Xu Ming was escorted inside the palace by the servants. Even though Xu Ming was assumed to be a prince that was going to be dead soon, he was still a prince, and the servants didn't offend him.

The maid took him to the central hall, where the function was taking place. ​​

The King was sitting on the throne while the other guests were sitting on the round tables that were spread out throughout the great hall.

So far, only wine was being served for the guests.

There was one seat on the left side of the seat of the King, where a beautiful middle-aged woman was sitting. The Woman was the Queen of the Kingdom, and she was the main wife of the King. She was also the mother of the first prince.

Xu Ming was pretending to be the third Prince Li Mu, and the mother of the third Prince was already dead. The Second and the Fourth Princes' mothers were still alive, and they had the position of the King's concubines.

The Concubines were sitting on the seats, which were on the left side of the Queen's seat.

There were four seats behind the throne of the King towards his right side, and three of the seats were filled already.

On the first seat to the king's right side was the First Prince, Li Xu. The Second Prince Li Kun was sitting on the second seat. He was looking pretty confident as he drank the wine from his glass. The Second Prince couldn't help but glance at the First Prince occasionally.

The third seat was empty as it probably belonged to the Third Prince, Li Mu, who was Xu Ming.

The Fourth Prince, Li Cang, was sitting on the fourth seat.

Amongst the first four princes, only the Fourth Prince Li Cang was the person that was no older than twenty. On the contrary, he was not even in his mid-teens. The first three princes were all older than twenty. The third Prince Li Mu was said to have turned twenty this month.

The Third Prince's age was what kept the battle for the crown delayed as it was a tradition here that the Crown Prince was selected through the deadly Trials of Crown here. The trials can only begin when three princes could take part in it, and all three of them needed to be over twenty to be qualified.

Since the third Prince was not Twenty, everyone had to wait for the battle of the crown, but the Crown Prince had turned Twenty, and everyone knew that the Battle for the Crown would begin soon.

There were a few more princes who were even younger than the fourth Prince, but they were not here. They were told to stay back.

The King was known as Li Gan. He had the highest authority in this kingdom and every being residing in it. The only other person that had an authority close enough in strength was the Sect Master of the Sect where Xu Ming was currently staying in, but the sect master and the sect acted like a separate entity from the kingdom as they didn't compete for anything and didn't involve themselves in the matters of the kingdom.

The sect did follow the orders of the King if there was something really important to be done, but other than that, they stayed inside their own bubble.

The King also didn't disturb the sect much since there was nothing that the King couldn't handle himself.

****

Xu Ming stepped into the hall, and he immediately attracted everyone's attention. Almost everyone in the hall was looking at Xu Ming.

Xu Ming was wearing pretty normal clothing and the Mask of Mischief, which helped him transform into the third Prince, Li Mu.

Xu Ming also roamed his gaze over the whole hall, and he saw many people sitting on the various tables, and he didn't recognize any of them. It seemed like many powerful families had sent someone to this function. He was also amazed to see a lot of young people in the hall that came with their families, but Xu Ming noticed that their Cultivation was quite good. They were definitely from the prominent Cultivation Families of the sect.

He also saw another person here. It was a person that he had met before. His Fiance, who was actually Li Mu's fiance, was sitting on one of the tables with a middle-aged woman. She wasn't even looking at him, and she was more focused on talking to the middle-aged woman.

Xu Ming also saw the King and recognized him instantly. He had already met the first prince, so it was easy to guess that the one sitting beside him was the second prince. He raised that they were all sitting in order, and he also found out the seat he was supposed to sit at.

Before he could start walking, he heard the first prince's voice.

"Third Brother, Why are you standing there? Come, sit," The Fourth Prince excitedly told Xu Ming as he gestured towards the seat beside him.

Amongst all the princes, only the Fourth Prince liked the third Prince since the third Prince was really close to the fourth Prince. They were literally like blood brothers, even though both of them were from different mothers. Li Mu had also saved the Fourth Prince when he was only four years old, which gave birth to his brotherly feeling towards the third Prince.

Xu Ming had also found out that the Third Prince had a close relationship with the Fourth Prince.

Xu Ming walked towards the Fourth Prince and sat on the empty seat between the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince.

"How are you, Fourth Brother?" Xu Ming asked the Fourth Prince.

"Brother? Are you angry with me? Why are you not calling me Little Cang like always? Did I make a mistake?" The Fourth Prince asked with a confused look on his face.

'How would I know that I called you Little Cang. Whatever I can still save it,' Xu Ming thought as he maintained his straight expressions.

"We are in a public setting, Little Cang. I thought that it would be nice if I gave you a formal greeting since you're a big boy now. Are you sure that you still want this brother of yours to call you Little Cang?" Xu Ming inquired with a wry smile on his face.

"I would always be little for you," Xu Cang told Xu Ming.

"Alright, Little Cang," Xu Ming let out as he glanced at Li Cang with a calm smile on his face.