"You're quite insightful, aren't you?"
Marquiss Cynan's complement was not composed of empty words. He really did find Hayyoth to be perceptive despite his upbringing. Usually, people from the slums were bereft of any resources to study, much less be informed about what's happening within the Empire.
The slums were a place for those who were discarded from the society and would continue to be until their flesh rotted. It was not the case that the Empire didn't have the time to enact policies that would help the unfortunate population of the slums. The council just chose to turn a blind eye to their suffering. Even the tyrant Emperor himself didn't recognize the people of the slums as living beings. He considered them as feeds for the greedy who wanted to exploit the system.
