Marriage

May, when spring was warm and flowers were in bloom.

It was a bright, breezy day.

A grand wedding was held at the castle of Glan Territory.

Officiated by Robert the Monk of Saint Marne Monastery, Baron Donny, dressed in a courtly tailcoat, and Alice, wearing a floral wreath and a low-cut gown adorned with many vivid flowers, passed through the flowered arch together. Amid the blessings of the guests, they became husband and wife.

Zhou Ming sincerely blessed his younger sister Alice, hoping she would enjoy a harmonious and happy life. He also hoped that his brother-in-law Donny would not disappoint the sister he cherished most or look down on her commoner background.

Yes, Alice's commoner status was almost the greatest obstacle to her legal marriage with Donny.

For a noble baron like Donny, it was almost impossible to marry a commoner. Even if he did, should the nobles of other territories refuse to recognize the marriage, the children born to that commoner woman would have their inheritance rights to the territory and Nobility Title questioned, and might even be forcibly stripped of them by higher-ranking nobles.

In other words, even though Donny had properly married Alice, if he could not gain recognition from the surrounding lords and Earl Lautz, Alice and Donny's descendants might not have the right to inherit Glan Territory.

In this world, only the descendants of nobles could also be nobles.

Naturally, Zhou Ming would not allow such a thing to happen. He had someone take a large sum of money to Bamei Territory, some distance from Glan Territory, to do a little "networking." He planned to "buy" a noble identity for Alice from a relatively cash-strapped baron. So long as that baron publicly declared Alice to be his biological daughter, the reward of five thousand gold coins would be his.

Before long, such a money-grubbing baron accepted the five thousand gold coins, fabricated proof of identity for Alice, and even sent a butler to attend the wedding.

Looking at his beautiful and radiant wife, Donny was extremely satisfied. It was as if he had reached the peak of his life—money, status, beauty, he had it all. What regrets could he possibly have?

What he wanted most now was to hurry into the bridal chamber and have several litters of little babies.

Not long after Alice's marriage was settled, Zhou Ming also married a woman and started a family.

This woman was named Anna. She was the eldest daughter of Difu, the owner of the town bakery. She was eighteen this year and had been Zhou Ming's childhood sweetheart since they were young.

Anna was ordinary-looking, but she was gentle, considerate, skilled at managing a household, and well-endowed, making her likely to bear children easily. Zhou Ming had set his sights on her long ago. If he was going to marry a wife someday, it would be Anna!

Thus, under the pretext of going to the bakery to bake bread, Zhou Ming often taught Anna step by step how to make delicate pastries. Together, they developed incomparably delicious cakes. During those intimate moments, Anna gradually developed feelings for Zhou Ming as well and began to think about being with him.

But that thought was immediately crushed by Anna's father, Boss Difu, who firmly opposed her being with Zhou Ming! He declared that he would never let his daughter marry an ordinary farmer!

With his status as the owner of a bakery, his daughter had to marry at least someone who was a servant leader at the castle. A farmer like Zhou Ming was out of the question.

From a father's perspective, Zhou Ming could easily understand Boss Difu's views on marrying off his daughter. When he played the Zhang Ergou scenario, whenever one of his daughters was getting married, he would choose a husband with decent family circumstances for her. If the family circumstances were poor, he would judge the man himself. If the man was no good either, then no matter how much his daughter liked him, he would break them apart by force.

Therefore, Zhou Ming had to climb by every means possible. He did not need to climb very high, but he at least had to reach a level that Boss Difu would respect. Only then could he marry Anna.

However, fortune was unpredictable. With everything that had happened recently, Zhou Ming had no mind to consider his own marriage. Then one day, Anna ran to him with red eyes and told him that she was already engaged. Her fiancé was a nephew of Brunode the Butler and was now a minor servant leader in the castle. She asked him what they should do.

What else could Zhou Ming do? Run away with her?

Fortunately, Baron Connor was later seriously injured and bedridden. At such a critical time, not a single servant in the castle dared go back to arrange a wedding. It was only after Zhou Ming led that group of bandits into the castle and took control of the situation that he met Anna's so-called fiancé.

He was more than ten years older than Anna, gaunt and ugly, with a sly, lecherous face. He was also Brunode the Butler's die-hard crony.

There was nothing to say. One packet of poison, and he was gone.

Boss Difu was even easier to deal with. Zhou Ming did not even need to visit him. The man bowed and scraped as he sent Anna over, asking whether he needed a maid to attend him personally.

July arrived.

Good news came. More than two months after the wedding, Alice was pregnant. Before long, she would add a new member to the Burns Family.

Zhou Ming prepared a gift and congratulated her. After returning home, he also increased the frequency of his efforts with Anna. Yet by August, Anna's belly still showed no signs of movement.

Could the injury to my right lung have affected part of my reproductive function?

Zhou Ming felt that things were not looking good. Whenever he was active with Anna, his lungs would always ache intensely. He could only reduce the intensity, which affected the quality of their efforts.

No, I have to nurse myself back to health. Otherwise, when I grow old, if I have barely any descendants left behind and no one to inherit my property, that would be terrible!

The Sims had a particularly inhumane design in this regard. If the wealth created by a game character did not receive stable and proper inheritance, the system would classify it as "unstable property." If the game character had no descendants at all, then sorry—even if you were as rich as a nation, your property score would only be worth the pitiful value of grave goods.

To avoid that, Zhou Ming began eating foods that replenished blood and kidneys and boosted virility. After a period of nourishment, Anna's belly finally showed signs of movement in September. Only then did he let out a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness. As long as his bodily functions still worked, there was no need to worry about having no direct descendants to inherit his property.

September was also the time of the annual autumn harvest. Across Glan Territory's golden wheat fields, plump golden grains hung in heavy clusters, bending the wheat stalks low. As gentle breezes swept through them, they foretold an unprecedented bumper harvest.

Inside the castle's council chamber.

"Baron, Ryan Butler, with the help of the Mara Harvester, all the wheat fields in Glan Territory were harvested within a week. The grain harvest statistics are also complete. Rose Town saw the greatest increase in grain output, reaching 155%. The other ten villages had growth rates of 130%, 125%, 122%, ... 107%. Taken together, these eleven towns and villages increased Glan Territory's total agricultural output by 127%. In other words, Glan Territory's total grain output this year was 127% higher than last year's!"

Holding a report, the tax officer delivered his report with immense excitement.

"What about the territory's tax revenue? How much did it increase this year?" Donny, unable to remain seated in the chair of honor, asked with both excitement and impatience.

"It increased by 68%. That is easy to calculate. After deducting some additional expenses, it will definitely still be at least 60%." Zhou Ming, seated to the side, took a sip of water and said calmly.

"Yes, Ryan Butler. This year's tax revenue for the territory increased by 62% over last year! Because the increase was so great, the castle granaries can barely hold this year's new grain." The tax officer timely suggested building another granary.

Donny was still unable to pull himself out of those astonishing growth figures. After a long while, he finally gave Zhou Ming a thumbs-up and said, "Ryan, you're fucking brilliant!"