Scholar Ellen

After Little Donny returned to the castle, he told his mother, Madam Madeline, that he hoped Ryan could become his personal servant.

"Sure. Ryan hasn't visited me at the castle in a long time. Let him come serve you here this time, Donny. Little Ryan saved your life, so don't treat him like a servant you can order around at will."

Madam Madeline had no objections. Her younger son, Donny, was already sixteen. Once he grew up, he would eventually have to spread his wings and leave this tiny Glan Territory... Even though she did not want her most beloved younger son to leave, once Connor was gone and Edward became lord, he would never tolerate Donny continuing to live in the castle—because everything in the territory belonged to the eldest son.

If Little Ryan stayed by Donny's side, she would feel much more at ease. Unlike the mischievous and restless Donny, Little Ryan had displayed astonishing intelligence, maturity, and steadiness from a young age. With him at Donny's side, he would always be able to help him avoid many setbacks and dangers when they ventured out in the future.

Madam Madeline nodded, and Baron Connor had even fewer objections. It was only a personal servant, not a knight's squire. Besides, Little Ryan was clever and quick-witted, and loyal when it mattered. He was perfectly suited to assist his troublesome, unruly son.

"Four years later, I, Ryan, have returned!"

Standing at the castle gates with a bundle of spare clothes on his back, Zhou Ming could not help sighing inwardly as he stepped into this castle again after four years away.

Perhaps, starting today, he would either stand atop the towering spire of that castle's white tower and look down upon all beneath him—or fall straight from that lofty spire and sink forever into the mortal dust.

Or be smashed to pieces.

After entering the castle, Zhou Ming was assigned a single room of roughly ten square meters in the servants' quarters on the third floor of the main building by the Head Butler. Its layout and conditions were quite good: a comfortable single bed, a small fireplace for winter heating, a set of oak table and chairs, and a window facing Rose Town that offered a full view of the town below the mountain.

After several days of training in servant etiquette and skills, Zhou Ming quickly changed into the servants' specially tailored work clothes and formal attire. The work clothes were for everyday labor, while the formal attire was worn when distinguished guests visited. Once he put them on, his appearance and bearing immediately became different from before. He actually looked quite the part, as though the clothes had been made just for him.

Once he officially began work, Zhou Ming's daily duties were also quite easy. One was tending to Little Donny's daily needs; the other was accompanying him as he studied, attending lessons and going out with him to ensure his safety.

When it came to taking care of someone's daily life, almost no one was better at it than Zhou Ming.

Little Donny had picky tastes?

Easy. Frying, stir-frying, steaming, boiling, eating raw, roasting over fire, pickling, fermenting—no one in this world could match him at any of it. He could even make sure there was a different dish every day of the year. With the same ingredient, he could produce eighty different dishes. What was there to fear from a picky palate?

Of course, if Zhou Ming had the spare time, he could delve deeply into culinary research. As for Little Donny, Zhou Ming's specialty cream cakes, fruit pies, egg tarts, and cookies in all kinds of flavors were enough to deal with him easily. If that still did not work, he could unleash his ultimate move: beggar's chicken. That would guarantee his appetite returned in full.

There were also shower baths for Little Donny's daily washing, flush toilets for convenience, heated brick beds for winter warmth... Not only did Little Donny find these things convenient, Baron Connor and Madam Madeline did as well. They asked Zhou Ming to make a set for them too, and they soon became popular throughout the castle.

However, these were merely minor interludes that occurred while he served Little Donny in the castle. What truly made Zhou Ming feel that he had gained tremendously was the valuable knowledge he learned from Scholar Ellen while accompanying Little Donny in his studies.

Scholar Ellen was a little old man in his early fifties, with a grizzled full beard, a slightly plump build, and a loose gray robe with wide sleeves. In his early years, he had served as a scholar in the royal capital's court for several years. He had held a high position and seen much of the world. Had he not been slandered by political enemies and driven from the royal capital by the king, he would not have fallen so low as to become tutor to a Baron's Second Son.

Whenever Scholar Ellen spoke of those years in the royal capital's court, he could not help reminiscing and yearning for them. Before Little Donny and Zhou Ming, he boasted about the things he had said to the king, the private drinks he had shared with princes, the literary discussions he had held in private with the beautiful Queen, and so on... Of course, what he bragged about most was how, when he had been young and handsome, he had affairs with many upper-class noblewomen...

Zhou Ming could not be bothered exposing how Scholar Ellen, who did not look handsome in the slightest from head to toe, had supposedly attracted all those beautiful and alluring upper-class noblewomen. What interested him most was how the upper ranks of the kingdom's power structure and internal disputes were formed and handled.

"Our Vorris Kingdom is merely a small border kingdom on the edge of this vast land. Besides the King's Territory directly under the royal capital, there are fourteen surrounding enfeoffed count territories. Under each count territory are roughly ten viscount or baron territories. Below the baron territories are fiefs directly granted to knights. A fief is the smallest level of enfeoffment, generally consisting of only one village and several thousand mu of land."

"The Church decides the granting and succession rights of all kingdom thrones and even the Imperial Throne. The king decides the granting and succession rights of all count titles within the kingdom. Counts decide the succession rights of all viscounts and barons within their own lands. Barons only decide the succession rights of knights within their own territories. As for the right to grant knighthoods, a baron may only increase the number of knightly fiefs in his territory after obtaining the consent of his superior count or receiving a reward of knight quotas. The same applies to barons and counts alike: any increase in the number of lower-ranked titles must receive permission or reward from the higher nobility."

"If conflicts and disputes arose between barons in the kingdom, or between counts, how would they be handled?" Zhou Ming asked.

"They would be handled by the Noble Court. Just as the court of a baron territory can rule on all disputes among the people of that territory, disputes between barons can be judged in the court of the higher count territory. Conflicts between counts can be judged in the kingdom's Noble Court. Disputes between kingdoms are judged by the Church Court. As for disputes within the Church, those are left for God to judge."

"Since Noble Courts exist, what about laws? Does every court have laws?" Zhou Ming asked again.

"Of course. Doesn't the court of Glan Territory have a Territory Law? It contains a total of 155 articles, including the land rent and miscellaneous taxes farmers must pay, the commercial taxes Traveling Merchants must pay, and detailed penalties for criminals such as thieves, robbers, swindlers, murderers, and rapists who damage the property of those within the territory. All kinds of situations that arise within the territory can simply be judged according to this law... As for count courts and the kingdom's Noble Court, the laws drafted by scholars and Grand Judges are much more complicated. On some matters, they even require arbitration votes, with different factions dividing against one another..."

However.

When enormous differences arose over practical interests and even the Noble Court could not arbitrate or mediate them, perhaps the use of force became the final means of settling disputes.

Just like the Elk War fought between Baron Connor and Baron Garcia—wasn't the reason they had not gone to the count court to seek arbitration precisely because they knew they could not reach an agreement, and thus chose to settle it through war?

"It seems that compared to meticulous and rigorous legal provisions, the strongest fist is what speaks loudest in this world..."