The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 617 - 583: Sowing Discord (First Update)

The Song Mansion conducted a thorough selection process for hiring nannies. At the time, seven or eight candidates came, and after careful consideration, Wen Wan chose to keep Nanny Zhou, Nanny Qian, and Nanny Qin.

Nanny Zhou is three years older than Wen Wan, while Nanny Qian is the same age as Wen Wan. The youngest among them is Nanny Qin.

Compared to the honest and plain looks of the other two, Nanny Qin is indeed quite attractive, not only pretty but also possessing a few more charms than a maiden.

She seems like a flower bud just beginning to bloom, yet not fully opened — a time when it can most capture a man’s heart.

However, she is exceptionally low-key, never going out of her way to dress up. On the day she entered the mansion, she wore a loose, round-collared cross-front jacket with a dark purple twelve-panel horse-face skirt below. Her hair was styled in a headband bun, pulling all her hair to the back of her head with a headband tied around her forehead.

Her attire and hairstyle were old-fashioned, and her clothing loose-fitting, concealing herself completely.

Thus, at a glance, one could hardly tell she was any younger than the other two.

To this day, Nanny Qin continues to dress in the same manner every day.

Before having any premonition, Wen Wan didn’t find anything amiss, thinking that perhaps her family conditions weren’t good and she hadn’t seen much of the world, so her attire couldn’t match others and she didn’t know how to present herself.

With the unsettling premonitions in mind, whenever Wen Wan looks at Nanny Qin, she feels that her downplayed demeanor seems somewhat deliberate.

A woman doesn’t need to be flamboyant to attract a man’s attention; excessive modesty can evoke more sympathy.

Nanny Qin clearly belongs to the latter. She came with a purpose from the first day she entered the mansion, proving she is no naive young woman; on the contrary, she is cunning and skilled.

Song Wei has been a government official for nearly five years, and there are more people trying to send concubines to him than you can count on two hands. Usually, Wen Wan can deal with them in advance if she has any premonition.

But letting Nanny Qin into the mansion was an accident, and she is more skilled than all those before her.

It was the first time Wen Wan encountered such a person. After breakfast, she moved to the kang bed, leaning against a large welcome pillow covered with a rabbit fur blanket, with a book in her hands. But she hadn’t read much since she kept pondering.

She would think about who Nanny Qin was aligned with and then consider whether she and Wang Xiaolang worked for the same master.

If so, this person must be hiding too deeply. In both actions, Wen Wan couldn’t identify his identity through premonition.

However, regardless of Nanny Qin and Wang Xiaolang’s relationship, one thing is certain: Wen Wan cannot casually dismiss her.

When Nanny Qin first entered the mansion, she was identified as a young widow looking for a job to earn a living for her child still nursing. If Wen Wan couldn’t provide a credible reason and hastily dismissed her based solely on the premonitory images, within three days, the rumor of the mistress of the Song Mansion bullying a helpless widow and cutting off her livelihood would spread.

Wen Wan is a noblewoman of the court, and a ruined reputation would directly affect Song Wei.

While she may not be versed in broad perspectives, she is not foolish, knowing to think twice before acting. She wouldn’t do anything detrimental to her husband.

"Mother～"

Jinbao’s voice suddenly came from outside, pulling Wen Wan back from her thoughts.

She looked towards her son, who came in with a chill around him. "Why are you here instead of attending your classes in the school?"

Jinbao giggled, "Mother forgot, I’m off today."

Wen Wan realized with an "oh," sat up straight, and waved to him, "Come here."

Jinbao obediently walked to the warm kang, and Wen Wan adjusted the little cap on his head, a faint smile appearing in her eyes, "Since there’s no class, what do you plan to do?"

Jinbao replied, "Going out to sweep the snow."

"The snow outside the main gate has already been cleared by the servants, hasn’t it?"

"It’s the snow on the street," Jinbao said with excitement spreading across his little face.

Wen Wan said, "The snow on the street will be handled by the people from the government office. You’re too little, you probably can’t even hold the shovel steady. Why join in the commotion?"

The little one pouted, "I still want to go."

Wen Wan was concerned, "Well, how about this, I’ll arrange for a few young servants to accompany you."

Finally getting his mother’s consent, Jinbao was happy and shook his head like a rattle, "No need for servants, Grandfather will take me."

Upon hearing that her father-in-law would also go, Wen Wan finally felt at ease.

Every year when it snows, the old man always takes a shovel and the little grandson outside to shovel snow, partly because he can’t sit still and partly for exercise.

At first, no one outside knew, but eventually word spread, and the women in the circle would tell Wen Wan that their family’s old master and old madam were probably the most down-to-earth and unpretentious elders in the entire Capital.

Whether these words were praise or criticism, only the speaker knew.

