" Yeah, I don't have anyone. What can I say? I don't have a habit of making friends for my benefit. I am going to battle alone, and I'm going to win alone," Xu Ming replied as he casually waved his hand.

"My First Brother and my second brother might need the help of hundreds of people to win a simple battle, but I'm enough. It would've been good if I had just one more person, though. It doesn't matter anymore. I'll handle it on my own," he continued. ​​

Everyone had started listening carefully as Xu Ming started talking, but by the end of it, they were all laughing as if Xu Ming was telling a joke.

Xu Ming ignored most of it though. He took a subtle glance at Yanli before he waved his hand.

The Royal Minister looked at Xu Ming with an annoyed look on his face as he sighed.

"Alright. Now that everyone is ready, I announce the battle of the crown..."

He was about to declare the beginning of the event when he heard the sound of a horse coming towards him. He looked to the back.

Xu Ming and the others also looked back to see who was arriving so late.

They saw a carriage coming towards them. The carriage looked pretty luxurious, and it seemed to have a peculiar symbol on it.

Xu Ming didn't recognize it, but the First and the Second Prince realized it.

"The Ruan Clan is here," the First Prince muttered as he smirked. "Did they accept my invitation?"

"Hmph, keep dreaming, First Brother. I personally went there to them. It's obvious that they sent their heir to help me," The Second Prince replied as he smiled confidently.

Xu Ming heard their words and found out that it was the Carriage of Ruan Clan, and he also knew someone from the Ruan Clan. He wondered if the person was here for him.

The Carriage stopped near them as its door opened.

A beautiful girl stepped out of the carriage. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress that shone even brighter in the daylight.

"Yu Yan," Xu Ming muttered as he saw the girl. "Didn't this girl say that she wasn't going to participate in this thing?"

The girl he saw coming out of the carriage was Yu Yan, who is the daughter of the Sect Master of the Sect he was currently staying in. Not only that, but she was also the Granddaughter of the Ruan Clan Patriarch.

More importantly, she was his Fiance in name. She was actually the fiance of the guy he was impersonating as.

"Little girl, you are late. I can't allow you to take part in the battle of the crown," The Royal Minister suddenly said as he shook his head.

"Minister Wang, please don't do that. You hadn't finished announcing the start of the event. She arrived just on time. Please let her take part," the First Prince said. He was sure that the girl was there to join him since he had personally offered her a place in his team.

"Yes. Let her join Minister Wang. I don't think she's late at all," The Second Prince also said. He also believed the same thing as the first prince

"Sigh, if the two of you insist, I'll allow her to join. I won't repeat the rules, though," the Royal Minister said as he waved his hand.

"Little Girl, select one of the three princes to join their teams," he told Yu Yan.

"Miss Yan. I was sure that you would come. Please come to my side," First Prince said to Yu Yan.

"First Brother, don't be like that. You know she's here for me. The Ruan Clan sent her here, after all. I was the closest to them," the Second Prince chimed in.

"Miss Yan, come here," he added.

Yu Yan looked at the both of them before she shifted her gaze towards the third Prince, Xu Ming.

She started walking, but the direction she walked in had managed to shock everyone. She was not walking towards the First Prince, who had over a hundred members in his team. She wasn't walking towards the Second Prince either, who had ninety members in his team.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, she was walking towards the Third Prince.

Xu Ming had no member in his team. In everyone's eyes, he was destined to be defeated. No one could understand why a girl from one of the Top Clans, if the Kingdom was walking towards a person who had no chance of victory.

"I get it. He's her fiance. Even though he has no chance of victory and he's going to die, she still wants to help him and fulfill her duties one last time. Such a pure girl," One of the heirs said out loud.

Others heard his words and thought that he was right.

"Waah, such a pure-hearted girl. She just had to be engaged to the worse of all the princes. Such bad luck."

"Sigh, she was engaged to the Prince who was destined to die. Who even thought that this engagement was a good idea. Why didn't her family oppose it? They basically wrote in her destiny that she was going to be a widow."

"Poor girl."

"The Third Prince is so bad. He should've canceled the engagement since he knows that he was just going to die, yet he's dragging her down with him. He's so selfish."

"I agree. The Third Prince is not only the weakest but most selfish too. I'm amazed someone like him was born in the Royal Family. All the other princes are so good. It's just him who's like this."

All the heirs started chiming in.

In their eyes, Yu Yan was a victim of Xu Ming, which was why she was doing it.

Xu Ming heard their words but didn't react. He did agree that he was using her. He intentionally didn't break the engagement since he wanted her help. More importantly, he knew that he was going to win, so he didn't feel the need to break any engagement. There was no way Yu Yan was going to be widowed even though her real Fiance was already dead.

"You came for me. I'm surprised," Xu Ming told Yu Yan as he smiled.

"Don't be too happy. It's still not going to be easy for you to win. You'll have to give it your all and follow the words you told me—that you will win," Yu Yan told Xu Ming.

"I will win. Defeat is not an option. I still have many things to do," He muttered as he looked towards the sky.