Chapter 151 Family Dinner
A heavy snow fell in October.
In order to prevent freezing to death, Richard made a dozen indentured slaves squeeze into one room.
In August, a large number of people poured into the territory, and housing became very scarce.
In order to accommodate these newcomers, Richard could only let them squeeze together for the winter to save various resources such as houses and fuel.
The territory was relatively calm during this period after the winter.
Time passed very quickly, and it was the Goddess' Birthday Festival in a blink of an eye.
According to the tradition of the Harland family, the eve of the Goddess' Birthday Festival is the day for family members to gather.
On this day, William and Bernie took leave early and returned home to reunite with their families.
Richard and Sophia also returned to Black River Castle to meet with their families.
Sophia has been pregnant for more than seven months and will give birth in late March next year. When this child is born, the Harland family will also welcome a new member with a very important status.
After the banquet began, Richard took the initiative to talk to his two uncles Bernie and Powell to ask for their opinions on Adrian and Tang En's marriage.
Adrian is one year younger than Richard, and it is the age for nobles to get married. His marriage should not be delayed any further.
Neither of the two uncles wanted their sons to marry with officers of the territory. They all wanted to marry with nobles to improve the bloodline of the next generation of the Harland family.
William had three wives, and only Richard's mother had noble blood, and the children born were more talented.
Richard and Wendy were both very talented, and Hayden was better than Ron.
Bernie and Powell saw this.
Even though Richard persuaded them several times, they could not change their opinions.
The situation of the territory was not suitable for the nobles outside to know, so the marriage could only be solved within the relatives themselves.
Through Richard's introduction, Adrian was engaged to the daughter of his eldest brother-in-law Roger, and their wedding date was set in January.
When it comes to marriages between relatives, the Grant Kingdom does not pay attention to seniority.
In order to keep their blood pure, some nobles would even let their nephews marry their aunts, uncles marry their nieces, and even brothers and sisters marrying was common.
Adrian's engagement went very smoothly, and Tang En's marriage suffered a setback.
Tang En has set his eyes on Audrey, the daughter of his uncle Soros.
After exchanging the blood enlightenment potion from Richard, Audrey successfully awakened the knight's blood and is now an apprentice knight.
Her blood concentration is better than that of her brother Morgan.
Audrey is talented and naturally has higher standards, so of course she doesn't like Tang En.
Except for Sophia and Soros, the relatives of the Harland family have no noble blood.
Tang En is already 20 years old after the Goddess' Birthday Festival, and his marriage is not suitable to be delayed for too long.
Richard's uncle Soros is willing to come forward and introduce Tang En to Baron Dark's legitimate daughter. If this marriage is successful, Tang En will obviously marry up.
At this family dinner, William introduced Richard and others to his new favorite court lady Kelly.
William and Kelly have been together for almost a year and a half.
Mrs. Kelly did not attend the Goddess' Birthday Family Dinner last year.
This spring, Mrs. Kelly is pregnant, and the delivery period is two months earlier than Sophia.
Because of the child, Mrs. Kelly's status has improved a lot.
This year's Goddess' Birthday Festival, William officially introduced this new member to everyone.
Richard found through observation that Ron should be somewhat dissatisfied with William marrying this court lady.
Although it was not obvious, Richard felt a hint of hostility.
This year, Ron's position in the Crazy Lion Corps was promoted a little, promoted to the rank of captain, promoted to the main squadron, and himself advanced to the second level.
Ron's hostility towards the hostess of the house has actually lasted for many years.
When he just crossed over, Richard noticed that he was dissatisfied with his mother.
Later, he found that he was dissatisfied with Mrs. Aura.
Now that William has a younger court lady, he is still dissatisfied with Mrs. Kelly.
Richard doesn't know why he is not dissatisfied with his father William?
Doesn't he know that except for Richard's mother, William has overwhelming rights over other partners.
The relationship between the two sides is not equal.
This young Mrs. Kelly was favored by William, does she still have the right to refuse?
"Perhaps this is the bad nature of human beings, not daring to resist power."
Richard drank a sip of red wine alone, and laughed at himself in his heart.
This year's family banquet was more luxurious than in previous years. Mrs. Aura prepared formal dresses for family members.
The male dress is black as the base tone, made of expensive bear skin, and worth more than five gold coins each.
The female dress is made of silk, tulle, pearls, and gold thread. The dress is cut very simply, without any extra decoration to cover the beautiful curves. It not only deliberately sets off the well-developed chest, but also the high-slit skirt completely exposes one thigh, which looks particularly sexy.
Such female dresses cost more to make, reaching sixteen gold coins each.
A lot of precious food was used at the banquet, including bear paws, abalone, sea cucumbers, and venison. Mrs. Aura also bought expensive monster meat. Together with various precious red wines, this table of food will cost at least dozens of gold coins.
The huge living room is lit with magic lamps, which consume magic crystals and magic cores as energy. Not only is it expensive, but the cost of using it is also very high, and only the nobles can afford it.
Even the tableware used by everyone is made of gold and silver, and no one knows how much it cost.
A few dozen gold coins are enough for an ordinary family to live for more than ten years.
Looking at the luxurious food at the banquet, Richard suddenly felt like he was freezing to death due to the stench of rich wine and meat.
Before attending the banquet, he also inspected the winter work of the indentured servants in the territory.
Because the intensity of labor in winter was very low, Richard only gave the indentured slaves a ration of one pound per day.
One kilogram of rations is not enough for an adult. They can only eat one dry meal and one thin meal every day, living in a state of hunger.
Although you won't die of cold or starvation, the quality of your life is not very good.
Looking at this luxurious banquet, Richard inevitably had some opinions in his mind, thinking it was too extravagant.
"I'm not in charge now, and it's not spending my money, so I'd better bear with it. When I'm in charge, this trend should be completely reversed."
Richard knew in his heart that hedonism and comparison were prevalent among the nobles.
Mrs. Ola often attends noble banquets, so she will inevitably be affected.
Moreover, women's vanity is generally stronger than that of men.
"Mrs. Ola comes from a very low background. In order to gain recognition from others, she has to show off her wealth and aristocratic taste. Her father William and third uncle Bernie both have this tendency. Seeing how they enjoy themselves, they don't feel it is a waste at all. , but it feels natural.”
Richard shook his head to dispel the distracting thoughts in his heart. After talking with other members of the family, he settled on some things and took Sophia back to his room.