Marriage Alliance

At noon, Baixi Village was bustling. Having finished their morning labors, the farmers hoisted their tools over their shoulders and headed back to the village. The spring plowing season had passed, so there was no longer a need to remain in the fields at all hours.

Naturally, the main reason for the lively atmosphere was a great joyous event. Zhou Changhe, the eldest grandson of the Zhou family, was taking a bride from the Sun family.

The groom was fifteen, the bride fourteen-a perfectly matched age.

"Eat well and drink your fill, everyone! There is plenty of wine!" Though tall and heavily built, Zhou Changhe was already thoroughly drunk, his steps swaying and unsteady.

In the distance, Zhou Hong and the elders of the Wang and Sun families sat at the banquet, smiling as they surveyed the lively scene.

The more populous Baixi Village became, the more comfortable the lives of their three families would naturally be.

"Nephew Zhou, will Zhou Erlang not be attending?" the Sun family patriarch asked, seemingly in passing.

Zhou Hong took a small sip of his wine, a glint flashing in his eyes. He wondered what sort of scheme this old fox was plotting by asking such a question now.

"My younger brother cultivates deep in the mountains. His movements are elusive, and we cannot track him down either."

The Sun family patriarch's eyes flickered, but he maintained his smile. "What a pity. With the two youngsters marrying, I had hoped Zhou Erlang would bestow his blessings."

Inwardly, however, he was seething. That Zhou Erlang was far too cautious. He had actually hidden away in the mountains for five full years. If the man did not make a brief appearance every so often-just enough to keep the Sun family wary-they would have made their move against the Zhou family long ago.

One should not be fooled by this newfound status as in-laws. When it came to a true struggle for survival, even blood relatives would be shown no mercy, much less in-laws.

Five years ago, after the immortal methods proved useless, the Wang and Sun families had begun extending goodwill toward the Zhou family. In the eyes of Baixi Village, it appeared as if the three great households were truly one harmonious family. This only deepened the resentment of the poor tenant farmers, leaving them feeling suffocated with no hope of ever rising above their station.

This was, naturally, another scheme of the Wang and Sun families: to slowly, imperceptibly swallow the Zhou family whole.

Since they could not deal with Zhou Ping in the short term, they would not sit idly by and watch the Zhou family flourish in peace. Thus, they used marriage alliances to bite away at the Zhou family bit by bit. Within a hundred years, the Zhou family would exist only in name, and all their life's blood would belong to the Wang and Sun families.

Zhou Changhe marrying the Sun girl was an entirely open scheme. The Zhou family had no way to refuse, nor could they dare to. To refuse would be to deeply offend the Sun family. By accepting, Zhou Changhe gained a powerful wife's clan that would constantly exert its influence. Even the Wang family had covertly hinted at arranging a future marriage with the Zhou family.

On the surface, the Zhou family appeared to be the winners. They had restored harmony with the Wang and Sun families and secured their own stability.

But what would happen after Zhou Ping passed away?

The Zhou family would quickly be picked clean by the other two. Even the descendants of their two branches would carry half of an outsider's bloodline.

Despite Zhou Hong's desperate efforts to delay the matter, Zhou Changhe still wed the Sun girl at fifteen. This was the direct result of the relentless, hidden pressure from the Wang and Sun families.

If families with no competitive conflict intermarried, it was called an alliance of the strong. But with three families crammed into the tiny Baixi Village-and two of them boasting overwhelming numbers and influence-this was no alliance. This was devouring a household whole!

Watching his son cut such a dashing figure in the distance, Zhou Hong sighed inwardly.

He could only hope the marriage alliance with the Wang family could be pushed back a few more years. Once Zhou Minghu achieved success in his cultivation, they would no longer need to live in such fear.

It was fortunate that the other families did not know Zhou Minghu possessed the aptitude for cultivation. If they did, heaven only knew what vicious lengths they would go to.

Nearby, the Wang family patriarch swept his gaze across the banquet, feeling a knot of dissatisfaction in his chest. Though the Wang and Sun families presented a united front, they were not of the same blood. Now the Sun family had taken the first step in binding the Zhou family, and the oldest remaining Zhou child was no more than ten years of age.

By the time the Wang family could secure a marriage, the Sun family's daughter might already have borne children. To fall behind a single step was to fall behind at every step. When the time came to carve up the Zhou family's foundation, there would inevitably be disputes over who took the lion's share.

He had no intention of letting the Wang family fall behind the Sun family. Only when the two clans remained evenly matched could they remain good in-laws forever.

His eyes soon drifted toward a small table occupied by several half-grown children and a smattering of female dependents and retainers.

In the center sat two children around ten years of age. One was quiet and delicate, almost resembling a young girl, though his frame was sturdy enough. The other had bright eyes and an extraordinary bearing; he looked nothing like a rural brat, resembling instead a young warrior meant for armor.

A pang of bitter envy struck the Wang patriarch. The Zhou family's luck was maddening. Not only had they produced an Immortal Master, but in their third generation, aside from the steady and mature Zhou Changhe, they had also birthed this remarkable child. If left unchecked, the Zhou family might truly rise to prominence.

The two he observed were, naturally, Zhou Minghu and Zhou Changxi.

As Zhou Minghu's cultivation advanced, his presence had grown increasingly distinct. Were it not for his simple, rough clothing and unkempt appearance deliberately masking his aura, he would have stood out entirely, easily drawing the deadly suspicion of outsiders.

