The hexagonal fan inscribed by Wang Xizhi was still kept by Lin Wanwan in the dark wood box and temporarily stored in a large wooden chest along with her other famous calligraphy and paintings for safekeeping.

That afternoon, a messenger came to town with a letter from Chang’an.

There were three letters in total; two were written to Lin Wanwan by Li Lizhi and Mrs. Cui (the wife of Cheng Yaojin), besides sending greetings to Lin Wanwan, they also included a rough profit report of their workshops and shops.

When Lin Wanwan left Chang’an, she had agreed with both parties to share profits twice a year, during the half-year and annual reports.

Back when Lin Wanwan was in Chang’an, they used to share profits monthly. Now that she had left, with such long distances, it was changed to twice a year.

Apart from Lin Wanwan’s letter, little Qingyu also received a letter and a gift from little Li Zhi in the Imperial Palace.

Little Qingyu held the letter with great excitement; although her literacy had improved, she still couldn’t match Li Zhi’s level.

Despite being younger than little Qingyu, Li Zhi enjoyed the education of the greatest mentors of the Great Tang, and occasionally, direct guidance from Li Shimin, something beyond the reach of a lazy student like little Qingyu.

In the Great Tang, people married early and began their education early. By the time Li Zhi started recognizing and learning characters, little Qingyu had not even met Lin Wanwan and was almost like a small, mindless lump.

Later, after Lin Wanwan adopted her, she was mostly indulged and was not required to focus much on her studies.

In the Great Tang, to become a female official, one needed to serve in the palace, just like Shangguan Wan’er served as a secretary (Inner Minister) to Wu Zetian.

Lin Wanwan had no intention of letting little Qingyu live such a life of constant caution around a monarch, so she adopted a Buddhist approach to Qingyu’s education, allowing her to focus on playing during her childhood.

It wasn’t until Cui Ying became little Qingyu’s training matron that more requirements were set for her.

However, these requirements focused more on learning aristocratic etiquette and conduct rather than various classics and histories.

Moreover, the Great Tang didn’t have punctuation marks; formal education was definitely in classical Chinese.

If Li Zhi had written in vernacular, little Qingyu might have understood more. However, having received the royal family’s most traditional education for a long time, literary expressions came naturally to him.

The letters he wrote naturally followed this style.

Now, little Qingyu found several parts of Li Zhi’s letter difficult to understand.

She had to take the letter to Lin Wanwan for clarification.

After Lin Wanwan explained it to her, little Qingyu suddenly sighed and said, "One really needs to read more; otherwise, I can’t even understand letters."

Her precocious demeanor amused Lin Wanwan greatly.

The gift Li Zhi sent to little Qingyu was a very exquisite mechanical beast, crafted by the palace’s master artisans.

Even though little Qingyu owned many wooden toys Lin Wanwan had bought from modern times, it must be admitted that they weren’t necessarily better than those of the Great Tang.

In this regard, modern people’s advantage lies in broad ideas and portable mechanics, but the craftsmen of the Great Tang who reached the presence of royal descendants were industry leaders; their wooden toys were more exquisite and intellectually engaging.

Little Qingyu, having received this mechanical beast, was captivated by it.

She immediately prepared to give a return gift and reply to Li Zhi, showing more enthusiasm than Lin Wanwan.

Lin Wanwan hadn’t even thought of writing a reply immediately; instead, she sat beside little Qingyu, guiding her in writing her reply.

While enjoying this rare quality time with her adopted daughter, suddenly, a subordinate came to report that more ragged mountain villagers were seeking refuge, presenting expired household registrations.

"Oh, then let Yun Shang and Ji Yue handle it first. Once they’re cleaned and fed, bring them to see me," Lin Wanwan instructed casually.

"Yes." The subordinate took the order and left.

Recently, with the rise of the mountain base, many mountain villagers previously hiding in surrounding hills brought their families here, willing to serve as slaves.

In the Great Tang, once someone reached adulthood, selling themselves was legal. It was quite normal for struggling commoners to depend on powerful lords for survival.

The court opposed it, but to little effect.

In truth, the policy for mountain villagers in Mao County, guided by Li Shimin’s ideology, was primarily about incorporating them as citizens under Xiao Chong’s administration.

However, Mao County lacked fertile land and consisted mainly of mountainous and saline grounds, so these mountain villagers, even after descending and acquiring citizen status, could only get one or two acres of land, insufficient to support a whole family.

It’s important to note that in the Great Tang, farmers bore heavy taxes, unlike the modern era where agricultural taxes have been abolished.

Farmers of the Great Tang carried the burden of the entire nation on their shoulders.

Citizens were obliged to undertake corvee and pay taxes, and such little land couldn’t sustenance the family, let alone spare resources for tax payments.

Although the policy exempted naturalized mountain villagers from the first three years of tax, they would have to pay afterward.

Therefore, mountain villagers were still worried, and with quality masters like Lin Wanwan available, naturally, they were willing to depend on her.

However, if they were willing to go through some hardships, life would soon get better. After all, once a slave, it was hard to change for generations.

As soon as the Ta Mountain Dam was completed, Mao County would see a boom in fertile land. Then, assigning land again to the citizens according to the equal-field system would bring hope for better times!

Yet, ignorant and mostly illiterate, the mountain villagers couldn’t see that far. The county government’s propaganda wasn’t effective, making complete naturalization of mountain villagers impossible.

It benefited Lin Wanwan instead, as the household "employee" population increased significantly.

The strong were added to the armed department, the slightly weaker to the ordinary department, and a part assigned to basic labor with the main task of farming.

As for the elderly, weak, women, and children, they were really few, since harsh conditions in the mountains allowed only the fittest to survive.

In both the Lin Family Manor and the houses in the small town by the stream, according to the standards of the Great Tang affluent families, the number of servants was severely inadequate, and this batch filled the gaps perfectly.

Furthermore, besides the residences, Lin Wanwan now also owned a warehouse, two shops, an embroidery workshop, and a Chinese medicine hall, all of which could accommodate people.

Faced with an increasing number of young slave students in the school, Teacher Chen and a few other teachers had given up resisting.

After all, teaching one was teaching; teaching many was also teaching.

The school’s size was also expanding, and it had already started assigning classes based on age and educational level.

In fact, for the mountain villagers’ children, Lin Wanwan did not ask their parents to sign a contract selling them into slavery, giving them a chance for freedom once they came of age, as allowed under the current policy for naturalized mountain villagers.

But generally, no one behaved like Lin Wanwan; this was tantamount to privately running a welfare institution, including schooling, purely giving out.

Yet, Lin Wanwan didn’t mind these expenses at all; for one who achieved success, it was important to benefit the world. Facing children, she still had compassion in her heart.

Not taking active steps in this matter was not to attract too much attention, as she was already quite high-profile.

But since mountain villagers had already sought refuge, she accepted the opportunity to nurture and educate their children as a form of employee benefits.