Upon hearing the old Taoist's words, Situ Ming's initial interest vanished instantly.

Trying to scam him out of food and drink is just asking for trouble.

If there weren't so many people in the street, he would have whipped him to death.

Situ Ming turned his face away, squeezed his legs together, and rode away.

The old Taoist priest behind him shouted, "Your Highness, you will suffer the consequences of not heeding my advice. You will not be able to return to your throne until this evil star is eliminated!"

"Tch, what a load of nonsense."

Situ Ming scoffed at it and quickly forgot about the little incident.

A few days later, the Cold Dew season arrived, and the temperature dropped sharply. It was difficult to fall asleep at night without lighting a charcoal brazier.

But lighting the charcoal brazier made him cough incessantly from the fumes.

Situ Ming sternly reprimanded the palace servants: "Did you servants embezzle the silver frost charcoal allocated by the Imperial Household Department? You're just trying to fool this Crown Prince with inferior charcoal."

The palace servants cried out that they were innocent.

"Your Highness, as you instructed, the Silver Frost Charcoal has been delivered to the Crown Princess and several concubines. You only have ordinary charcoal left here."

Situ Ming then remembered this incident.

But he was still furious.

"The Imperial Household Department's allowance isn't enough, can't you go out and buy some?! Are you as stupid as blockheads? How did you even get into the Eastern Palace?"

A palace maid weakly replied, "Your Highness, there has been excessive rainfall this autumn, making silver frost charcoal scarce. The price has increased several times compared to previous years, and the Eastern Palace's budget is insufficient..."

The implication is that they can't afford it.

Situ Ming was furious.

When he was nobody, he lived in a remote, dilapidated temple, where he could only use cheap, suffocating charcoal fires in autumn and winter.

Now that he's the crown prince, why does he still need to use inferior charcoal?

It's just a little bit of silver frost charcoal!

Why can't he afford it!

"How much is silver per pound for silver frost charcoal?"

He questioned him coldly.

The palace maid replied, "Ten taels."

Ten taels?!

Situ Ming almost cried out in surprise.

Is this even charcoal anymore?!

It's clearly silver.

One night's work requires at least four or five catties of charcoal; if silver frost charcoal is used, then it would require forty or fifty taels.

The cost of charcoal alone is 1,500 taels a month.

He simply can't afford it.

This feeling of being strapped for cash made Situ Ming extremely unhappy, and he wished he could snatch Yi Shuihan's Seven-Colored Glass Workshop away.

He threw the problem back to the palace servants: "Think of a way, I don't want the whole room filled with smoke."

The palace attendant hesitated for a moment before replying, "Your Highness, a new product has recently appeared in the capital called honeycomb briquettes. They are more durable than charcoal, and one briquette can burn all night without producing any smoke. The price is less than half that of silver frost charcoal. Would you like to try it?"

Is it cheaper, better, and longer-burning than silver frost charcoal?

Situ Ming immediately became interested.

"Let's buy a little to try it out."

The palace maid accepted the order and left.

After using honeycomb briquettes, Situ Ming slept soundly through the night.

And indeed, one coal briquette can burn all night, so you don't feel bad about using it.

He realized this was a huge business opportunity.

Honeycomb briquettes will inevitably replace charcoal. If he can monopolize this business, he will never have to worry about money in the future.

He immediately sent people to find out how the honeycomb briquettes were manufactured, who was in charge of the business, and whether they could secure a deal with them.

The information he gathered made him so angry he almost vomited blood.

These honeycomb briquettes are sold in a shop called "Colorful Black," and the owner of this shop is none other than Yi Shuihan.

The coal used to make honeycomb briquettes came entirely from several mountain ridges he had recently sold.

Those mountains were not sold to Yi Shuihan, but they are now under his name.

What else doesn't Situ Ming understand!

Yi Shuihan must have had his eye on those mountains for a long time, which is why he devised a plan to get them and make such a profitable deal!

He was taken advantage of so much without being known for so long.

That's outrageous!

That's his golden rice bowl!

Situ Ming was so upset that he couldn't eat anything all day.

In my depression, the old Taoist priest's words suddenly came to mind.

Now, isn't that exactly what he said? He's suffered a great loss.

Yi Shuihan was truly his nemesis.

With him around, he'll never have a chance to rise in the world.

After figuring it out, Situ Ming immediately called out, "Go to East Gate Street and find an old Taoist priest..."

After sending someone out, he was still somewhat worried that he might not be able to find the old Taoist priest.

Fortunately, the old Taoist priest was still performing divination on Dongmen Street.

Situ Ming had the old Taoist priest taken to a private room in a restaurant, where he treated him to a fine meal and wine before asking, "May I ask, Master, how can I dispel this evil spirit?"

The old Taoist priest calculated with his fingers and replied, "On the 30th of this month, you can find a way to lure that evil star to Broken Wind Cliff."

Situ Ming was taken aback.

"Just lure him over? You don't have to do anything?"

The old Taoist priest raised his index finger, pointed to the sky, and smiled: "The evil spirits will be dealt with by Heaven; why should Your Highness need to lift a finger?"

Situ Ming was skeptical.

After returning home, he racked his brains in his study, trying to figure out how to lure Yi Shuihan to Broken Wind Cliff.

As I was thinking, I realized that the name Broken Wind Cliff sounded familiar. I picked up a map and saw that I had several mountain ranges right next to Broken Wind Cliff.

These mountain ridges and the ones with coal were all purchased in the same batch.

He originally wanted to plant fruit trees, but the trees on both mountains did not grow well and remained abandoned.

He had wanted to sell these mountains for a long time.

Unfortunately, it's hard to sell.

He stared at the map for a while, and suddenly an idea popped into his mind.

...

Just as honeycomb briquettes were selling like hotcakes, Yi Shuihan received a rumor.

It is said that Situ Ming discovered coal in several other mountains under his name and tried to imitate honeycomb briquettes. Not only did he fail, but he also killed several craftsmen with the smoke. The craftsmen's families are now demanding large sums of compensation from him, and he is now worried about money.

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