"A humble door..." Lin Qingyuan recalled the history of Wu Zhou, a slight smile playing on her lips. She turned around and said: "Quickly select two craftsmen, today I will take them back with me."

  Liu Guan saw the solemn expression on his master's face suddenly disappear, and although he didn't know what idea she had come up with, he was still happy to go and make arrangements.

  Lin Qingwan brought two craftsmen back from the paper workshop and handed them over to Lin's steward, "Find a place for them in another courtyard. I have some tasks for them to do. The servants need to be loyal and meticulous. This matter must not be revealed for the time being."

  Lin Guan's family found a small courtyard in the northwest corner to settle the two, and except for a couple who came every day to fetch water and deliver food, almost no one could enter that yard.

  Lin Qingwan had some tender bamboo cut from the nearby mountain, changed into a clean and neat short outfit, rolled up her sleeves and together with two workers chopped the tender bamboo into five or seven feet long pieces and soaked them in the pool water.

  The two workmen were so frightened that they knelt down on the ground and begged for mercy.

  Lin Qing's eyebrows twitched, and she said helplessly, "Get up quickly, it's just cutting a few bamboo segments."

  Two workmen knelt motionless, their heads bowed deeply: "Whatever you want us to do, mistress, just give the order; why bother doing it yourself?"

  "So I have to take matters into my own hands?"

  The two carpenters exchanged a bewildered glance, both somewhat at a loss.

  Lin Qingwan resolutely dropped them and turned around to cut bamboo by herself.

  At first she was still a bit out of her depth, but after all it was something she had done before, and even with a new body, she quickly found the knack again once she got used to it.

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu, kneeling on the ground, exchanged a glance, with a row of sweat sliding down their foreheads. Neither of them dared to kneel and let Master cut the bamboo himself?

  The two of them wiped away their sweat and hastily got up, grabbed the sickle and ran off to cut bamboo.

  Lin Qingwan taught them, "Five or seven feet make a section, soak in the pool."

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu did as they were told. Although the two didn't know what their master was going to do, they knew that bamboo was one of the raw materials for making paper, and soaking it in water was the first step in the process. It went without saying that they were making paper.

  He and Lin Qingyuan cut the bamboo into sections and submerged them in the pool, then stood aside with their hands clasped together waiting for orders.

  Lin Qingwan gazed at the green bamboo soaking in the pool and sighed, "For the bamboo paper to be made, these bamboos must be soaked in water for over a hundred days, and it's best to use the living water from the mountain. The water in this pool cannot be drained, so you all must remember this point if you move to a different location later."

  Lin Qingwan pointed to the waterway flowing down from the mountain: "This water comes from the mountain, and it's not afraid of being cut off. From today on, you will have to cut a batch of bamboo every day to soak in it, make good marks, after 100 days, one batch of bamboo is done, then you can continue to do the next batch, no need to stop work."

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu hastily took note, their master was obviously teaching them a secret formula. The two were excited beyond measure, never once thinking how Lin Qingwan, a young lady from a wealthy family, could possibly make paper.

  Wan Jie wouldn't make paper, but Lin Qing Wan would.

  In her senior year, she decided to take the postgraduate entrance exam. Her supervisor happily arranged a pile of assignments for her, one of which involved bamboo paper, so she took her supervisor's introduction letter and went to Fuyang, Zhejiang.

  Under the introduction of the local museum, she met with the inheritor of bamboo paper and initially just wanted to borrow some documents left by their ancestors. Since she lived in the inheritor's home, she also participated when they made paper, staying there for two months and making a total of fifteen batches of paper.

  From cutting bamboo to making paper, she participated in all 72 processes and made detailed notes. The production method is still vivid in her mind.

  She naturally couldn't compare to those old skilled craftsmen, but she knew all the processes and had even done them before. The steps were still somewhat familiar to her, so at this point, slowly exploring again would still allow her to produce bamboo paper of decent quality.

  Later generations of bamboo paper can be on par with Xuan paper, and its quality will naturally not be inferior.

  At that time, Teacher Fu would add bamboo to the soaking pool every day, accumulating over the years, so there was always raw material available for making paper.

  But they don't have this condition now, this bamboo just soaked, to proceed with the second process that has to wait until after a hundred days.

  So Lin Qingwan soon found other things for the two craftsmen to do. "Now that the wheat has been harvested and the rice is also ready to be harvested, there are many straws in the fields. Since tree bark and bamboo can be made into paper, I think straw should also work. You go try making paper with straw, it will cost much less."

  Two craftsmen were surprised and opened their mouths wide, "Making paper with straw?"

  Lin Qingwan nodded, "This yard is not allowed to enter, and the matter of making paper with bamboo is also not allowed to be known. However, making paper with straw does not need to be kept secret. From now on, after you finish your work in the yard every day, go outside to study how to make paper with straw."

  Lin Qingyuan had never learned how to make paper from straw, but she thought that the techniques were all roughly the same, just with some slight differences in work sequence and materials.

  Straw is cheaper than other materials, they can try slowly.

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu didn't quite understand the master's idea, "Miss, if we make paper by the river outside, won't others steal our technique?"

  Lin Qingyan smiled and said: "If someone has the ability to learn from it, that's their own ability, they deserve to eat this bowl of rice."

  The two of them were bewildered and hesitated for a long time before going to find Lin, the manager, to report. They were torn, saying: "This paper-making technique is so secretive, how can it be done outside? This is our bookstore's livelihood."

