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

Xiong Bufan lay on the golden bed in a daze, missing the television, her cell phone, and all sorts of delicious food. When would this mission finally end?

"Miss Bear, are you home?"

Someone spoke, interrupting Xiong Bufan's daze. Xiong Bufan said in a harsh voice, "I'm not home."

The man, still unwilling to give up, said, "Young lady, please come out for a moment, I'll give you some silver."

Xiong Bufan reluctantly got out of bed, looked at Su Beichen and said, "Are you here to deliver gold to me?"

"No."

Upon hearing that it wasn't for gold, Xiong Bufan's attitude changed instantly, and he asked in a harsh voice, "Then what are you doing here?"

Su Beichen, with a scraggly beard, looked like he hadn't slept well for days. He looked like he could be knocked out with a single punch. Weak but eager, he asked, "Miss Xiong, what do you think is the meaning of being an official?"

Xiong Bufan stated directly: "In order to gain power, to seek a better life for the people, to make the people happy, and for the country to prosper."

Kongkong couldn't believe those words came from Xiong Bufan's mouth. If she hadn't been watching closely, Kongkong would have thought Xiong Bufan had been possessed.

Su Beichen's eyes lit up, and he asked again, "Miss Xiong, is imperial power above or is the people above? If the two conflict, how should one choose?"

"The people are like water; water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. The same principle applies to imperial power."

Su Beichen clasped his fists together, raised them to chest level, and bowed to Xiong Bufan, saying, "I have learned a lot."

"It was my limitation, Ms. Su. Thank you for clarifying things, Miss Xiong."

Xiong Bufan: "You're welcome. Since you've figured it out, then go back to where you came from."

"Yes, I'll take my leave now."

Su Beichen left with much lighter steps. He had figured it out and understood that being a loyal minister and being a good official were not mutually exclusive. He wanted to be a good official who spoke up for the people, rather than a loyal minister who was only loyal to the emperor.

Xiong Bufan watched Su Beichen's departing figure, humming a song as he walked back. Kongkong, completely bewildered by Xiong Bufan's actions, asked, "Bufan, what exactly happened?"

Xiong Bufan's eyes were full of smiles as he explained to Kongkong, "I just fooled a fool, and I've discovered that Su Beichen isn't blindly loyal."

"What do you mean?"

Xiong Bufan continued to explain, "Su Beichen knows that I was the one who killed Cui Weili and Cui Zuoqian, but he didn't arrange for anyone to arrest me. What does that prove?"

Kongkong answered quickly: "It proves that he knows his own limitations and knows he can't beat you, so he simply doesn't make a move."

"No, it proves that he can distinguish right from wrong and is a good official who cares for the people!"

But what does this have to do with them? Kongkong couldn't understand Xiong Bufan's thought process.

Xiong Bufan added, "Once this matter is over, no one will know that we took action against Cui Zuoqian and Cui Weili. We are completely safe now."

Kongkong: "Okay." She guessed that Xiong Bufan had been listening to some strange picture books recently, so he had learned some strange thought processes.

Learning new things is instinctive, but you can't learn everything.

Even if 003 didn't enter the palace, other spies would still appear in the palace to pass on messages.

The emperor recently acquired a new beauty, whom he favors every night, which has even lessened his grief over the loss of his son. The fourth prince, Cui Guohong, is gradually making a name for himself in the court and is even showing signs of forming cliques. The maternal family of the third prince has begun to fully support the fourth prince after discussing some terms with him.

Both the ministers of the Prince Xian and the First Prince's factions were targeted, but the Emperor simply smiled and said in court that Guo Hong had grown up, without reprimanding him. This greatly boosted the confidence of the Fourth Prince.

If it weren't for the wise strategist left behind by his third brother, Cui Guohong would probably have lived in the shadow of his older brothers for the rest of his life. Now he has the strength to prove that he is also qualified to compete for that position, and his father has finally seen his talent.

The eldest prince felt that Cui Guohong had been acting strangely lately. After court, he took a pot of wine to the fourth prince's residence and talked to Cui Guohong about life, hoping that he could recognize his own position and not fight for things that did not belong to him, otherwise he would not blame him for turning his back on him.

With a forced smile, Cui Guohong welcomed the eldest prince into the mansion, saying, "Brother, what a rare guest! What brings you here?"

