SYLFS 11

Chapter:11

 This Head Can Be Replaced

Jiang Huai immediately noticed her complicated expression and asked,
“Zhang Auntie, what’s wrong?”

The woman he called “Auntie Zhang,” A Sao, stepped forward and said,
“When Auntie Wu first came to the Jiang household, she mentioned that her son had an intellectual disability. He used to be sent to a special school for people with developmental disorders.”

The two women had started working for the Jiangs around the same time and were close friends in private, so A Sao knew a fair amount about Auntie Wu’s family situation.

Guan Xuxu asked,
“Do you know when her son became… normal?”

A Sao thought carefully and said,
“I think it was about eight years ago. I remember she was overjoyed that day and told me, ‘My son is cured.’ It must’ve been summertime.”

Guan Xuxu nodded, then turned to Jiang Huai.
“Eight years ago, around Auntie Wu or near the Jiang estate, was there a child who was originally normal but suddenly became… simple-minded?”

Everyone present was stunned, even Jiang Yucheng, who had been silent until now.

“You mean to say…”

“To restore the mind of a foolish child, one must take another person’s wisdom and transfer it to one’s own kin. But the one whose wisdom is taken will inevitably become the fool in their place.”

Auntie Wu had worked for the Jiangs for ten years, and her activities were limited to the estate and its surroundings. That meant her choice of targets was very limited.

By now, everyone could sense where this was going.

Jiang Su, who had been sulking after being ignored by Guan Xuxu earlier, suddenly thought of someone and blurted out:
“Uncle Song’s idiot daughter!”

Everyone in the room turned toward him.

Jiang Yucheng’s face turned cold.
“Don’t call Miss Song that way!” he scolded, then looked back at Guan Xuxu.

If what she said was true, the matter of the Song family’s daughter was far more than Auntie Wu’s personal wrongdoing.

The Jiangs and the Songs were old family friends, and indeed, the young Miss Song had become intellectually impaired eight years ago.
However—

“She became that way because she fell off a horse and hit her head during riding practice,” Jiang Yucheng said.

Given the Song family’s wealth, they had certainly called in top physicians.
But since the cause was an apparent head injury, they never considered anything beyond medical explanations.

Guan Xuxu neither confirmed nor denied it.
“Did that young lady ever visit the Jiang estate eight years ago?” she asked.

Jiang Huai answered firmly,
“Yes, she did.”

As the eldest grandson, he often handled hospitality duties when guests visited, so he remembered clearly.
She had a round, cute face and was much more obedient than other children of her generation—a memorable guest.
The riding accident happened shortly after that visit, and ever since then, the Songs never brought her along again when visiting the Jiangs.

“Do you have a picture of her?” Guan Xuxu asked.

Jiang Huai didn’t have one on hand, but quickly pulled one up from social media.

The moment she saw it, Guan Xuxu said decisively,
“This is the one.”

Her certainty only made the atmosphere in the room grow heavier.
This was no trivial matter.
The Song family had a century-old lineage—if this were true, their daughter’s condition was effectively caused by the Jiangs.
Even if the Jiangs had no knowledge of it, outsiders wouldn’t see it that way.
Worse yet, the Songs still treasured their daughter deeply. If this came to light, the relationship between the two families could completely collapse.

Jiang Su broke the silence, scoffing,
“All this talk about taking and replacing wisdom—it’s nonsense. If it were that easy, I could replace my head too, right?”

For once, Guan Xuxu looked directly at him, serious-faced.
“You actually could replace your head.”

Her tone was so calm and sincere that Jiang Su froze, thinking she meant it literally.
Then realization hit—she was calling him an idiot!

“You’re insulting me!” he shouted, his face turning red.

Just then, the members of the second and third branches of the family came downstairs. Jiang Yutong strode over and smacked his son on the rear.
“What are you doing? Stop pestering your cousin!”

“Dad!” Jiang Su yelped,
“She called me stupid first!”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Xuxu would never insult you without reason,” Jiang Yutong scolded.

Jiang Su turned desperately to his mother, but the third madam merely stroked his head and said softly,
“Xuxu isn’t wrong. This head can be replaced.”

—Was this really his own mother?!

But for the rest of the Jiang family, Guan Xuxu’s “insult” mattered far less than the talismans that had been unearthed in the garden.
Even if they didn’t believe in such things, having strange charms buried on their property was unsettling.
Most of them assumed she had discovered them by chance and dismissed her talk of “stealing wisdom” as superstition.

“It’s fine for a girl to dabble in astrology or fortune-telling,” said Jiang Yumin, the second son, who worked in the entertainment industry.
“But don’t speak of that nonsense at home.”

He didn’t believe in the supernatural at all and suspected his niece was just trying to get attention—maybe trying to make an impression after recently returning home.
Others likely thought the same.

Jiang Yucheng narrowed his eyes as he looked around the room.
“I’ll have someone discreetly warn the Song family. You don’t need to involve yourself in this any further,” he told her.

He didn’t want her, newly returned, to be thrust into the center of a scandal.

Guan Xuxu gazed at him for a moment, then nodded.
—If the Jiang family didn’t want her involved, she would simply involve herself quietly.
This job… she had to see it through.