  Lin Guanjia was not as rigid as the two of them, and after listening to their retelling, she immediately understood Lin Qingyuan's implied meaning. She deliberately let people learn it, letting people take this paper-making technique away.

  Although Lin Guan's family was also worried that it would ruin the business of the bookshop, he still said: "Since Madam has given such instructions, you should follow them."

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu went to the wheat field and rice field with a mixture of surprise and doubt to select straw.

  It's just at harvest time, the straw is so abundant that it's a headache for the farmers. Although a lot of fertilizer has been used, there are still many left over. Each family has divided some to feed livestock and burn fire, but there are still many, many left over.

  So the two of them came to get it, and nobody even batted an eyelid.

  But soon everyone's attention was drawn to Cao Jin and Meng Fu, who had dug a pool by the river and were soaking selected straws in it.

  Although everyone doesn't care about the straw, seeing them being wasted like this is infuriating. You know, this straw is actually a good thing - not only can it be used for burning fire, feeding cattle and sheep, but in times of famine, it can even be crushed into powder to fill one's belly.

  Although it's hard to describe the taste, it's at least better than eating mud from the Guanyin Temple.

  If it weren't for their house being too small, they definitely wouldn't have given them away and piled them up by the side of the field.

  So Cao Jin and Meng Fu were stopped again when they went to pick up the straw, and the two had no choice but to say: "It was the young lady who asked us to come and get it."

  "Why are you insisting on soaking perfectly good straw in water? Isn't that a waste?"

  "We're making paper here, anything that needs to be made into paper has to be soaked first, it's not a waste of things."

  Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, "Making paper? How can you make it here, shouldn't it be at the book office?"

  This involves the secret of bamboo paper. The two of them pursed their lips and didn't speak, but nobody asked further either, they were all stunned by the fact that "paper was made".

  Some workers' eyes flashed with a hint of cleverness, either openly or secretly looking over and perking up their ears to listen seriously.

  Some of the villagers' eyes flashed with worry, and one who had broken his arm even squeezed out to find Fang Datong.

  Fang Dasong quickly arrived, waving his hand and saying: "What are you still dawdling for? It's time to get to work."

  He then said to Cao Jin and the other: "You two hurry up and choose the straw, I'll help you both."

  The two thanked him profusely and walked over to Fang Da Tong's side. Although everyone was disappointed that they hadn't heard more secrets, they dispersed anyway.

  Fang Datong and others left, then blamed the two people: "You are also too careless, how can you say everything outside? Moreover, how can paper be made in this way outside? If there is no pool in other courtyards, I will take a few people to dig for you."

  Cao Jinxin felt wronged in her heart and said with a bitter face: "This is what the young lady means, what can we do? Moreover, the young lady also said that this thing about making paper from straw, as long as someone asks, everyone will tell the truth."

  "Fourth Master was shocked, 'Auntie, aren't you afraid of others learning it?'"

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu were even more helpless, "We don't even know if we can make paper out of straw."

  At least they didn't use it before.

  The formula needs to be re-studied, although Auntie said it can refer to the lowest grade paper in the bookstore, but the degree of soaking straw, adding what kind of medicine and how much lime are all based on their feelings, after all, straw is different from tree bark.

  Making paper is not a one-off thing, and just soaking it takes a considerable amount of time. During this period, Lin Qingyan was not idle either, as evidenced by the painting she sent to the palace for the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, which was done by Lin Jiang in his early years.

  As one of the two county masters of the current dynasty, Lin Qingyan's gift was directly sent to the front of the empress.

  After all, she was her own goddaughter, and the empress dowager was also very curious about her, so she took a closer look at the gift list she had sent.

  At this time, Lin's family connections came in handy. Lin Jiang's painting not only appeared on the gift list but was also presented to the empress dowager.

  The queen couldn't say that she didn't want to see the gift, but just wanted to take a glance at the gift list. Since the painting had been sent over, she unfolded it and took a look.

  At a glance, she liked it and immediately had someone hang it on the wall. She sighed and said: "Lin Jiang was a talented person in his generation. In his youth, he was so magnificent in the capital, but unfortunately died young. This painting has a high and distant artistic conception, but its sharp edges are exposed, it seems to be one of his early works."

  "If the painting is not good, why did the empress still hang it up?"

  The queen shook her head and said, "You know what, Lin Haoyu later learned to be more restrained, his paintings no longer had such sharp edges. Others all praised them, but I think his early works were more spirited. And his early works never flowed out of the family, so only the Lin family could bring them out."

  The queen paused and frowned, "Lady Lin is also a clever woman, she wouldn't be unaware of the shortcomings of this painting. Why would she send such a painting? Your Majesty won't like it."

  Too sharp and revealing.

  The queen said a word and dropped it, but the people below took it to heart, secretly inquiring from outside, so Lin Guanjia arranged for someone to secretly leak out the information they needed.

  Two days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the person sent by Princess Ruoying of the border town to present the Mid-Autumn gift finally entered the palace. The palace staff who had been holding back immediately found an opportunity to shift the topic from Princess Ruoying to Princess Qingyuan and reported the news they had inquired about to the Empress.

  "...I heard that Zhao's deputy brother took the lead and brought several families' masters together to boycott Lin's Bookstore and Hanmo Studio. Now, Miss Lin has put all her heart and soul into the farm, fearing that the farm will also be targeted and she'll have no support left."

  The queen coldly asked: "Who told you all these things?"