The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 623 - 588: She Wants to Be the Concubine of This Household
Staring at Song Wei, Nanny Qin found herself somewhat entranced.
It wasn’t until the sound of Qi Bao’s babbles as she interacted with her mother came from the inner room that she snapped back to reality.
Taking advantage of Song Wei not paying attention, Nanny Qin reached up to touch her own burning cheeks, and with her head lowered, she hurried into the inner room.
Wen Wan was reclining on the long couch, holding a homemade cloth ball to entice Qi Bao.
Qi Bao was still little, her small paws unsteady, and wrapped in thick clothing which made her movements clumsy, she could never quite manage to grab the cloth ball from her mother’s hand, only able to express her dissatisfaction with babbling sounds.
Watching her daughter, Wen Wan couldn’t help but smile.
However, this smile faded slightly when she noticed Nanny Qin had entered.
"Why have you changed clothes again?" Wen Wan lifted her eyelids to glance at her.
Nanny Qin dropped to her knees with a thud on the ground, kowtowing to Wen Wan, and spoke with a tone of self-reproach, "I was presumptuous, thinking last night in a moment of folly to ask the master for help in writing a family letter. It’s all my fault for not knowing the rules. I plead with Madam to punish me."
On the way here, she thought carefully, and considering the master’s character, there was no way he would go spreading around what happened last night, so there was only one possibility — someone else saw it at the time.
Such a matter could be big or small. After all, she was only seeking help then, without any overstepping behavior, but once someone with intentions goes to Madam with gossip, any blame could fall on her head.
Therefore, she had to take the initiative to admit her mistake, putting her actions out in the open with Madam so she wouldn’t fear anyone else talking behind her back later.
Wen Wan looked at her skeptically, "Writing a letter? What letter?"
In fact, she had already heard about this from Nanny Zhou when she returned from the Su Family.
Nanny Zhou had told Wen Wan that Nanny Qin, late last night, instead of staying put in the young lady’s room, came out upon seeing the master return, asking him to help write a family letter. However, the master did not agree in the end.
Nanny Zhou liked to push people out, and Wen Wan had predictably chosen a very fine set of clothes for Nanny Qin when gifting the padded skirt, noting this little trait of Nanny Zhou’s.
Nanny Zhou staying up late specifically to catch something on Nanny Qin showed a deep-seated animosity.
At this moment, Wen Wan showed none of this, as if she knew nothing at all.
Nanny Qin found herself speechless under her question, feeling very complicated inside.
Even the laundresses were spreading the word, so how was it possible she hadn’t caught a whiff of it?
Was it really that she didn’t know, or did she actually know and was using this as a chance to test her?
Nanny Qin was silently annoyed but had no choice but to brace herself and say, "I bought some goods to send home but never found the opportunity. Yesterday, I heard a yard boy got leave, so I approached him, arranging for him to leave early this morning. When everything was packed, I suddenly remembered a letter was missing at night. Just as I went to relieve myself, I saw the master coming in, so... so I boldly asked if he could help."
Wen Wan seemed to dismiss the matter, only asking her, "Did the letter get sent off?"
Nanny Qin replied, "It’s been sent, I asked an educated woman at the second gate to write it."
Wen Wan’s reaction was very mild, at least in Nanny Qin’s view.
"I thought it was something major, it’s just a letter, and it made you so fearful, not even daring to wear the clothes I awarded. Did someone below say something unpleasant?"
At this, Nanny Qin simply remained silent.
Though she didn’t utter a word, the grievance on her face was not hidden.
Before Nanny Qin came, she knew that the Mistress of the Song Mansion had been mute as a child, and even though she recovered later and attended Hongwen Academy, it couldn’t erase the fact that she was a village girl. Other than her pretty face, she lacked in all areas, and her mind was simple; to scheme against her shouldn’t be too difficult.
Simple-minded Wen Wan glanced at Nanny Qin, sighed, and said, "I am to blame for being lazy these days and neglecting their discipline, leaving them with nothing better to do than gossip."
Nanny Qin mumbled, "Actually, it’s of no importance, so long as madam does not blame this servant."
"It’s not your fault." Wen Wan, as if remembering something, laughed and said, "When the master first entered officialdom, someone in the court tried to scheme against him by sneaking a lowly maid into our home during our maid purchase who wanted to crawl into bed. That girl was good at acting, normally she kept low profile, not to show any inclination, but when in front of the master, she started playing tricks, pretending to be weak and pitiful, making opportunities out of none to catch the master’s attention. In the end, she was just a low-grade maid, where did she get the courage to take me for a fool, thinking she left no flaw? In truth, I was aware of her little tricks but just wanted to watch how long she could keep up her act."
