Marriage

The warm and blooming month of May.

A beautiful, sunny day.

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

Presided over by Robert the Monk from Saint Marne Monastery, Baron Donny, dressed in a courtly tailcoat, and Alice, wearing a floral wreath and a low-cut dress adorned with many vibrant flowers, walked through the floral archway together. Amidst the blessings of the guests, they became husband and wife.

Zhou Ming sincerely blessed his sister Alice, hoping she would have a harmonious and happy life. He also hoped his brother-in-law Donny would not let down his most beloved sister and would not mind her commoner status.

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

This was because it was almost impossible for someone of Donny's noble status as a Baron to marry a commoner. Even if they did, if the nobles of other territories did not recognize the marriage, the inheritance rights to the territory and title of the children born to this commoner woman would be questioned, and might even be forcibly stripped by the higher-ranking nobles.

In other words, even if Donny formally married Alice, if they did not receive 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 nobles and the descendants of nobles could also be nobles.

Zhou Ming certainly would not allow such a situation to occur. He sent people with a large sum of money to the Bamei Territory, which was some distance from Glan Territory, to "operate" a bit. He planned to "purchase" a noble status for Alice from a Baron who was relatively short on money. As long as this Baron publicly declared that Alice was his biological daughter, the reward of five thousand gold coins would belong to him.

Soon, such a money-grubbing Baron accepted the five thousand gold coins, fabricated a certificate of identity for Alice, and even sent a butler to attend the wedding.

Looking at his radiant and charming wife before him, Donny was also very satisfied, as if he had reached the pinnacle of his life. Money, status, and a beautiful woman – he had it all. What more could he regret?

Now, what he wanted to do most was to quickly enter the bridal chamber and have a few litters of babies.

After Alice's marriage was settled, it wasn't long before Zhou Ming also married a woman and started a family.

This woman was named "Anna," the eldest daughter of Difu, the owner of the town's bakery. She was 18 years old this year and was Zhou Ming's childhood sweetheart, having grown up playing with him.

Anna's appearance was ordinary, but she was gentle and considerate, good at managing the household, and had a plump figure, making her easy to bear children. Zhou Ming had long ago set his sights on this goal and decided that if he were to marry a wife in the future, he would marry Anna!

So, often using the opportunity to bake bread at the bakery, Zhou Ming personally taught Anna how to make some exquisite pastries and together they developed delicious cakes. During this intimate process, Anna gradually developed feelings for Zhou Ming and had the idea of being together with him.

But this idea was immediately thwarted 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!

Given his status as a bakery owner, his daughter should at least marry someone who was a head servant in the castle. Farmers like Zhou Ming were not considered at all.

From a father's perspective, Zhou Ming could easily understand Boss Difu's view on marrying off his daughter. When he played The Sims with the character Zhang Ergou, whenever his daughters were getting married, he would also choose a husband with decent family conditions for them. If the family conditions were not good, then he would look at the person. If the person was also not good, then no matter how much his daughter liked that man, he would break them up and forcibly separate them.

Therefore, Zhou Ming had to find every possible way to climb up. He didn't need to climb very high, but at least he had to reach the height that Boss Difu would look up to. Only then could he marry Anna.

However, unexpected events occurred. With so many things happening recently, Zhou Ming had no time to consider his own lifelong matters. Until that day, Anna ran over with red eyes and told him that she was already engaged. Her fiancé was a nephew of the butler Brunode, and he was now a minor head servant in the castle. She asked him what she should do.

What else could Zhou Ming do? Could he possibly take her and elope?

Fortunately, Baron Connor was seriously injured and bedridden later. At this critical juncture, none of the servants in the castle dared to go back and organize a wedding at this time. It wasn't until Zhou Ming led that group of bandits into the castle and took control of the situation that he finally met Anna's so-called fiancé.

He was more than ten years older than Anna, with a shriveled and ugly appearance, looking cunning and lecherous, and he was also a staunch loyalist of the butler Brunode.

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

The remaining Boss Difu was even easier to deal with. Zhou Ming didn't even need to go to his door. The other party bowed and scraped and sent Anna over, asking if he needed a personal maid.

July.

Good news arrived. After more than two months of marriage, Alice was pregnant and would soon 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 "cultivation" with Anna. However, by August, Anna's belly still showed no signs of movement.

Could it be that the injury on my right lung affected some of my fertility?

Zhou Ming felt something was amiss. Every time he engaged in activities with Anna, his lung would ache intensely, forcing him to reduce the intensity, which affected the quality of their activities.

No, I must recuperate properly. Otherwise, when I get old, I won't have many descendants left, and no one will inherit my property. That would be terrible!

This is where The Sims game design is not very user-friendly. If the wealth created by the game character is not inherited stably and properly, the system will classify it as "unstable property." If the game character has no descendants, then sorry, even if you are as rich as a nation, your property score will only be the pitiful value of burial objects.

To prevent this, Zhou Ming began to eat foods that replenished blood, strengthened the kidneys, and boosted yang. After a period of supplementation, in September, Anna's belly finally showed signs of movement. He let out a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness, as long as my bodily functions are still working, I don't have to worry about not having direct descendants to inherit my property.

September also marked the arrival of the annual harvest. In the golden wheat fields of Glan Territory, clusters of full, golden grains hung heavy, bending the wheat stalks low. A gentle breeze blew through, signaling an unprecedented bumper harvest.

Inside the castle's council hall.

"Baron, Steward Ryan, with the help of the Mara Harvester, all the wheat fields in Glan Territory have been harvested within a week. The grain harvest situation has also been tallied. Rose Town saw the largest increase in grain production, reaching 155%. The other ten villages had growth rates of 130%, 125%, 122%, ..., 107% respectively. Combining these 11 towns and villages, the overall agricultural output of Glan Territory increased by 127%! In other words, the total grain production in Glan Territory this year is more than double last year's, by 27%!"

The tax officer held a report and reported with great excitement.

"What about the territory's tax revenue? How much did the territory's tax revenue increase this year?" Donny, who couldn't sit still in the main seat, asked excitedly and anxiously.

"It increased by 68%. This is easy to calculate. After deducting some extra expenses, it's definitely 60%," Zhou Ming, sitting to the side, took a sip of water and said calmly.

"Yes, Steward Ryan, the territory's tax revenue this year increased by 62% compared to last year! Because the increase was so significant, the castle's granary is almost unable to hold this year's new grain," the tax officer suggested in a timely manner that a new granary should be built.

Donny was still immersed in these astonishing growth figures, unable to extricate himself. After a long time, he gave Zhou Ming a thumbs-up and said, "Ryan, you're a damn genius!"