"I missed you, so naturally I came to visit. It's been a long time since we brothers got together. Come, have a drink with me today." As he spoke, the eldest prince lifted the wine he was carrying.

This wine is the pear blossom wine from Zuichunlou, which is only available for two seasons a year and is a rare delicacy in the capital.

The fourth prince glanced inside and said, "Eldest brother, you should go back. I'll visit you another day, and we brothers can have a small get-together."

It's normal to not give face, but this kind of ruthlessness is the first time I've seen it in the royal family.

The eldest prince's expression changed instantly, and the guard beside him, in order to save his master's face, quickly tried to find a way out, "Your Highness, the people in the manor said they had something important to report. Why don't you go back and deal with it?"

"When did this happen? Why are you only telling me now?"

The guard slapped his own face, saying, "It's all my fault, Your Highness. Please punish me."

The eldest prince said impatiently, "Alright, let's go back." Then he said to the fourth prince, "Fourth prince, let's talk another day. I'll leave you some wine for now."

"Brother, please take care."

Cui Guohong looked at the wine left behind by the eldest prince with a half-smile and said to the steward, "Throw it away."

Cui Guohong was afraid that the wine given to him by others might be poisoned. Who knew what these people were up to? When he was a child, his mother fell ill after drinking food given to her by others. He would never follow in his mother's footsteps.

"Yes, Your Highness." The steward took the wine away.

It would be a shame to throw it away, so the housekeeper quietly put it back in his room to savor when he had some free time.

When the eldest prince returned, he did not utter a word. The guards beside him dared not say anything, for fear of accidentally displeasing their master.

How dare the fourth prince? He's only shown his face in front of the Emperor a few times. Does he really think he's the future crown prince? The eldest prince grew angrier the more he thought about it, his face darkening as he sat in the sedan chair.

Cui Haoyu wasn't in a hurry. He and Qiao Yujie were drinking together in the mansion. They hadn't been together for a long time, and now it seemed like they were back to how they were before. However, they were no longer ordinary people with nothing. They now had power and money, and they were vying for that supreme position.

Qiao Yujie was talking about the funny things she usually encountered, such as how those vicious relatives would throw a tantrum at her door after seeing that she was making money, wanting money from her.

Cui Haoyu asked, "What happened next?"

Qiao Yujie smiled gently and said, "Of course, I kicked them all out."

"I know Yu Jie has always been very capable. By the way, why didn't I see Miss Xiong return to the capital with you this time?"

When the two were alone together, Qiao Yujie was a little unhappy when Cui Haoyu mentioned other women, but she still said, "She's been having a big gold bed made recently and is hiding in the Da Cai Zhai (a type of wealthy village) and won't come out."

The mention of gold immediately piqued Cui Haoyu's interest, while Qiao Yujie vividly described Xiong Bufan's large gold bed to him, including how many taels of gold it cost, the construction period, and how many layers of bedding were laid on the bed.

Xiong Bufan sneezed in bed. She felt like someone was crickets chirping at her. Nights without television were quite boring. Xiong Bufan rolled around and shifted her position, unable to fall asleep at all, but getting out of bed was out of the question.

After lying there for about an hour, Xiong Bufan looked at the roof beams. She was hungry, very hungry.

Driven by hunger, Xiong Bufan jumped out of bed and went to the kitchen. All the food in the kitchen had been put away. After searching for a long time, he found only some cabbage, cured meat, and some bags of rice.

Xiong Bufan couldn't cook, so he tore off a piece of cured meat and started gnawing on it. The cured meat was salty, hard, and had a smoky, pungent smell. To clean his mouth of the smell, Xiong Bufan picked up a cabbage and started gnawing on it, only to end up with a mouthful of ice crystals.

After finishing those two dishes, Xiong Bufan patted her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to eat cabbage and cured meat again. She only liked cooked food. There was nothing fresh in the kitchen except for the scallions in the pot, which the cook had saved for making dumplings for the winter solstice.

Xiong Bufan grabbed a scallion and stuffed it into his mouth. A spicy smell hit his nose. He swallowed the scallion, threw the rest aside, and ran out of the mountain stronghold.

The mountains were pitch black, and Xiong Bufan followed his scent as he ran around the mountains in search of his midnight snack.