Let's just drift through life together in this quick transmigration story.

Xiong Bufan went over and washed his hands, then dried them with a towel. Surgery was indeed a physically demanding task, but the results were gratifying. Xiong Bufan looked at the six-foot-tall second-in-command with satisfaction. He had arms and legs and hadn't been crippled. He had made great progress.

Kongkong: It's an illusion, this is definitely your illusion.

An hour later, the strategist returned with his men, pulling out a stack of silver notes from his pocket. There were exactly six notes worth five hundred taels each. Xiong Bufan glanced at the strategist and asked, "Did you miscalculate? Where's the money I paid for your medical treatment?"

The strategist wiped his sweat and said, "I forgot to add them together earlier. The medical expenses are here." As he spoke, he took out a one-hundred-tael silver note from his other pocket.

Xiong Bufan took the silver note and slapped the strategist across the face. "You're insulting my medical skills! Back in the day, I'd only set bones for five hundred taels of silver, and you're only offering one hundred?"

Kongkong scratched his head. "When did this happen? Isn't this the first time I've treated someone?"

Xiong Bufan said confidently, "I have healed many people in my dreams."

Kong Kong fell silent again.

The strategist's face quickly swelled up, and he pulled out four more one-hundred-tael silver notes from his pocket. "Here you go, Boss Xiong!"

Xiong Bufan slapped the strategist across the face again, "That was the price just now!"

The strategist then took out a hundred-tael silver note and handed it to Xiong Bufan. Xiong Bufan pinched the strategist's face, looked at it from left to right, and exclaimed in admiration, "It's symmetrical now. It looks much better this way."

"Take your second-in-command back with you; next time the price won't be the same."

The men on the opposite mountain, along with their short-legged second-in-command, scrambled away from Da Cai Zhai. They figured the men on the mountain were evil spirits, and they could find another place to collect tolls without ever encountering their leader again.

Xiong Bufan took out the silver notes, moistened them with saliva, and counted them. There were a total of three thousand six hundred taels of silver. Xiong Bufan could go to the silver shop to exchange them for real gold and silver, and then make a pure gold bed. When he ran out of money, he could also save the gold to buy food. He could also put it in his space when he left. Xiong Bufan thought it was wonderful.

Without further ado, Xiong Bufan hoisted 002 onto his shoulder and said, "Let's go, come down the mountain with me."

002 gently patted Xiong Bufan's back, "Wait a moment, I'll go change my clothes."

Xiong Bufan ignored 002 and carried him down the mountain.

The people of Da Cai Zhai quietly slipped out and began cleaning up the traces left by today's fight. There were no casualties in the stronghold, all thanks to their leader's swift action. The people of Da Cai Zhai had begun to acknowledge Xiong Bufan as their leader.

Xiong Bufan never returned to the mountain stronghold, staying only in the blacksmith shop. 002 occasionally returned to the stronghold to check on the progress of everyone making rouge.

Qiao Yujie visited Xiong Bufan once when he wasn't returning to the mountain stronghold, but Xiong Bufan was only thinking about his bed and didn't see the disdainful look in Qiao Yujie's eyes.

Su Beichen followed the clues in the capital and found Cui Weili's secret guards. The secret guard camp was left with only the corpses of secret guards scattered all over the ground, and they had been rotting for a long time. However, poison was found on one of the secret guards, and it was the same kind of poison that Cui Weili had been poisoned with.

It wasn't uncommon for bodyguards to kill their masters in the capital. However, many bodyguards who committed such acts were controlled by Gu worms on the way to their deaths and would then commit suicide. But the Second Prince's bodyguard was clearly murdered, judging from the knife wound. Who was the real killer? Was the person who killed the bodyguard an accomplice?

Su Beichen instructed, "Take the body back to the morgue and have the coroner examine it."

"Yes, my lord."

The strategist approached Su Beichen and asked, "My lord, what should we do next?"

Actually, it should have been Su Beichen asking the strategist that question. Having handled cases for several years, Su Beichen had gained some knowledge of weapons and martial arts. The wounds on the bodyguard didn't seem to have been inflicted by martial arts practitioners, so the culprit was probably also a bodyguard.

Recalling what the eldest prince had once told him, Su Beichen couldn't help but suspect that the eldest prince might be involved in this matter. After all, with the second prince dead and the Prince Xian being targeted, the eldest prince was the only one who benefited.

The eldest prince was still dreaming of being named crown prince by the emperor, so he was a little surprised by Su Beichen's visit. Wasn't he busy investigating the cause of his second brother's death? Nevertheless, he went up to him and said, "Brother Su, what a rare guest. This is your first time visiting my residence."

