Late September.
In the golden maple forest before the castle, amid the blessings of the gathered guests, a young couple solemnly took their vows before Robert the Monk and officially became husband and wife.
The newlyweds were, naturally, Zhou Ming and Finnie.
Still wrapped in the bliss of marriage, perhaps out of guilt left over from his previous life, Zhou Ming temporarily cast aside his worries. He rode out with his wife Finnie and spent more than a month on their honeymoon.
Over that month, they saw the snow mountains in the east, the grasslands in the north, hunted together in the forests, and wandered by the lakes. Whenever stars filled the night sky, they made love beneath the open heavens, forgetting their worries and the splendor of the world alike.
That period was the happiest time of Finnie's life.
Not long after their honeymoon ended.
With some clear ideas now formed in his mind, Zhou Ming took a scroll of parchment filled with writing to the study of his father, Baron Connor.
"Th-this... can this really work?"
After spending over an hour reading the hundreds of densely packed lines on the parchment, Baron Connor rubbed his aching head. He had yet to fully digest the enormous amount of information it contained.
"It will definitely work, Father! As long as three baronies are willing to join this plan, within five years, our Glan Territory will become the wealthiest territory in the entire Vorris Kingdom!"
Zhou Ming was full of confidence!
This "Free Commercial Alliance" plan, which he had mulled over and worked on for more than a month, would, once released, draw in three to five surrounding territories. After they tasted some benefits, it would probably not take long before even the greediest and stingiest lords joined the plan