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

a few days later.

The Eastern Palace.

Zhu Zhanji read with a gloomy expression, feeling restless and agitated.

He can't calm his mind right now.

Once it's quiet, Zhu Zhanjun's hateful face pops into my mind.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Jin Ying, the personal eunuch, entered with a hunched posture and small, hurried steps.

"Your Highness, great news! Prince Jiyang... something terrible has happened!"

Zhu Zhanji's eyes lit up.

"What is it?"

Jin Ying leaned closer.

"His Highness Prince Jiyang announced a few days ago that he would provide relief to the disaster victims in the west of the city."

"And guess what happened?"

"He bought all bran!"

"It's bran that even pigs wouldn't eat!"

"Nowadays, the soup kitchens set up in the west of the city are all serving that sour, yellowish-brown bran paste!"

"Many people in line immediately started making a scene, smashing bowls and cursing, accusing the Prince of Jiyang of seeking fame and fortune and trying to fool people with pig swill!"

"The news is spreading everywhere right now!"

Zhu Zhanji was taken aback at first, then immediately stood up.

Is this really true?

"Absolutely true!" Jin Ying nodded vigorously. "This old servant sent someone to see for themselves. The porridge pot was a dull, grayish mess; even a spoon stuck in it couldn't pick up any rice water. It was all solid bran and husks!"

"The people in line were all cursing, and many left in anger!"

"Hahaha...Good! Zhu Zhanjun is something else!" Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but chuckle, as if the pent-up frustration of the past few days had suddenly found an outlet.

He stood up, paced around the study a few times, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"I was worried that he was too popular and had no flaws."

"Unexpectedly, he handed me the knife handle himself!"

"Providing disaster relief and helping the people should have been a perfect opportunity to gain a reputation for benevolence, but he was so stingy that he couldn't even spare white rice, using the lowest quality bran instead... Isn't this self-destruction?"

Jin Ying smiled obsequiously and echoed, "Your Highness is right! This Prince of Jiyang is still young, only concerned with calculating his meager finances, unaware that the hearts of the people are like water, capable of both supporting and capsizing a boat. His actions surely chill the hearts of the people!"

Zhu Zhanji sneered. He stopped and pondered for a moment before asking, "Is that Confucian scholar Wu still at the Imperial Academy?"

Jin Ying pondered for a moment, then quickly replied, "Your Highness is referring to Mr. Wu Changjiang? He is still at the Imperial Academy."

Zhu Zhanji said calmly.

"Quickly summon Master Wu!"

"Yes, Your Highness," Jin Ying replied respectfully.

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

West of the city.

Zhu Zhanqi, Zhang Mao, Liu Zhong, Zheng Yu, Li Heng, Zhu Yi and others surrounded Zhu Zhanjun, looking at the densely packed crowd of disaster victims in the distance.

Zhu Zhanqi said excitedly.

"Third brother, what's wrong with your brain?"

"That's an amazing move!"

"I was thinking that with so many disaster victims pouring in, even if we sold everything we owned, we wouldn't be able to save them all!"

"Using bran now is a wise investment, and it will scare away all those opportunistic and trouble-making types!"

Zhu Yi nodded in deep agreement.

"Yes, Your Highness is truly a genius!"

Zhang Mao, standing next to him, was rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"Your Highness! Count me in."

"I can do the work of five people carrying bran sacks and building soup kitchens!"

Liu Zhong, Zheng Yu, and Li Heng also rushed to help.

Seeing the group of teenagers all eager and excited, Zhu Zhanjun felt a warmth in his heart and chuckled.

"OK!"

"You guys are indispensable!"

"Everyone, pay close attention!"

"Yes!" the boys replied in unison.

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

The next day.

Before the morning mist had completely dissipated, the porridge kitchen at the Jiyang Prince's Mansion in the west of the city was already bustling with activity.

The firewood crackled under the large pot, and the grayish-yellow bran paste churned in the pot, emitting a unique sour and astringent smell.