Su Beichen bowed, "Your Highness,"

The two went to the main hall to drink tea. The eldest prince said, "Brother Su, I recently acquired a masterpiece."

"Bring me my painting, 'Beating Old Deng.'"

"Your Highness, there's no need. I've come to discuss something with you."

The steward had already brought the painting up. The eldest prince waved his hand, and the steward stood aside. The eldest prince pulled Su Beichen over and said, "Now that the masterpiece has been presented, it would be unrefined of us not to look at it. Let's appreciate it first, and then we can talk."

Su Beichen: "Yes, Your Highness."

The eldest prince sighed and said, "Don't call me Your Highness. Just call me Rongyin in front of our own people."

Rongyin is the name of the eldest prince. People who are close to each other usually address each other by their given names, but the eldest prince currently doesn't know Su Beichen's name. (In ancient times, names were similar to nicknames or pet names, given by the father at birth. This explanation is from Baidu.)

Su Beichen: "Your Highness."

"Enjoy the painting, enjoy the painting."

Su Beichen tried to speak several times but was interrupted by the Crown Prince. After finally finishing appreciating the painting, Su Beichen disregarded formalities and asked directly, "Rongyin, did you lay a hand on the Second Prince?"

The eldest prince shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Father Emperor hopes that we brothers will care for each other. I will not go against Father Emperor's wishes. So when they fight, I will stop them. How could I possibly hurt the second brother? No matter how outrageous the second brother is, he is still my half-brother."

Su Beichen was stunned. It wasn't the First Prince. The First Prince then said, "You can check the Fourth Prince's secret guard camp. After the Third Prince died, most of the Third Prince's secret guards were raised in the Fourth Prince's secret guard camp. Maybe the secret guards were taking revenge."

However, the fourth brother would never kill the second brother; he doesn't have the guts.

Upon receiving the news, Su Beichen bowed to the First Prince, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness," before turning and leaving the First Prince's residence.

This wasn't the first time Su Beichen had encountered the Third Prince's secret guards. Three years ago, they were involved in the case of a minor official whose entire family was wiped out. The evidence ultimately pointed directly at the Second Prince, but the Emperor suppressed the matter, and Su Beichen himself was demoted to Lincheng shortly afterward...

Some people die, but their troubles never end; the Third Prince was such a person.

After consulting with the Fourth Prince, Su Beichen arrived at the Dark Guard Camp under the Fourth Prince's guidance. The Third Prince's Dark Guards all had separate quarters. When the accompanying physician came to inspect them, he found that each Dark Guard had Gu worms on their body. The Fourth Prince explained with a smile, "These were given to us by my Third Brother. I will provide the antidote to them every month."

When these secret guards were first taken from the Third Prince's residence, Master Wu, fearing they would betray their master, crippled half of their martial arts skills.

Su Beichen looked at the four bodyguards kneeling on the ground. Their thin, frail bodies seemed as if a gust of wind could blow them over, and their skin was sickly white. He asked the Fourth Prince, "Your Highness, are these the only four?"

The Fourth Prince said, "There are only four left. There were four when we arrived, and they are all registered." He then took out a small booklet.

Su Beichen flipped through the booklet and casually asked the guards on the ground, "How many of you are there in total? Are your names your numbers?"

016 said, "There are twenty people, each with a number. The earlier the number, the higher the martial arts skill."

What are the remaining three numbers?

"017"

"018"

"020"

Su Beichen scribbled and drew in his notebook, noting down their numbers. His next step was to find the numbers of the secret guards from the other princes. Once he knew which ones were missing, he would be close to finding the murderer.

An old man was driving a cart pulled by two oxen, carrying Xiong Bufan's large golden bed up the mountain. The oxen would take two steps forward and then two steps back. The old man pulled hard on the rope leading the oxen and patted their necks from time to time to comfort them.

I don't know when we'll be going to the mountain stronghold like this again. When we were on flat ground, Xiong Bufan was sitting on an oxcart. Now he was pushing the cart behind him and said with a struggle, "Why don't we carry it up? I shouldn't have listened to 002 and spent money to hire an oxcart to pull the bed."

Kongkong: "Why don't we just carry it up? We'll refund the money for the oxcart."

Xiong Bufan stopped and said to Kongkong, "That works too."

The oxcart stopped moving. The old man turned around and said, "Sir, give it your all, we'll be up there soon."

002 pushed forward with all his might. He didn't understand why Xiong Bufan wanted to build a golden bed. It was heavy, hard, and uncomfortable to lie on. 002 replied, "I'm trying."

Xiong Bufan: "I'm not pulling it anymore, I'm carrying it back myself."

The old man, fearing a refund, shouted, "Sir, this money is non-refundable! My two oxen have put in a lot of effort today!"

"it is good."