Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator

Chapter 142: Useless Money

The corner of He Sanlang's mouth twitched and he immediately turned his head. He really didn't want to talk to a glutton like Xiao Yuhong right now.

While Chu Lian was resting and recovering in the little town close to the border, Tang Yan and the rest of the party had managed to catch up.

Although they had been previously robbed by the barbarians, He Changdi had come over with the rescue party just in time, so all of Chu Lian's things were safe.

The moment Tang Yan arrived, he heard about how Chu Lian had been attacked by the elite Tuhun soldiers and was astounded. After reassuring Chu Lian a little, he decided not to separate from her again for the rest of the journey.

Even though not everyone in the party had recovered from their wounds, just in case, they only stayed in the small town for four days. After four days, they set off on their journey again. They still had the winter supplies meant for the northern border troops and had to deliver them as soon as possible.

The closer they got to Liangzhou City, the more desolate their surroundings became. When they finally reached the outskirts of the city, Chu Lian stared at the completely devastated Liangzhou in disbelief.

How could this be called a city? Any town within the lands of the Great Wu would probably be richer than this 'city' a few times over. The city walls were made of mud- when the wind blew, some clods of earth would even get blown off. There were broken walls all over the city and hardly any citizen in sight. One or two would scurry by occasionally, their bodies thin and sallow.

There weren't many brick houses within the city itself. Most of the houses were made of mud and covered with thatch roofs. Even though it was dusk and about time to cook dinner, the number of houses that had smoke drifting up from their kitchens could probably be counted on one hand.

There probably weren't as many citizens living here as there were soldiers in the army stationed outside.

Chu Lian had finally seen for herself why the nobles in the capital considered Liangzhou City a barren land.

This area was probably part of the great grasslands of the future. Although there were plenty of mountains and vast tracts of land, the terrible weather conditions and the long winters weren't suited for farming. If they headed just a little closer to the inner lands of the Great Wu, the farm fields at the boundaries of Liangzhou might be fertile enough to allow for a harvest say, once a year. However, once they went further north, the quality of the earth wasn't enough to support even the smallest bit of life.

When it came to winter, the surface of the ground would be covered in a thick layer of snow. When it came to spring, the snow would melt away into a muddy swamp...

Chu Lian looked up at the city wall made of yellow mud bricks. There were two soldiers standing up there, their bodies curled up into balls. She couldn't even tell what they were wearing, but she could see that they were shivering up there on the city walls.

Chu Lian sighed. Could this fragile wall really stand up to the attacks of the ferocious Tuhuns?

Tang Yan was riding on a horse beside her carriage. When he saw that Chu Lian had lifted the curtain of her carriage, he urged his horse over to her.

"Honoured Lady, are you looking at the yellow mud walls?"

Chu Lian cast a sideways glance at him and nodded.

The corner of Tang Yan's lips tugged upwards and he said rather helplessly, "Liangzhou City is located in the north of our Great Wu's territory. You've also seen it on the way here, Honoured Lady. This area is lacking in resources. The court sends a huge sum each year here to reinforce Liangzhou City's walls, but unfortunately, there hasn't been much effect."