when you have time... When this is all over... Sit down calmly. Don't do anything and just imagine your past. Everything from the day you met me to now. All the decisions you took and their outcome," Xun said gently.

"I'm sure you'll understand what I'm speaking about. As I said, it's not the time to be naive. Just introspect once, and you'll understand. That's all I can say," Xun replied before she disappeared. 

Long Chen knew that she wasn't saying wrong this time. There was a bit of truth in her words. And he decided to do as she said and take some time back to think later. But not now; he didn't have any time to waste here. 

Whatever he needed to do could wait for later when he had secured Mingyu. 

After some time, Long Chen reached the room of Mingyu. The door of that place was already open, which made him auspicious. Did someone else enter already? 

He checked inside the room only to find it empty. 

It was strange. First, Lu Junwei was missing. And now Mingyu was missing. Just what was happening? This whole place was like a ghost town. No matter who he tried to find, he just couldn't. 

"Did she go to her mother?"

Even though Long Chen was annoyed, he tried to think critically. Mingyu's mother was sick. After waking up, she was obviously going to go to her mother if she wasn't in her room.

Maybe that's where she was. It was also possible that Lu Wang was there too. 

He wasn't the only person who thought of that when they saw Mingyu not in her room. Lu Junwei and his son had already thought of this, and they were already on route to the Queen's room. 

Long Chen started flying towards the queen's chambers too. 

...

Mingyu was sitting right beside her mother on the bed. She was holding her hand caringly while her mother laid in bed with a gentle smile.

Mingyu seemed completely oblivious of the entire commotion that was taking place outside. 

"Mingyu, you seem a bit happy today. Is he back?" Mingyu's mother asked her. 

Seeing the calm look on Mingyu's face, she felt something good had happened. She knew about Long Chen leaving. From the day that happened, Mingyu seemed a bit isolated and lonely. 

Even though she previously smiled in front of her mother, there was no happiness in her eyes. It was evident. Now that she smiled, her smile seemed genuinely happy smile.

Even though she could only guess, she was mostly sure that Long Clen was back. That could be the only reason for her happiness.

"That's right. He came back for me. He went to meet father to apologize to him," Mingyu replied with a smile on her face. 

"Really? I'm glad he is back. As long as he apologizes, your father will forgive him. I'm sure," Mingyu's mother said as she smiled. "Everything should be fine soon."

"I hope the same," Mingyu nodded her head. "Because I know the accusations on him were fake. He could never do something like that. And I can also understand why he was angry after he was accused falsely. Our Empire enemies are scheming against us. Now that he's back, everything should be fine."

It was at that moment, the door to the room opened as someone barged inside.