My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

She looked at the young man in front of her who was smiling nonchalantly.

This is no immortal being who is untouched by worldly affairs! This is clearly a peerless tyrant who can wipe out a thousand-year-old family with a mere laugh and a knife in hand!

That's a ruthless move, cutting off their supply lines completely!

Those wealthy families who hoard charcoal and plan to make a fortune in winter will definitely be driven to jump into the river by these three copper coins for honeycomb briquettes!

"Wanqing...understands!"

Cui Wanqing took a deep breath, suppressing the violent heaving of her chest. She respectfully took a step back and bowed deeply.

"The Cui family of Qinghe is willing to die for the immortals! Within three days, Wanqing guarantees that these honeycomb briquettes will burn throughout the entire city of Chang'an!"

……

The wind and snow intensified.

Three days later, in the West Market of Chang'an.

The harsh winter cold made the once bustling streets much quieter.

Under the eaves of houses along the street, you can see several shivering refugees, barely clothed and huddled in corners, as if they might turn into ice sculptures in the wind and snow at any moment.

And at the busiest intersection in the West Market.

Today, contrary to usual practice, the dozen or so large shops owned by the Cui family of Qinghe had their original signs for selling silk and porcelain torn down and replaced with uniform large red cloth strips.

The cloth strip bore the bold, flamboyant characters: "Bestowed by His Highness Prince Wei, honeycomb briquettes, a divine gift for keeping warm!"

Dozens of fully loaded oxcarts were lined up, unloading baskets of black coal and a tin cylinder with a chimney in front of the shop.

Old Wang was an old carpenter at the end of West Market Street.

He rubbed his chilblain-covered hands, his body hunched, and his face full of worry as he passed the row of shops. The family's firewood had run out last night, and their meager savings couldn't even buy half a pound of the lowest quality charcoal. If there was no fire tonight, his newborn grandson probably wouldn't survive this damned winter.

"Don't miss out! His Highness Prince Wei, showing compassion for the people, has bestowed upon us a divine gift from a celestial being!"

In front of the shop, a shop assistant from the Cui family of Qinghe was energetically banging a gong.

"A winter-warming iron stove, plus ten honeycomb briquettes! Not a tael of silver, not a hundred coins! Just three copper coins! You won't lose out, you won't be cheated!"

Upon hearing the words "three copper coins".

Old Wang's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up. He stopped shakily and squeezed into the crowd.

"Hey buddy, can this dark, muddy stuff really be burned?" someone in the crowd asked boldly, his tone full of disbelief.

"Yeah, it's so cheap, it's probably some kind of poison, isn't it?"

The guy didn't waste any words.

He set up an iron stove directly in the snow, stuffed in a honeycomb briquette, and lit the ignition source at the bottom with a tinderbox.

"call--!"

A pale blue flame shot out instantly through the hole.

The waiter placed an iron kettle filled with ice water on the stove. In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the kettle began to gurgle and boil, and white steam billowed out in the wind and snow.

There is no toxic smoke or pungent odor.

Only those standing next to the furnace can truly feel the terrifying heat that can melt even the coldest air in your bones!

The surrounding people stared in disbelief, and a collective gasp filled the air.

"Good heavens! This fire is even hotter than firewood!"

Old Wang was so excited he was trembling. Without hesitation, he pulled out the only three copper coins he had left from his pocket, clutched them tightly in his hand, and pushed his way through the crowd with all his might.

"Give me! Give me a stove! I want to buy one!"

That first shout was like a drop of ice water being poured into a scalding hot oil pan.

The entire West Market street erupted in chaos!

"I want one too! Give me two stoves!"

"Don't push! I'll offer ten copper coins! Sell it to me first!"

In just half a day.

The 30,000 iron stoves and 300,000 honeycomb briquettes prepared by the Cui family of Qinghe were snapped up by the crowds who flocked to the area.

As night fell.

A faint blue light shone in Old Wang's dilapidated thatched hut, which was drafty on all sides.

The billowing heat emanating from the iron stove completely dispelled the chill in the room. The little grandson slept peacefully in his warm swaddling clothes, his breathing even and steady.

Old Wang knelt down in front of the stove with a thud, hot tears streaming down his deeply lined face and dripping onto the muddy ground.

"Long live the King of Wei! May the immortal live ten thousand years!"

With trembling hands, the old man kowtowed three times heavily in the direction of the palace and the Prince of Qin's residence.

That night.

In the homes of 100,000 ordinary people in Chang'an, 100,000 clusters of eerie blue flames lit up.

This was not only a fire to dispel the bitter cold, but also the first prairie fire ignited by the Qin Prince's Mansion in the Tang Dynasty!

……

While some are overjoyed, others are devastated.

In the eastern market of Chang'an, there is "Ruixue Charcoal Shop" under the name of the Lu family of Fanyang.

This is the largest charcoal shop in the entire city of Chang'an. In previous years, when it snowed, the threshold here would be worn flat by the high-ranking officials and wealthy families who came to buy charcoal.

Available today.

The snow outside was falling even heavier than yesterday, but the charcoal shop was so deserted that there wasn't a soul in sight.

The shopkeeper, with a face full of scars, was staring intently at the account book in his hand, his face so gloomy it seemed like it could drip water.

"A whole day! Not a single pound of charcoal sold! Those damned lowly people all went to the Cui family in Qinghe to buy some worthless mud blocks!"

The shopkeeper slammed the account book on the ground and paced back and forth in the room in a fit of rage.

"Bang!"

The hidden door in the back room of the charcoal shop was pushed open.

An old man with a sinister face and wearing a black cloak came out.

It was Cui Ping, the elder of the Cui family and a representative of the remnants of the Boling Cui clan, who had suffered a great loss in front of the Qin Prince's mansion a few days ago, and whose patriarch's teeth had even been broken.

Beside him stood a middle-aged man in brocade robes with an equally cold expression; he was the person in charge of the Lu family of Fanyang in Chang'an.

"Master Lu, you've all seen it too."

Cui Ping walked to the table, took out an unburnt honeycomb briquette from his sleeve, and threw it on the table with a "thud," his eyes flashing with a venomous light like a poisonous snake.

"That little vile woman from the Cui family of Qinghe has sided with that wicked Taoist priest from the Prince of Qin's mansion. Now, they not only want our lives, but also to sever our lineage!"

Cui Ping gritted his teeth and said, "This stuff has extremely low production costs. If they keep selling it, within ten days, all the hundreds of thousands of kilograms of charcoal that our families have stockpiled outside the city will rot in our warehouses!"

The person in charge of the Lu family in Fanyang stared at the honeycomb briquettes on the table, took a deep breath, and revealed a murderous intent in his eyes.

"This is outrageous!"

Suddenly, Chief Lu drew the dagger from his waist and plunged it into the honeycomb briquette, crushing it to pieces.

"Trying to cut off the financial lifeline of the Lu family of Fanyang? Not so easy!"

Master Lu turned his head and looked at Cui Ping, his voice as cold as ice.

"Elder Cui, I've heard that the recipe is in the eastern wing of that absurd King Wei's residence. Tonight, gather all the 'Shadow' assassins that our two families have stationed outside the city."

"Go to the Cui family's workshop in Qinghe. It would be best if we could steal the secret recipe. If we can't..."

"But...that one!"

"What are we afraid of! We're all going to be crushed to death anyway, so why not give it our all!"

Chief Lu drew his dagger, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

"Then let's set it on fire, burn them and their workshop to the ground!"