Chapter 1327: Jealousy and Inspection

"Then how did you reply to her?" Niya immediately asked with concern.

At the thought that the Elf might have come to win Xia Duo over, she felt a wave of discomfort in her heart, especially upon hearing that the Elf was actually a woman.

Regarding this, Xia Duo didn't think too much of it, simply assuming Niya was concerned for him, so he said, "How else could I reply? Of course, if there's cooperation, I'll agree to it first, and if she talks about winning me over, I'll just beat around the bush."

"You didn't refuse her?"

"How could I refuse? She didn't explicitly say she was trying to win me over; all of this is just my own speculation. If I were to blurt it out rashly and she didn't mean that at all, that would be truly embarrassing!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Xia Duo suddenly realized that Niya might be jealous, and jealous of an Elf at that!

He had never seriously thought about having anything with an Elf, but it wasn't without reason that Niya thought this way; there were indeed many humans in Netheril who longed to have a cross-species romance with an Elf.

But Xia Duo was not interested in this at all. Even for a Moon Elf, whom he could accept slightly more, there were actually huge differences from humans, both psychologically and physiologically.

More importantly, he was already a married man now. Even without a sacred marriage contract witnessed by the Lord of Radiance, he would not harbor any crooked thoughts.

Of course, in his current clear and rational state, Xia Duo could guarantee that he would absolutely not cheat, but in an unclear or irrational state, he could not guarantee it.

Xia Duo never overestimated his own human nature, and he even less wanted to test how stable his bottom line was; he would avoid such situations in advance, proactively, and consciously.

Just like now—

He stepped forward and proactively embraced Niya, whispering in her ear, "Don't worry about any female Elf; having you is enough for me!"

Niya shyly wanted to break free from Xia Duo's embrace, but in this situation, how could Xia Duo let her walk away easily?

He slightly increased the strength in his arms, but his palms stroked Niya's back with extra gentleness, as if to comfort her, and also as if to convey his affection.

Niya seemed to feel Xia Duo's heart, her shyness dissipating by more than half, and she also reached out her hands to feel the temperature of Xia Duo's body in detail.

The two stood like this in front of the Projection Window for a long time, until the outside scenery projected by the Projection Window gradually darkened.

……

The next day.

Xia Duo opened his eyes, feeling Niya's soft, warm body in his arms, and recalling the madness of the two last night, he couldn't help but smile knowingly.

But just thinking of that sentence Niya said after reaching her extreme state last night, Xia Duo's heart instantly became much heavier.

Niya asked why there were still no children!

Yes! Why were there still no children?

This was also what Xia Duo wanted to know. The two had been married for nearly two years, and had been sharing a bed for nearly a year; why were there no children?

Could it be due to reproductive isolation between different universes?

But even something like crossing over had happened, and his body had perfectly adapted to the current world, so why would there still be reproductive isolation?

But besides this, he really couldn't think of any other possibility; it couldn't be infertility, could it!

Perhaps he could try Assisted Reproduction Magic another day. Both the Arcane Empire and Cormanthor had spells in this regard, but Xia Duo preferred to let his descendants be born naturally, so he had never considered it.

But now, he could indeed consider it.

Thinking this way, Xia Duo also finished today's Meditation Training. He carefully withdrew his arm from Niya's smooth nape, and in the process, inevitably woke Niya up.

But at this moment, the two were face-to-face in all honesty. Even though they had been married for nearly two years, Niya still had a very thin skin in matters like this; as long as Xia Duo didn't deliberately make trouble, Niya would always pretend she hadn't woken up.

This could be considered a little tacit understanding between the husband and wife. Looking at Niya's slightly trembling eyelashes, Xia Duo smiled slightly, kissed her forehead lightly, and then got up to start dressing.

……

It was already the third day since Xia Duo returned to Nan Jing. He had been busy with the Tower of Time and had been delayed by the Elf investigator; even though he had returned to the Territory during that time, it was only a hurried arrival and a hurried departure.

Today, he could finally properly inspect the Territory.

Daxia Territory, Linshui Village.

With the continuous advancement of the land grant work, the residents of Linshui Village began to gradually move toward the new village. Xia Duo came this time, and under conscious observation, he clearly felt a hint of coldness here that was significantly different from usual.

"Laidun, what stage has the land grant reached now?"

"My Lord, after the first land grant ceremony, the Territory has held two more consecutive land grant ceremonies, each granting land to 100 people, but it actually also includes their families; the specific number should be 534 people."

The number of people in the first land grant was over 50, and counting their families, there were over a hundred. Xia Duo made a simple estimate; it would take at least another two years for everyone in the Territory to be able to be allocated land. (One land grant per month)

This did not even count the population that might increase during these two years.

However, one really couldn't be in a hurry for this kind of thing. The process of land granting and building new villages must be combined with the specific development progress and construction progress; it was impossible to complete it in an instant.

"Then has the new village construction encountered any difficulties?" Xia Duo continued to ask.

"Yes, mainly in terms of supplies. The residents who have been allocated land are no longer satisfied with the most basic food and clothing; they have higher requirements for clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and the Territory is still somewhat lacking in this regard."

"Hmm."

Xia Duo nodded. In fact, what Laidun said could not be considered a difficulty in the construction of the new village, but rather the trouble of a group of emerging classes having money they couldn't spend.

The Territory's land grant was not just granting land, but also settling the wages and salaries of the residents who participated in the development in one go. Xia Duo didn't know much about the last two phases of land grants, but he had personally presided over the first land grant ceremony.

He remembered very clearly that at that time, those who received the most Gold Coins had as many as over three thousand, and those who received the least had over one thousand.

Even if the first batch of people who received land were the veterans of the Territory's development, and those who received land later would get less, even the least would start at a hundred Gold Coins.

With so much savings, in Savile Territory, they could be considered middle class; at least those who could open shops in Savile Town might not be able to save a thousand Gold Coins in a year.

In Daxia Territory, this money was even more. But no matter how much money there was, if there were no consumption channels, it was a waste; gold couldn't be eaten as food.

"Then what about the newly opened taverns and grocery stores in the Territory? Take me to see them!"

Only then did Xia Duo remember that when he was in Seventon before, Aiwa had mentioned that the Territory had newly opened three taverns and two grocery stores.

That should at least be able to improve the "happiness index" of the residents!

Since the Lord had spoken, Laidun naturally would not disobey. He immediately adjusted the subsequent itinerary and took Xia Duo to the place where Linshui Village and the first new village—Pioneer Village—bordered.

The Territory's first tavern was opened right here!