Chapter 143: Our Dynasty Is Not Only Poor but Also Miserable

Yan Huaiwen said, “We cannot afford to take chances. These rebels must already know our identities and that we are heading to Guanzhou. They have horses and move swiftly. If we do not change our route, we will likely be pursued again.”

And when that happens, it won’t just be a hundred men.

There will be more.

“Father, why don’t we return to Leshan Prefecture’s yamen and expose them?” Yan Xiangheng suggested.

Second Uncle Yan shook his head. “That won’t work, nephew. They claim to be Leshan Prefecture’s soldiers—who knows if there’s some connection? This group moves through Leshan unimpeded. Even though we’re far from the prefectural city, in a remote and uninhabited area, it’s still within Leshan Prefecture’s borders, and there’s an official post station every thirty li. How could Leshan Prefecture be completely unaware of them?

Is it that they truly haven’t noticed, or is someone covering for them?”

Yan Huaiwen coughed lightly and said in a low voice, “Some things should be kept in your heart and not spoken aloud.”

Second Uncle Yan blinked in confusion. “Like what?”

“Father! It’s a cover-up,” Yan Yu pointed out helpfully.

Second Uncle Yan widened his eyes. “Why can’t I say it? There are no outsiders here.”

Yan Huaiwen smiled slightly. “That is one possibility. However, Leshan Prefecture is different from other major prefectures.

Rather than calling it a cover-up, it’s more like they simply can’t control it and are powerless to do so.”

The three of them were stunned. What did that mean?

Yan Huaiwen picked up the waist token and began drawing on the ground as he explained, “Here is Leshan Prefecture.” He wrote the characters for “Leshan” and circled them.

“Northeast of here is Guanzhou.

To the northwest is Xizhou.

To the southwest of Leshan is our Qishan Prefecture.

If not for the mountains blocking the way, to the east would be Linhai Prefecture.

South of Linhai is the capital.

Leshan appears centrally located, but if you exclude the mountainous areas within its territory, its actual governed land is very small. The mountains here have become lawless zones where government orders do not reach. Bandits roam freely, and there are many displaced refugees.

Moreover, with Guanzhou and Xizhou already serving as heavily fortified military strongholds, Leshan Prefecture’s military administration was cut in half. The land is vast, the mountains numerous, but there aren’t enough officials. More than half of its territory consists of mountainous regions that have essentially been abandoned.”

Now they understood—it was all mountains, and the officials couldn’t manage it.

So, it wasn’t necessarily a cover-up; it might just be that the authorities gave up control entirely. What could they do? Move the mountains away?

People living in the mountains were either bandits or mountain folk.

The latter evaded taxes; the former not only evaded taxes but also caused trouble.

The government couldn’t care less about their survival.

If they went to Leshan Prefecture to file a complaint, even if officials were dispatched, they’d just be sending themselves to the rebels’ knives.

Look at the enemy—they casually pulled out over a hundred men, all on horseback.

Right. Even the regular army couldn’t afford horses. How pathetic.

Second Uncle Yan sighed. “Leshan Prefecture sure has it rough. We’d better not add to their troubles.”

Yan Huaiwen remained silent for a moment before saying, “Let’s focus on how to evade our pursuers.”

Yan Yu studied the rough map closely, comparing it to the travel routes she had memorized.

She pointed at the capital’s location and asked, “Uncle, is it far from Leshan Prefecture to the capital?”

“There is a waterway between them, dug over twenty years by the previous dynasty,” Yan Huaiwen explained, drawing a not-so-straight line between Leshan and the capital.

“Then why don’t we take the water route?” Yan Yu tilted her head.

In truth, she was already familiar with this waterway—it was marked on the travel maps she had seen.

Her concern was that taking a boat would cost money. They had been extremely poor before and probably couldn’t afford it, which was why her uncle had chosen to travel overland through Leshan to Guanzhou instead of heading directly to the capital.

But things were different now!

They had robbed the mountain bandits. While they hadn’t gotten much silver, it was still a decent sum. It should be enough for boat fare.

A direct water route from Leshan to the capital—what could be better?

“Our dynasty’s north-south trade is not prosperous. This canal often gets silted up when water levels drop, making it difficult for boats to pass. When that happens, the canal is closed.”

Yan Yu sighed in frustration.

She didn’t even need to ask why they didn’t clear the silt. Her uncle had already explained—our dynasty is especially poor.

Since north-south trade wasn’t very profitable, there was no incentive to spend time and money maintaining the canal.

The capital was a dead end. Going back was not an option either…

“What about Linhai Prefecture? Are the mountains in between very high? Could we climb over them?”

“Linhai…” Yan Huaiwen fell into deep thought before slowly answering, “The coastal region is plagued by constant storms and floods. It is not a good place to go.”

Yan Yu: …

Second Uncle Yan: …

What?

“Uncle,” Yan Yu asked cautiously, “what kind of storms and floods?”

Please, heavens above, don’t let it be what she was thinking…

Yan Huaiwen used his waist token to draw a curved line from Linhai downward.

“The coastal prefectures experience months of continuous rain each year. Storm winds whip up the tides, sending waves crashing onto the shore…

Farmlands are submerged, making future harvests impossible.

Seawater floods inland, pouring in like a waterfall.

People caught in the water rarely survive.

Storms are even worse. They can tear roofs off houses. Trees, livestock, even people—nothing can withstand them.”

Father and daughter exchanged glances, both seeing the same thought in each other’s eyes: utter despair.

So… there was a reason they got crushed by that platform.

This world was terrifyingly hostile!

They really wanted to ask the author—why did you write such an extreme survival environment?

Did ‘our dynasty’ have to be this miserable?

Was this all just to make the protagonist’s governance seem impressive?

But judging from the synopsis, this was supposed to be a political career advancement novel!

What did natural disasters have to do with that?!

No wonder. No wonder!

That punk uncle was right.

They really were just a bunch of unlucky souls.

And that wasn’t an exaggeration at all…

Yan Yu felt numb.

She had to admit—her mentality was surprisingly resilient.

Maybe it was because she had seen too much from the platform, but she was adjusting to this reality surprisingly fast.

Fine, compared to all that, even the bitterly cold Guanzhou seemed like the best possible option…

Uncle was wise!

Second Uncle Yan added, “I spoke with Manshan. Xizhou isn’t an option either. It’s the same as Leshan Prefecture—people there are forced into hard labor, mining day and night. With all the mountains in Leshan and Xizhou, I wouldn’t be surprised if the rebel leaders who buy slaves for mining are operating in these two places.”

Yan Huaiwen glanced up at him.

Tianyou had guessed correctly.

Yan Yu looked at her father.

Second Uncle Yan blinked, unsure what she meant.

His daughter stared at the map on the ground, her brows twitching.

Second Uncle Yan: This required some serious mind-reading.

After a moment’s thought, he said, “Brother, we’re currently traveling this route.”

He casually grabbed some dried grass, twisted a few strands together, and laid them out to form a path.

Their route overlapped with the official road at first but then ran straight toward Guanzhou.

“This is the official road. It’s not far. If we change paths, we’ll have to detour around the other side.

That area is even farther from the official road. If, as you said, Leshan Prefecture can’t control the region, we could still be caught…”

There wasn’t much of a difference.