Though the boy seemed exceptional, the Wang family patriarch did not dwell on it. He merely attributed it to good upbringing; after all, the Zhou family had hired a private tutor to instruct their youths in recent years.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. The Wang family had so many children of their own-why couldn't they also study? It would serve as an excellent pretext to build relations with the Zhou family's younger generation.

"Nephew Zhou, our village's youths are growing more numerous by the year. Having them scratch a living from the dirt forever is no real path," the Wang family patriarch said, putting on an earnest, fatherly tone. "With Zhou Erlang away, you serve as the acting Village Head. Why don't you take the lead? Our families can pool some funds to establish a village school. Let the local children learn to read and understand the ways of the world."

Zhou Hong and the Sun family patriarch, who had been idly chatting about domestic matters, both froze. Inwardly, they viciously cursed the Wang patriarch for the cunning old fox he was.

The Wang patriarch had spoken at a calculated volume-not a shout, but loud enough that the surrounding tables had heard the gist of it. Refusing him outright in front of the villagers was no longer an option.

If a school was actually established, who would reap the greatest benefit? The Wang family, naturally. The Wang clan's current generation boasted over a dozen children, more than the Sun and Zhou families combined.

As for the poor tenant farmers, even if the tuition was reduced to a pittance, how many would actually part with their meager coin? Sending a child to study meant paying fees while simultaneously losing half a laborer in the fields. It was an unbearable loss.

In the end, the only students would be the children of their three great households, alongside a handful from slightly better-off families.

Zhou Hong cursed furiously in his heart. His family had already hired an elderly scholar to teach privately. Establishing a public school meant they would have to offer up their tutor. Teaching two or three elite pupils was an entirely different burden than wrangling dozens of rowdy children.

"Uncle Wang, a matter of this size requires careful deliberation. I shall ask around and gather the villagers' thoughts later," Zhou Hong said slowly.

The Sun family patriarch smoothly chimed in, "Nephew Zhou is correct. Although opening a school is a noble deed, the expense is no small matter. We must discuss it thoroughly."

Both the Sun and Wang families numbered forty to fifty members, but the Sun family only had a dozen or so underage youths, far fewer than the Wang family.

This meant the Sun family's burden was lighter, allowing them to stockpile a fair amount of coin and grain each year. The Sun patriarch had intended to follow the Zhou family's example and hire a private scholar for his own estate. It would keep things simple, educate their bloodline, and save a considerable sum.

But establishing a village school was entirely different. They would need a proper building; even an old, abandoned house would require extensive renovations to look respectable. Then there were desks, chairs, and the classic texts required for a tutor-every single item drained resources.

As a patriarch, even with surplus funds in the clan coffers, he could not afford to be wasteful. Every copper had to be weighed against the family's future.

"Then how about this? My Wang family will shoulder four tenths of the cost. The two of you can split the rest. The common families will only need to pay their children's tuition," the Wang family patriarch offered with a magnanimous smile.

Immediately, exclamations of praise erupted from the neighboring tables.

"Old Master Wang is truly a great benefactor! To actually spend his own silver to build a school for us!"

"There is no future in clawing at the dirt! Once the school is built, I'll grit my teeth and scrape together the coin to send my boy!"

"Exactly! If green smoke rises from our ancestral graves and we produce a scholar of the imperial court, it would bring immense glory! We could become masters ourselves!"

Zhou Hong and the Sun family patriarch kept their pleasant smiles plastered on, but internally they were cursing furiously.

They were, after all, the three great households of Baixi Village. They understood the harsh reality of the imperial examinations. For farming families, unless a child possessed true, heaven-defying literary talent, they would never even pass the preliminary exams to become a Child Scholar.

If such a genius did appear, the county magistrates would naturally push them forward. But hoping for an imperial scholar to emerge from a backwater ravine was even more foolish than praying for a cultivation seed to sprout in their own bloodline.

Only these ignorant, mud-legged farmers could be so foolish as to weep tears of gratitude.

The three ruling families educated their youth so their bloodlines would not grow dull. It was to protect their ancestral foundations and maintain their dominion over these very farmers, not out of some grand delusion of passing the imperial exams.

But with the Wang patriarch weaponizing the joyous atmosphere of the wedding, Zhou Hong and the Sun patriarch were riding a tiger and finding it hard to dismount. They had no choice but to play along. At the very least, the Wang family was footing the largest share of the bill.

Zhou Hong consoled himself with the thought that, even if the Wang family reaped the greatest benefit, the fruits of this education would not ripen for many years.

"Since Uncle Wang has shown such great righteousness, our two families cannot be stingy. Tomorrow, I will hire men to renovate the abandoned Liu family manor. From now on, it will serve as Baixi Village's schoolhouse, so our children can study properly."

Though the Sun family patriarch was surprised by Zhou Hong's sudden pivot, his own clan had already intended to educate their youths, so he did not object. He smiled and added, "I shall commission someone to travel to the county city and purchase the classic texts to serve as our teaching materials."

The three men reached a harmonious agreement, sending the poor farmers in the distance into raptures of joy as they loudly praised the great charity of their masters.

And so, bathed in the hidden schemes and cold calculations of the three great families, the grand wedding finally drew to a close.

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