Yu Qian, along with several young officials from the Bowen Pavilion and teenagers such as Zhu Zhanqi and Zhang Mao, was maintaining order, registering people, and distributing bowls of thick bran to the emaciated and listless disaster victims.

Although the food was simple, the order was good, and many disaster victims, holding steaming bowls, finally had a glimmer of life in their eyes.

Just then, a cacophony of shouts and curses erupted.

"Stop! All of you, stop right now!"

An elderly man, dressed in a dark blue scholar's robe, wearing a square cap, and with white hair and beard, stormed angrily into the soup kitchen, surrounded by a group of equally dressed, agitated young scholars.

The old man, about sixty years old, had a thin face, but at this moment his face was flushed red with anger. He was Wu Changjiang, the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy.

He immediately noticed the charred, yellowish-gray substance churning in the pot, and then saw the mangled food in the bowls of the disaster victims. He was so angry that he trembled all over, and his beard stood on end.

"This...this is outrageous! This is simply outrageous!" Wu Changjiang pointed at the servants distributing porridge, his voice filled with rage. "You...you dare to offer such swill, the food of pigs and dogs, to the people of my Great Ming?! Is this disaster relief, or an insult to the people?!"

The students behind him were also excited and echoed his sentiments:

"Sir, you're right! This is clearly bran! It's livestock feed!"

"How could the Prince of Jiyang's residence act in such a way? Do they treat the common people like pigs and dogs?"

"Want fame, but also want to save money?"

"Utterly devoid of conscience!!!"

Upon seeing this, Yu Qian's heart sank, and he quickly stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting: "Mr. Wu, gentlemen, please calm down. This matter..."

"Yu Tingyi?!" Wu Changjiang recognized him, and was even more heartbroken. "You've also studied the classics, how could you aid and abet evil, distributing such filth here?!"

"Where is your conscience? Have you completely forgotten all the teachings of the sages?!"

Yu Qian was reprimanded to his face, and his face turned pale, but he still tried to explain: "Sir, this is an expedient measure taken by His Highness the Prince of Jiyang to deal with the famine and benefit more disaster victims..."

"Absurd! Shameless words!" Wu Changjiang interrupted him sharply, not even letting him finish. "What have the common people done to deserve being eaten by pigs and dogs?"

"Is this a living person? This is clearly an insult! Where is Zhu Zhanjun? Let him come out and see me! I want to ask him, what kind of Confucian classics has this Prince of Jiyang been reading!"

Chaos erupted at the scene, and the disaster victims were at a loss.

Soon, Zhu Zhanjun arrived with Zhu Yi, Zhu Zhanqi, Zhang Mao, and others.

The scene quieted down considerably upon seeing Zhu Zhanjun arrive.

Upon seeing the person in question, Wu Changjiang was even more enraged. Disregarding all etiquette, he stepped forward, pointed at Zhu Zhanjun's nose, and shouted, "Zhu Zhanjun! Is this how you provide disaster relief?"

"To offer the people bran and chaff, mere animal feed, do you have even a shred of compassion in your heart?"

"Do you still deserve the royal blood flowing in your veins, and the support of all the people under heaven?!"

His students also voiced their strong condemnation.

Zhu Zhanjun glanced at them, then looked at Zhu Zhanqi, Zhang Mao, Liu Zhong, Zheng Yu, Li Heng, Zhu Yi and others beside him, and said in a deep voice.

"We do good deeds, and people come to our door to curse us."

"Hey guys, we've been through thick and thin together, so keep your heads up and don't let us down!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhanqi, Zhang Mao, Liu Zhong, Zheng Yu, Li Heng, Zhu Yi, and the others immediately raised their heads and puffed out their chests, taking a few steps forward with imposing air.

Wu Changjiang and his students were taken aback when they saw the teenagers approaching.

Zhang Mao was the first to react, and he was furious.

"Wu Changjiang, I'll fuck your mother!"

"You're just a student of the Imperial Academy, a mere sixth-rank official!"

"What gives you the right to act so arrogantly here?"