My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

A plain blue carriage, unmarked and unadorned, silently came to a stop outside the side gate of the Prince of Qin's residence, braving the wind and snow.

The carriage curtain was lifted.

Cui Wanqing, the eldest daughter of the Cui family of Qinghe, hurriedly dismounted from her horse-drawn stool, wearing a heavy, snow-white fox fur cloak.

She didn't even bother to brush the snow off her head before quickly walking through the corridor and into the backyard, led by the guards of the Prince's Mansion.

As soon as she stepped through the moon gate into the backyard, a warm feeling, like that of early spring, rushed towards her, instantly dispelling the chill on her body.

In the center of the courtyard.

Li Chen was sprawled out on the rocking chair covered with a white tiger skin, holding a delicate little silver knife in his hand, slowly peeling a pear that had been brought as tribute from the Western Regions.

And not far from his feet.

Li Tai, the Prince of Wei of the Tang Dynasty and the second son of the current emperor, is currently squatting on the ground.

This once high-ranking, well-attended, and chubby prince now sports a head of messy hair, half of which has been singed by fire. His once fair and plump face is now covered in patches of black ash, and his purple robe is riddled with holes burned by sparks, making him look like a laborer who has just escaped from a coal mine.

"Wanqing greets the Immortal Master and His Highness Prince Wei."

Cui Wanqing suppressed her astonishment and gave a proper curtsy.

"You're here? Please have a seat."

Li Chen didn't even lift his eyelids. He casually tossed the peeled pear into his mouth, took a bite, and pointed vaguely at the empty space in front of Li Tai.

"Qingque, present your research findings to your future partner."

"Okay!"

Upon hearing this, Li Tai, like a child eager to show off a new toy to an adult, scrambled to his feet.

He picked up a dark, round iron cylinder as if presenting a treasure and placed it heavily on the bluestone table in front of Cui Wanqing.

Then, he used a pair of iron pliers to pick up a strange object that was cylindrical, jet black, and had twelve evenly distributed round holes in the middle.

"Miss Cui, look carefully!"

A fanatical light gleamed in Li Tai's eyes.

He held the dark, cylindrical object between his fingers and brought its bottom close to the flames of a small stove nearby.

In just a few breaths.

The bottom of the cylinder was ignited. Li Tai quickly placed it into the tin cylinder and casually pried aside a small piece of iron at the bottom of the tin cylinder.

"boom!"

With a faint sound of air rushing in through the gap in the small iron plate, a ghostly blue flame instantly shot out from the twelve holes in the middle of the cylinder!

A wave of heat, far exceeding that of ordinary charcoal, rippled outwards from around the bluestone table.

Cui Wanqing subconsciously took half a step back and raised her hand to shield her face.

There was no choking smoke.

There was no pungent, unbearable toxic gas.

Only stable, pure, and endless amazing heat!

"What... what kind of charcoal is this? How can it produce such a fierce flame?"

Cui Wanqing's beautiful peach blossom eyes widened instantly as she stared intently at the blue flames leaping inside the tin cylinder.

As the legitimate daughter of a noble family, she had always used the finest smokeless silver bone charcoal since childhood, but even silver bone charcoal could never reach such a terrifying temperature.

"Charcoal? I don't need such delicate stuff!"

Li Tai proudly raised his chin, which was covered in black ash, and patted his chest.

"This is called honeycomb briquettes! The blueprints were given to me by my sixteenth brother, and I personally formulated the mixture! Its raw material is the coal powder that grows all over the mountains outside Chang'an City, which was considered poisonous waste!"

Upon hearing the word "coal," Cui Wanqing gasped.

"Coal? That stuff releases poisonous fumes when it burns. Every winter, many poor people die from poisoning in their homes because they burn coal for heating. Your Highness, this stuff..."

"This is what is meant by the principle of investigating things—turning the mundane into the extraordinary!"

Li Tai grabbed a handful of yellow soil from the side and rubbed it in his hands.

