The nobles who successfully obtained the sugar-making secret recipe, whether cursing the Yue King's Mansion for its greed or pitying Lady Xie for her bad luck in marrying the wrong person, quickly got busy after a brief period of gossip.

They acquired land, planted sugarcane, built workshops, and opened sugar shops.

They've already spent so much money on the brown sugar business, and now they just want to recoup their investment as quickly as possible and make a killing.

In addition, they felt a great sense of urgency—the Yue King's Mansion sold ten copies of the secret recipe in one go.

Although it is spread across five counties in Yuezhou, it has also created several new competitors.

Unable to achieve a complete monopoly, they can only compete on who can be faster!

They had to get their sugar shop open and profitable before anyone else.

"Madam, there are ten sugar-making forces in Yuezhou, and the competition in the future will definitely be fierce."

By betraying information about the Yue Prince's mansion, Zhao Jinxiu successfully gained a place by Zheng's side.

He might not be a close confidant, but he was still like a henchman.

She saw that after Madam Zheng left the restaurant, her face was gloomy, and she showed no joy at having obtained the secret recipe.

After a moment's thought, Zhao Jinxiu guessed the reason: Madam Zheng was distressed about the copper coins she had spent on buying the secret recipe.

Come to think of it, the governor's office has always been the most powerful entity in Yuezhou.

As the First Lady of Yuezhou, Madam Zheng always "invested" directly in whatever industry she set her sights on—without spending a single copper coin, she could still acquire a large share.

When the Yue Prince's candy shop first opened, Madam Zheng had already considered buying it.

Unfortunately, the signboard of the candy shop bore the words "Prince Yan's Mansion," so Cui Boyong dared not offend it easily, and Madam Zheng could only watch helplessly as the candy shop made a fortune.

Now, after much difficulty, Princess Xie has finally obtained the secret recipe and is willing to help.

Madam Zheng habitually tried to use her power to suppress others, but not only did she fail, she was also forced to spend more than 30,000 strings of copper coins.

Wow, over 30,000 strings of cash! Such a huge sum of money is absolutely a blood loss for Madam Zheng, who is like a Pixiu reincarnated, only taking in and never giving out!

Now, Mrs. Zheng only has money, money, money in her eyes.

Having grasped Madam Zheng's weakness, the shrewd Zhao Jinxiu quickly offered a suggestion, "But Guangcheng is different!"

Madam Zheng was still angry and didn't react in time, blurting out, "You want me to open a shop in Guangcheng too?"

This is indeed a good idea.

While other powerful figures were still fiercely competing in Yuezhou, she took the lead and rushed to Guangcheng to seize the market.

By the time they realized what was happening, their candy shop had already established a firm foothold in Guangcheng.

Zhao Jinxiu's expression stiffened; of course, that wasn't what she meant.

However, as a good henchman, besides being obedient, you also need to know how to ease your master's embarrassment and fawn over him.

"Madam is wise! I only thought of selling the secret recipe in Guangcheng, but I forgot that we could also open a shop there!"

Zhao Jinxiu feigned admiration and, against her conscience, praised, "As expected of Madam, so thoughtful and far-sighted."

Madam Zheng's eyes lit up. "That's right! I can follow the example of the Yue Prince's Mansion and go to Guangcheng, or rather, not just Guangcheng, but also Luozhou, Yongzhou, and other prefectures and counties."

The Cui family was not as pathetic as the Yue King's mansion.

The Yue King's Mansion held little status in Yuezhou, let alone in other parts of Lingnan.

The Cui family was a prominent family, and Cui Boyong was the governor of Yuezhou, so he had some connections with the governors of Guangcheng, Luozhou and other places.

Even without any personal relationship, they are both governors, and as long as things don't go too far, they can help each other out.

At worst, Lady Zheng can cede some benefits to those governors' wives to prevent them from being envious.

Sell ​​the secret recipe, then open a shop.

On one hand, it's a one-off deal, but it's pure profit with no capital involved;

On one hand, there's a long-term business that can continuously bring huge income to the Cui family.

The benefits of these two approaches are not contradictory; as long as Madam Zheng seizes the opportunity, she will be able to—

This isn't just about making money; it's like acquiring a mountain of gold and silver!

Madam Zheng became more and more agitated as she thought about it, completely forgetting the frustration of being swindled by the Prince of Yue's mansion.

"Okay! Let's do it this way!"

Madam Zheng slammed her fist on the table, making up her mind.

She immediately summoned the steward and gave him instructions.

Seeing that Madam Zheng looked anxious and serious, the stewards dared not delay and quickly carried out her orders.

After arranging all these things, Madam Zheng's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

She also had the leisure to deal with Zhao Jinxiu, saying, "Jinxiu, I knew I hadn't misjudged you! You're a good person."

"Don't worry, with your loyalty to me, I will certainly not treat you unfairly."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jinxiu's eyes lit up with joy.

However, she did not become complacent, but bowed even more humbly and declined, "I dare not! This servant dares not! It is all thanks to the good training of the madam."

Seeing how sensible and understanding Zhao Jinxiu was, and especially considering that she was Princess Xie's maid, yet she came to fawn over her, Madam Zheng became even more pleased.

Unfortunately, Madam Zheng's good mood did not last long.

If Zhao Jinxiu could think of selling the secret recipe in Guangcheng and other places, how could Xie Yuan, the "instigator," not have thought of it?

The managers and merchants sent by Madam Zheng to various parts of Lingnan had barely arrived when, before they could even set up an auction like Xie Yuan, they heard the news—

As early as half a month ago, a group of mysterious merchants held an auction in a grand manner.

Like Yuezhou, each prefecture and county has an auction quota of ten copies of the secret recipe.

The auction price was similar to that of Yuezhou.

If you calculate the time, the auctions in these prefectures and counties are only a few days apart from the auction in Yuezhou.

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