Starting with a cub, the superpower boss becomes the richest man by lying flat

Chapter 205 Transformation in Progress
The Prefect of the Capital felt a pang of regret. Why hadn't he discovered the problem sooner? Now look what's happened; the person has been taken away by His Majesty. What will become of the subsequent investigation?
He slapped his forehead hard and cursed under his breath, "Idiot!" How could he forget that the other man's son was now a favorite of the emperor? Even if he killed his stepmother and half-siblings, or even his own father, it probably wouldn't matter much!

The question is, what should we do now?
The Prefect of the Capital, overwhelmed with problems, ranted and raved about the people from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion for ages before finally heading to the front office with a long face, thinking with a "whatever" attitude: "Whatever, I don't care anymore, you can all go do your own thing! Humph!"

Mo Ziyuan has been busy at the camp outside the capital these past two days, completely unaware that a fabricated charge has been pinned on him by the Prefect of the Capital.

As dusk fell, he rode his horse at full speed along the official road outside the capital. The army would set off the day after tomorrow, and he needed to prepare some things to take on the road. He had always prepared these things himself when he went to the frontier before, so he was very experienced.

As soon as they entered the city gate, they saw Lin Xin waiting with a smile on her face.

"Xin'er! What brings you here?" Mo Ziyuan asked, walking towards her with delight.

Lin Xin deliberately didn't answer, but instead looked him up and down several times before saying with a hint of schadenfreude, "I've come to see the murderer who almost wiped out my own family!"

The way she tilted her head was so cute that it made Mo Ziyuan's heart itch, especially the two little braids hanging down her shoulders, which seemed to be shouting at him, "Come and catch us!" So much so that he didn't hear what Lin Xin was saying at all.

"Did you come all this way just to wait for me?"

"Huh?" Lin Xin's eyes widened. "Did I not explain clearly? Your stepmother and two younger siblings were all murdered and their bodies burned. Everyone's guessing you're the killer!"

"What?" Mo Ziyuan's eyes widened even more than hers. "When did this happen?"

"It was either last night or this morning. The wreckage of the carriage, along with the charred corpses, is still at the Jingzhao Prefecture government office. Your father has also been summoned to the palace by the Emperor," Lin Xin said.

"They're all...all dead?"

Lin Xin shook her head. "I only heard about it secondhand. Nobody knows the specifics, especially after the Emperor got involved. I advise you to go to the palace and clarify things. Otherwise, they'll all think you did it, and they might try to cover it up. In that case, the real culprit will get away with it."

Mo Ziyuan nodded, "I understand. I'll take you back first and then go to the palace."

"Why would I send you anything? Do you think I'll get lost? You go ahead!" Lin Xin refused.

“Alright, I’ll head over now. I’ll come find you tomorrow. Conditions in the Western Frontier are tough, so we should bring plenty of supplies. We don’t need to bring too much silver, though, since we won’t be able to spend it,” Mo Ziyuan instructed her.

"Okay, let's talk about it when we meet tomorrow."

Mo Ziyuan couldn't resist his restless hands, and after stroking her braids a couple of times, he mounted his horse and went to the palace.

"Ah! Ahhh! Ah~" shrill screams echoed from the room. The two men in black guarding the door stood there expressionless, their eyes filled with disgust.

There were four people in the room. One of them, Mo Zichen, was sitting in a huge bathtub wearing only a pair of underpants. The lid, with a small opening, was just enough to cover his neck, leaving only his head sticking out. There was another identical bathtub next to him, and the continuous screams were coming from him. He hadn't left this bathtub since this morning. The man in black who brought him there said that starting today, they would be reshaping his bones and muscles, that is, modifying his body.

At first, we gave him several bowls of various colored herbal soups, some bitter, some sweet, and some fishy and smelly. In short, each bowl tasted different, and he vomited several times because he felt nauseous.

Each time he vomited, the same amount would be replenished, until in the end he felt like he was vomiting blood.

Just when he breathed a sigh of relief that no one was bringing in any more medicine, he was met with even more cruel torture. After he finished lunch, two huge bathtubs were carried into the room, filled with a thick, red liquid with strangely colored plant leaves or fruits floating on top.

Without saying a word, they stripped him naked, leaving him only in his underwear, and then pushed him into the liquid.

Then the torture began. The bottom of the bathtub was empty. The people placed a charcoal brazier that was burning brightly into the empty trough below. Mo Zichen felt as if he were a large piece of braised meat being boiled.

As the heating time increased, the water temperature in the bathtub rose higher and higher, eventually producing strings of small bubbles, as if it had been boiled, and he felt intense pain.

At first, he clenched his teeth and refused to scream, but later he couldn't hold back any longer. All the pores on his body seemed to be boiled open, and tiny insect-like things crawled into his body through the pores. It was as if his body was some kind of happy place, and those tiny insects were very active in his skin, bones and blood vessels. He was so painful that he fainted.

"Ah~" Another inhuman scream rang out, and then the air suddenly became quiet. The men in black inside and outside the house all breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally fainted again. That scream was too piercing. They all wished they could cover the boy's mouth or knock him out.

The man in black who brought Mo Zichen over was used to this. He quickly tapped several acupoints on the top of Mo Zichen's head, and Mo Zichen's originally closed eyelids began to tremble slightly.

"Ah! It hurts so much! I don't want any more body modifications, just kill me! I can't take it anymore... Ahhh~" As soon as he regained consciousness, Mo Ziyuan was overwhelmed by the excruciating pain in his body. Tears of primal urges streamed from his eyes as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Shut up! If you shout again, I'll silence you." The man in black standing next to the bathtub said threateningly with a cold snort, his eyes flashing with impatience.

However, at this moment, Mo Zichen was so overwhelmed by pain that he lost his mind. He no longer cared about threats and just screamed at the top of his lungs until he fainted again.

He went through this cycle of fainting and waking up, repeating it about ten times, before Mo Zichen's punishment finally ended. He lay limp as the men in black pulled him out and stuffed him into another bathtub.

The water temperature here was just right, and it also emitted a strange fragrance. As soon as he soaked in it, he felt the pain in his body was soothed quite a bit, and he finally managed to regain his consciousness and mind.

After soaking for half an hour, he was pulled out again, roughly wiped a few times, and then stuffed into the quilt.

"That concludes today's modifications. You should rest well. You can eat tomorrow. In seven days, I will assess your condition and determine if the prescription or dosage needs adjustment. Try to rest as much as possible these next few days, and it's best not to get out of bed." After saying this, the man in black turned and left without looking back.

The remaining two quickly cleaned the room, each carrying one of the two huge bathtubs filled with liquid, and left without changing their expressions.