"By mixing a specific ratio of yellow clay water into coal powder and then pressing it into this porous shape, the yellow clay can not only neutralize the toxic gases in the coal, but the holes also allow air to flow in, making the fire burn even brighter!"

"Just this one piece of honeycomb briquette, placed in this iron stove, with the vent at the bottom closed, can burn for a full three hours without going out!"

Three hours!

The raw materials were actually worthless waste coal and readily available yellow mud!

Cui Wanqing was, after all, a remarkable woman who controlled the business lifeline of the Cui family in Qinghe.

Even though she didn't understand the principles of investigation and understanding, at this moment, her keen and perceptive heart was already pounding wildly in her chest.

The cost is almost zero!

Its heat retention effect is even better than that of high-quality charcoal!

Her slender hands, hidden in the sleeves of her fox fur cloak, clenched into fists involuntarily, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

"Immortal Master..."

Cui Wanqing turned her head to look at Li Chen, who was lying on the rattan chair, her voice already trembling with barely concealed emotion.

"You summoned Wanqing here, perhaps to allow the Cui family of Qinghe... to exclusively oversee the production and sale of these honeycomb briquettes and iron stoves?"

Li Chen slowly swallowed the pear flesh in his mouth and pulled out a silk handkerchief to wipe his hands.

"clever."

Li Chen sat up straight, his deep, dark eyes revealing an undeniable domineering presence.

"Your Cui family of Qinghe has plenty of craftsmen and shops. I'll provide the blueprints and recipes, and Qingque will provide technical guidance. The Qin Prince's Mansion will take 70% of the profits, and your Cui family will take 30%. Any questions?"

No! Absolutely not!

Cui Wanqing shook her head repeatedly without hesitation. Even if it were only 10%, let alone 30%, it would still be an inexhaustible gold mine!

The moment this product is introduced, the entire heating market of the Tang Dynasty will undergo an unprecedented reshuffle. Those other powerful families who control the charcoal business and exploit the people will instantly see their businesses reduced to ruins!

"Don't be so happy yet, I haven't finished speaking."

Li Chen's slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, making a "tap-tap" sound.

"I won't allow you to sell this at a high price."

"Not selling at a high price?" Cui Wanqing was stunned.

"right."

Li Chen held up one finger. "For ordinary people, three copper coins can buy a tin stove and ten honeycomb briquettes. As for those refugees who can't even afford food, they can get them for free by showing their official register!"

"What?!"

Not only did Cui Wanqing exclaim in surprise, but Li Tai, who was squatting on the ground, was also dumbfounded.

"Sixteenth Brother!"

Li Tai scratched his head in frustration, "Even though this tin stove is made of inferior iron, it still costs more than ten copper coins. Three copper coins can't even buy half a stove, isn't this just losing money?!"

"stupid."

Li Chen gave him a cold glance.

"I ask you, how many wealthy and powerful families were there in the Tang Dynasty? And how many ordinary people couldn't even afford a cotton-padded coat?"

Li Tai subconsciously replied, "Of course, the common people are as numerous as hairs on a cow, while the nobles are but a drop in the ocean."

"Then that settles it?"

A sly smile, typical of a "cunning businessman," curled at the corner of Li Chen's mouth.

"What I want is not to make a pittance from the rich. What I want is to stuff these honeycomb briquettes into the homes of every poor family in Chang'an at an absolutely low price in the shortest amount of time!"

"I sold the stove to them at a loss, but once they start using it, they'll have to buy our honeycomb briquettes every day!"

Li Chen's eyes turned extremely cold.

"I will use this endless snow, and countless copper coins, to utterly crush the expensive charcoal businesses of those other noble families! I won't leave them even a trace!"

"Using commercial means to destroy the enemy's economic lifeline without bloodshed. That's called dumping!"

boom!

The word "dumping" was used.

Cui Wanqing felt a tingling sensation on her scalp, and a chill ran down her spine straight to the top of her head.