After Jinbao moved to the outer courtyard, all his clothes were also moved to Song Yuanbao’s room. Wen Wan had Yun Cai take him out to change into a thicker cotton-padded coat before personally seeing off the old man and her son.

After lunch, Nanny Qian came to change shifts.

Taking advantage of Nanny Zhou not having left yet, Wen Wan called them both, pulled out three sets of clothes from the wardrobe, giving one set to Nanny Zhou, one to Nanny Qian, and needless to say, the remaining set was naturally for Nanny Qin.

Wen Wan said, "Nanny Qin is probably still not awake, so I trouble Nanny Zhou to help deliver it to her."

Nanny Zhou happily accepted the reward, expressing her gratitude profusely, took Qin Nanny’s set of clothes, and headed towards the side room.

Earlier in Wen Wan’s room, she didn’t dare to look much, but now that no one was around, she glanced at her own clothes and compared them with Nanny Qin’s, suddenly finding that Nanny Qin’s clothes were finely smooth and had a very nice texture, clearly made of good material.

Nanny Zhou looked on, feeling a bit uncomfortable in her heart. She didn’t rush to deliver the clothes to Nanny Qin, instead peeked at Wen Wan going to Rong’an Hall to see the old madam, then slipped back to Qingteng Residence, heading directly to the West Wing.

Nanny Qian was playing with the rattle for Qi Bao, the little one’s eyes following the beads on the rattle, swaying back and forth, and after a while, starting to yawn.

The fair and tender appearance made her irresistible to hold.

Nanny Qian really liked the little girl and couldn’t help but lean down to kiss her small cheeks.

At that moment, Nanny Zhou pushed the door open and came in.

Nanny Qian thought it was the lady coming over and got startled, quickly standing up and looking back, seeing that it was Nanny Zhou, she patted her chest with relief and scolded, "Didn’t you go off duty? Why suddenly run over here?"

Seeing Nanny Zhou still holding those two sets of clothes in her hands, she asked, "You haven’t delivered them to Nanny Qin yet?"

Nanny Zhou shook her head, looked around, and said, "Sister, let me see your set of clothes."

Nanny Qian’s clothes hadn’t been taken back to her room, she went to the standing rack next to her, picked them up, and handed them over to Nanny Zhou to look at.

Nanny Zhou didn’t come from a wealthy family either. She couldn’t name these fabrics, but the difference in quality was obvious by touch — she could feel it right away.

After touching Nanny Qian’s dark purple padded jacket, Nanny Zhou concluded that the set given to Nanny Qin was indeed better than theirs.

Nanny Qian didn’t understand what she was getting at, so she asked, "Sister Zhou, what’s going on?"

Nanny Zhou spread the three sets of jackets and skirts before her and said, "Look, isn’t it clear? Her fabric is superior to ours."

Nanny Qian said, "It’s cold these days, and she’s been on night duty, working longer hours than us. It’s not surprising that the lady would treat her better."

Nanny Zhou couldn’t help but get envious, "Anyone can do night duties, when I was on night duty a few days ago, I didn’t see the lady reward anything, and now she’s got just a few days and receives such good clothes. Saying she didn’t pull any strings, do you believe it?"

Nanny Qian didn’t know how to respond; she didn’t have much mind for intrigue, she just wished to perform her duties well and receive five taels of silver at the month’s end to send back home for her sister to buy some good food and nourishment, which would help produce more milk to nurse her child.

To prevent an awkward atmosphere, Nanny Qian had to say, "I have to watch over the little lady, it’s inconvenient for me to go out, so why don’t you, Sister Zhou, help take the clothes back for me?"

Nanny Zhou gave her a sideways glance and said, "You’re too straightforward, beware you might fall into that little woman’s hands one day."

Nanny Qian awkwardly smiled.

Nanny Zhou returned to her residence first, put on the clothes rewarded by Wen Wan, then took Nanny Qian’s back to their room, and finally went to knock on Nanny Qin’s room door.

She had just knocked once when the door was opened by someone carrying a basin of clothes — it was Nanny Qin who came out, greeting her with a smile, "Off duty, Sister Zhou?"

Nanny Zhou sized up the young woman in front of her, seventeen or eighteen years old, with skin so tender it was enviable, yet dressed like a country bumpkin. She couldn’t figure out what exactly the lady saw in her.

Impatiently, Nanny Zhou shoved the clothes she was holding into her basin, "These are a reward from the lady."

Nanny Qin glanced down, seeing a set of top-notch fabric jacket and skirt, the water-red color vibrant, perfectly matching her skin.

Even before Nanny Qin could ask why the lady gifted such nice clothes, Nanny Zhou stared at her, "I see that Sister Qin is still young; working night shifts too much is not good for your health. How about you focus on taking care of the little girl during the day, and leave the night duties to me and Nanny Qian to take turns, how about that?"