Chapter 648: Falling Into An Abyss

“The Hui Provincial Governor and the Military Governor of the Imperial Capital could be considered important figures in the imperial court. How can they be so easily assassinated by the White Lotus Society? I think even in the southern parts like Yue Province, they can rarely take out anyone above the prefectural governor level,” Yan Liqiang asked in surprise.

The other reason behind Yan Liqiang coming to the Imperial Capital alone was because he felt that the Imperial Capital was like the eye of a storm right now. It was much more convenient for him to move alone and keep a low profile. All this while when he traveled, no one expected the mighty Qiyun Protectorate General to be traveling alone. Had he brought more people with him, it’d be more difficult if they ran into anything.

Although Yan Liqiang had made some mental preparations on the current situation in the Imperial Capital, the horrible situation in the capital regions was still beyond his expectations.

“What’s there to be surprised about? Didn’t Grand Chancellor Lin Qingtian get assassinated too?” Speaking up to this point, An Shidao looked around them then suddenly lowered his voice.

With a quite serious tone, he said, “Brother, you better take care of yourself when you are in the Imperial Capital this time. There’s been rumors that many secret experts from the White Lotus Society who have been hiding for years have disguised themselves and started gathering up in the capital regions to exploit the current situation there. I heard that the Hui Provincial Governor and the Military Governor of the Imperial Capital were assassinated by them…”

“Thank you for your words of warning, Brother An. I’ll look out for myself!” Yan Liqiang cupped his fist to An Shidao sincerely, then slightly frowned as he recalled something.

“Oh right, since you frequently travel to the capital regions for work, do you know how many people there have moved? I heard that ever since the stone turtle was born in the Imperial Capital, many people from the capital regions have fled. Have they settled down elsewhere now?”

“It’s true that quite a few people have left the Imperial Capital, but it’s hard to say for the people in the four capital regions…” An Shidao shook his head and sighed.

Yan Liqiang was slightly taken aback. “Why? Do they not believe in the words of the stone turtle and still refuse to leave?”

“Do you really not know anything about it, Brother?”

“Know about what?”

“Ah, right. You live in Gan Province, which is so far away from the Imperial Capital since it’s at the border. Not everything that happened here would be published on the court bulletins. I guess it’s not strange that you wouldn’t know about it!”

When An Shidao saw the clueless look on Yan Liqiang’s face, he explained, “When the stone turtle was born, indeed quite a lot of people left the capital regions. But those who left were mostly the influential clans who were part of the officialdom. They had money and plans, so it was not a big deal for them to relocate. They just had to pack up some stuff, then they could leave on their carriages with their guards. But for the common people, all their properties and family businesses are there. Do you think it’d be that easy for them to just get up and leave?”

“It’s still better than staying there and waiting for death. Are they willing to leave only when the words of the stone turtle come true? By the time the Heavenly Tribulation strikes, everything around them will be blown to smithereens. The only way to survive this is to leave now…”

“Well, it’s no longer that easy to leave now even if they want to.”

“Why?”

“Before the eighth lunar month, the people from the capital regions could indeed leave as they pleased. However, not many of them left at the time. But now, if they really want to leave, they have to get a travel pass from the bureaucracy. Without one, they will be stopped and arrested at the checkpoint…”

The information stunned Yan Liqiang for a good while before he managed to bring himself to ask, “A travel pass? Why do they suddenly need a travel pass?”

“I heard from my friends who work in the bureaucracy that there were too many people leaving and they ended up becoming refugees. This greatly impacted the other places because wherever they went, chaos ensued. So they could only control the number of people leaving the capital regions by using the travel pass…”

“I thought I heard that the imperial court already made some evacuation plans? Although there’ll be many refugees, it’s definitely manageable if they are equally divided across all provinces and prefectures. How did the situation turn out this way?”

“That’s all I heard. I’m not sure why the evacuation plans have pretty much stopped even though there weren’t any official announcements from the imperial court…”

“Stopped?” Yan Liqiang’s eyes widened in shock and only managed to utter his next question after a good while. “Then what about the people who live in the capital regions now…?”

“More people are leaving the Imperial Capital. As for the capital regions… most of the people are still there!”

Yan Liqiang didn’t feel cold despite standing on the ship’s bow in the chilly wind. However, after listening to An Shidao, he felt as though his heart had frozen up. It was like he had fallen into an abyss; his hands and feet were cold and his brain was going numb…

How did things turn out this way? It had been almost ten months since the stone turtle was born. This was the prime time to flee for life. If they weren’t leaving now, it would be even harder to leave in the future. Not only that, but there would be chaos. In another nine months, the Heavenly Tribulation would strike, turning everyone in the capital regions into dust. Yet at a time like this, the bureaucracy chose to implement this so-called travel pass. For what? Keeping the people here in the capital regions was the same as killing them…

For the imperial court to halt evacuation plans and introduce the travel pass, this was a huge incident. Even if these changes were not reported on the court bulletin, Fang Beidou should have known about it. Why didn’t he inform him…?

Thinking back, it had been four or five months since he last contacted Fang Beidou. Yan Liqiang thought Fang Beidou was doing well in the Imperial Capital, but could it be that something had happened to him, thus making it impossible for him to contact Yan Liqiang?

“Are you alright, Brother?” An Shidao patted Yan Liqiang’s shoulder when he noticed the latter had gone silent and pale.

“I’m alright…” Yan Liqiang’s complexion slowly turned back to normal as he let out a long sigh. “Thank you for telling me all these things, Brother An…”

“No need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, then treat me to some wine the next time we meet again! I know you have some matters to attend to and I’m working right now too, so we’ll have to postpone this first…”

“Alright, that’s a promise…” Yan Liqiang recomposed himself and smiled at An Shidao.

An Shidao pointed ahead of them and said, “Look, Brother. Once the ship makes it past that mountain, we’ll be able to see Hui Provincial City. Judging from the speed, I reckon we’ll arrive before nightfall…”

Half an hour later, the silhouette of Hui Provincial City appeared in the distance amidst the snow..

Yan Liqiang had a bad feeling when he saw the city in the western part of the Imperial Capital. His heart slowly grew heavier as joy was being sucked out of him…

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