Chapter 271: Chapter 271

"As expected of Ah Yue!"

Looking back at the person before her with still-bright brows and eyes, Han Yue's features drooped slightly; her natural beauty took on a touch more composure.

"Your Highness flatters me. I know my own limits. With Your Highness's skill at chess, if you had no other affairs, you would never need to spend so long wasting time with me…"

Seeing her reply, An Ning stopped hiding things altogether. She set down her piece, smiled at her opponent, and said:

"I noticed you've been distracted these past few days. Is it because of the uproar over the flood in Dingzhou recently?"

"If I remember correctly, Lord Han was only reassigned to Dingzhou last year."

Thinking of her father posted far away, Han Yue's face went pale in an instant. She couldn't care about anything else and nearly burst out:

"Have you heard any news, Your Highness?"

Outside the window, frogs croaked intermittently.

Inside the silent chessroom, only the woman's faint sighs remained.

"Ah Yue, in the past half year you've shared countless mountain records and local gazetteers with me. You should know best: Dingzhou is low-lying and doesn't drain easily; it has many waterways. Where there are floods, they are often followed by countless after-disasters. This time, the north suffered in many places, and you know the court's efficiency as well as I do."

The dynasty's laws were not especially harsh toward scholars. The sovereign prided himself on benevolence, and the court had long accumulated redundant positions.

Officials were many on paper, but when it came to efficiency, with layers of bureaucracy, there was almost nothing to be seen.

This problem was no longer only about the military chain of command.

Otherwise, given how her so-called cheap father craved stability, he would not have so suddenly launched reforms throughout the court.

It was a pity, though: however sincere his intentions and willingness to implement them, the pressure on him was truly unbearable.

When a sovereign cannot withstand pressure, decrees change from morning to evening; the unlucky ones, of course, are those charged with the new policies. Unluckily for them, Han Yue's own father, the former Grand Secretary Lord Han, had been among them—one of the prime advocates of these reforms.

The result was unsurprising: the next year he was pushed out of the capital. More importantly—

Watching her companion grow paler, An Ning turned and looked at the increasingly bright moon outside the window.

"You know, Ah Yue, earlier when the new policies were proposed, many interests were touched. Lord Han made plenty of enemies in court; once this matter came to light, it's easy to imagine there would be many who wanted to take advantage of it to eliminate him."

Some would be even crueller, withholding relief grain or medicines at night…

In ancient times, after a major disaster—especially floods—epidemics were most likely to follow.

Sure enough, Han Yue's face grew even paler.

As mentioned earlier, having followed Her Highness these past months and read so many books, Han Yue was already sharp and broad-minded—no longer the same as before.

How could she not hear the danger in that?

After a brief silence, as if having made up her mind, Han Yue finally raised her head. Her originally delicate features were now full of resolute firmness.

"From the day I was chosen into the palace, I have belonged to Your Highness…"

"If Your Highness has orders, I will obey them without fail."

Seeing her , An Ning smiled. In the candlelight, the girl's lips curved gently; her already-fine features seemed to shine even brighter.

"Is that so? Ah Yue, aren't you afraid that I'm only tricking you now, that I actually have no solution at all?"

"Or perhaps Lord Han is capable and will have ways to cope."

"Your Highness jokes…" Staring into the other's eyes, Han Yue smiled slightly as well.

"With Your Highness's temperament, if you didn't have confidence, how could you have spoken rashly? As for my father…"

Han Yue paused, then sighed softly: "Even a clever housewife can't cook without rice."

"If, because of me, the court delays or obstructs relief measures and the disaster worsens, even if I somehow survive by luck, how could my father bear to see his people suffer…"

This was the flaw of the dynasty's system.

Seeing her friend so disheartened, An Ning couldn't help recalling the scenes she saw a few days ago when she left the palace.

Is Bianjing prosperous?

The answer was certainly yes—otherwise masterpieces like Riverside Scene at Qingming would not exist.

Gold and jade gleamed, silks and brocades perfumed the air. Night markets stretched along the streets with stalls as far as the eye could see, a dazzling array of delicacies and goods; even "takeout" was starting to emerge.

Certainly commerce, politics, economy, and culture were at a peak. But what lay behind such prosperity?

An Ning sighed inwardly.

It was the power of the whole nation sustaining one city—massive extraction from local finances and even military resources to the capital, leaving localities greatly weakened.

The Zizhi Tongjian and Song history record: "Order the provinces henceforth to remit to the capital each year all customary levies and taxes; aside from necessary allowances, all silks and valuables shall be transported to the capital."

In other words, after local necessary expenditures, the rest of the collected taxes were all sent to Bianjing.

Under such a system, how could local economies develop? Who would build bridges and roads, or establish government schools, without local fiscal support?

Worst of all, when natural disasters struck, local risk resistance was drastically reduced.

Wait for central funds? Given the bloated officialdom and heavy extractions, how long would that take, and how much would truly reach local hands?

On one side was the bustling, seemingly contented Bianjing; on the other was a populace crushed by countless levies, where infant drowning became a rising trend among commoners.

As Su Shi later wrote in his Letter to Zhu Ezhou:

"In the Yue and E regions, poor households only raise two sons and one daughter; beyond that, they are killed, especially girls. Newborns are dunked in cold water until dead; fathers and mothers cannot bear it, so they always keep their eyes closed and press the infant's face into the basin, and the child cries long before dying…"

Infanticide had occurred in many dynasties, but such disparity…

No wonder some later judged the Song dynasty as a prime example of being heavy at the top and weak at the bottom.

While thinking, An Ning lifted her hand and placed another piece down.

With a crisp click, the previously deadlocked position on the board shifted in an instant.

Staring down at the chessboard, Han Yue was stunned; her black piece hung in the air, unmoved.

Because it was no longer necessary.

One piece—just one—was all it took. This game, it turned out, could be ended at any moment by Her Highness?

How much of Her Highness's usual display was genuine, then?

There was no denying it: at that moment, Han Yue's earlier pride from besting her brothers at home dissipated completely…