The Great Ming Demon Pill: Your Majesty, please address me as the Crown Prince!

The next day.

Zhu Zhanjun brought several servants with him from the Prince of Han's residence.

These are all family-born children; they can be trusted.

He had no power base in the palace, and it was unknown whether any of the people he could rely on had spies from the Eastern Palace.

The Prince of Han's mansion was his backing.

Although Zhu Gaoxu was a bit of a troublemaker, they are now inseparable.

Once Zhu Zhanji gains power, his third brother will most likely suffer a more tragic death than Zhu Gaochi's sons in history.

.............

Sanshan Street.

Zhu Zhanjun led a group of servants and wandered around Sanshan Street for half a day before finally settling on a workshop with a backyard at the end of the street.

This workshop was originally a dyeing workshop. Due to the owner's poor management, he was eager to sell it. Zhu Zhanjun took over the business along with the street-facing shop in front of the workshop for 80% of the market price.

"From now on, this will be our place." Zhu Zhanjun said to the seven or eight servants standing in front of him in the somewhat empty workshop courtyard.

These servants were all servants born into the Han Prince's household. The leader was a strong and wiry man in his early twenties named Zhu Gui, the nephew of the Prince's steward. He was clever and quick-witted.

"Don't worry, Third Master, we will do our best." Zhu Gui led the way by bowing and replying, and the others echoed him.

Zhu Zhanjun nodded, took out a blueprint he had prepared beforehand from his pocket, and laid it on the stone mill in the center of the courtyard.

The drawings depicted the structures of some strange implements, along with a few lines of brief explanation.

"What we're going to do is a new business: sugar making." Zhu Zhanjun pointed to the blueprints and began to explain, "But it's not the brown sugar or red sugar that's commonly found on the market. It's sugar that's whiter than snow. I call it white sugar."

The servants looked at each other in bewilderment. Most of them had seen sugar making before, which involved extracting sugarcane juice, boiling it into syrup, and then solidifying it into blocks. The sugar was dark brown or dark red in color. They had never seen white sugar before.

Zhu Gui hesitated for a moment before asking, "Third Master, this white sugar... we've never heard of it before. How is it made?"

"Good question." Zhu Zhanjun smiled slightly. "Ordinary sugar is dark in color because the syrup contains impurities and pigments. What we need to do is remove these impurities."

He pointed to a large wooden barrel drawn on the drawing, with a pipe extending from the upper part of the barrel.

"The first step, making the syrup, is similar to making regular brown sugar. Take good quality sugarcane, juice it, filter out the coarse residue, and boil it in a pot until it is concentrated into a thick syrup. You should all know how to do this step."

Seeing Zhu Gui and the others nod, Zhu Zhanjun continued, "The key is the second step, decolorization. The hot sugar syrup cannot be allowed to solidify directly; it must be poured into this specially made wooden barrel while it is still hot."

He pointed to a funnel-shaped device drawn next to the wooden bucket. "Here, we need to add an 'adsorbent.' I've tested it, and yellow mud water works best. Take fine yellow soil, add water and stir it into a slurry. After it settles, take the clear liquid from the top, and that's yellow mud water."

The servants were completely bewildered. How could muddy water be related to sugar? And how could it make sugar whiter?

Zhu Zhanjun knew they were confused, so he didn't explain the principles in detail, but simply gave instructions on how to do it.

"Pour the hot, thick sugar syrup into the wooden barrel, then slowly pour in muddy water through this funnel, while..."

After a while.

Zhu Zhanjun said.

"...These are the general uses."

"Zhu Gui, you are meticulous, so you will be in charge and lead them to try making a small batch first."

"I've had all the materials prepared; they're in the back room."

Zhu Gui took a deep breath, feeling a great responsibility on his shoulders, and nodded vigorously.

"Yes, Third Master!"

"Understood, I'll take them to try it right away!"

"Remember, this method of making white sugar is our secret recipe, and it must never be revealed to anyone," Zhu Zhanjun solemnly instructed. "Be careful when entering and leaving the workshop; no unauthorized personnel are allowed inside."

"Once you can make decent white sugar, our shop in front will open. I've already thought of a name for it: 'Yu Xue Tang'."

"Yes!" the servants replied in unison.

Zhu Zhanjun watched as Zhu Gui and his men busied themselves, some carrying sugarcane, others washing utensils, and he couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.

To overthrow Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji, they needed to strengthen themselves first.

Without sufficient financial resources, it's impossible to make any progress.

Although he previously made up stories about a sugar-making business to raise funds, making white sugar is indeed not difficult for him at present.

.....................

Two or three days later.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.

Zhu Di sat behind his large imperial desk, his brows furrowed, as he wrote his comments on the memorials with his red brush.

After an unknown amount of time, a series of very light footsteps approached from afar.

The chief eunuch, Meng Ji, walked silently to the side of the imperial desk and respectfully reported, "Your Majesty..."

Zhu Di looked up at him.

Meng Ji bowed slightly, his voice becoming softer: "Today... is the anniversary of the death of Empress Renxiaowen."

Zhu Di was slightly taken aback.

Time flies, and the Empress has been gone for many years.

He was busy with court affairs and the Northern Expedition, and too many things occupied his mind, but he never truly forgot this day.

He was silent for a while.

Meng Ji stood with his head bowed, not daring to disturb him.

After a long silence, Zhu Di finally spoke.

"Yes, I understand."

"At dinner time, summon the Crown Prince, the Prince of Han, the Prince of Zhao, and... all the imperial grandsons in the capital to the palace."

"No need for a big fuss, it's just a family meal together."

"Let's go to the side hall next to Kunning Palace; it'll be quieter there."

"This old servant obeys the decree." Meng Ji accepted the order, bowed, and withdrew to arrange the delivery of the decree.

Several hours later.

Kunning Palace.

When Zhu Zhanjun arrived, the Crown Prince, Prince Zhao, his father Zhu Gaoxu, and others were also present.

Zhu Zhanjun smiled and bowed to Zhu Gaochi and the Crown Princess Zhang beside him.

"Greetings to my uncle and aunt."

Zhu Gaochi said with a smile.

"Zhanjun, you're late. Please take a seat."

Zhu Zhanji smiled faintly.

"My third brother is quite composed today."

"On the anniversary of my grandmother's death, the whole family gathered together. Even my father and uncles burned incense early in the morning to express their condolences."

"My third brother is late, yet he is so calm and composed. He must have something more important on his mind."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu's face darkened.

That little brat's words are so cunning.

Zhu Zhanjun chuckled.

"Brother, you jest. I just went out of the palace."

"There was just some traffic on the way back."

Zhu Zhanji sneered.

"Traffic jam?"

"The roads in the capital of my Great Ming Dynasty are so wide."

"Why is there a traffic jam?"

"Third brother, this is probably not just an excuse."

Zhu Zhanjun shook his head and said.

"Brother, you're taking a regular carriage, so of course you won't get stuck in traffic."

"I was riding the Jade Dragon Horse, and countless people gathered to watch along the way, so of course there was traffic congestion."

[Ding! You have obtained a golden treasure chest!]

Zhu Zhanji: "..."