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Jiang Huai keenly noticed the troubled look on her face and asked, “Auntie Zhang, what’s the matter?”
The woman addressed as Auntie Zhang, an A-sao, immediately stepped forward and explained, “When Wu Sao first came to the Jiang Family, she did say that her son had intellectual problems. Before that, he’d always been fostered at a school for the intellectually disabled.”
The two had entered the Jiang Family service at the same time, and they got along well in private. That was why she was fairly familiar with Wu Sao’s family situation.
Guan Xuxu asked her, “Then do you know when her son stopped being… simple-minded?”
That A-sao thought carefully for a moment before answering, “It should’ve been about eight years ago. I remember one day she was especially happy, saying her son had gotten better. That should’ve been in the summer.”
Guan Xuxu understood. She then turned her head and asked Jiang Huai, “Eight years ago, around Wu Sao or within the Jiang Family’s circle, was there a child who used to be perfectly normal but suddenly became simple-minded one day?”
Everyone present—including Jiang Yucheng, who had been silent the whole time—was taken aback by her words. “What you mean is…”
“To turn a foolish child who has lost their intellect into a normal person again, the only way is to take the intellect from someone else and transfer it to one’s own. But the person who has had their intellect stolen will inevitably take the other’s place, becoming the one who is now witless.”
The reason she specifically asked about those around Wu Sao and the Jiang Family was because Wu Sao had been serving in the Jiang Family for ten years. Her daily range of activity was limited to this household, so the scope of people she could have chosen from was quite narrow.
At this point in Guan Xuxu’s explanation, who could still fail to understand?
Jiang Suo had originally been angry that Guan Xuxu dared to ignore him, but after hearing her words, someone immediately came to mind. He blurted out, “Uncle Song’s foolish girl!”
The few people in the hall all turned toward Jiang Suo. Jiang Yucheng’s expression grew cold and stern as he reprimanded him, “You are not allowed to call the young lady of the Song Family that way!”
After speaking, he turned his gaze back to Guan Xuxu.
Even though, in his heart, he still did not want to believe that Guan Xuxu possessed insight beyond ordinary people, his face could not help but show a shade more seriousness.
After all, if things truly were as she said, and this matter involved the young lady of the Song Family, then this was far from being just about Wu Sao alone.
The Song Family and the Jiang Family were closely connected, and indeed, the Song Family’s young lady had become simple-minded eight years ago.
Only…
“The young lady of the Song Family became simple-minded because she fell from a horse while learning to ride and struck her head.”
Otherwise, given the Song Family’s wealth and influence, if their child had suddenly become foolish, they would certainly have sought out a master to examine her.
It was precisely because her condition was caused by external trauma that the Song Family had never considered anything beyond the realm of medicine.
Guan Xuxu neither confirmed nor denied this, and only asked, “Did the young lady of the Song Family come to the Jiang Family as a guest eight years ago?”
At her words, Jiang Huai’s expression grew more serious. He answered with certainty, “She did.”
As the eldest grandson of the Jiang Family, Jiang Huai was always responsible for hosting younger guests when visitors came, so he remembered it very clearly.
Moreover, that young lady of the Song Family had been round-faced and adorable, more well-behaved than other second-generation youths, so he naturally had a strong impression of her.
It seemed that her fall from the horse had happened after that visit to the Jiang Family, and after that incident, the Song Family had never again brought her to call on them.
“Do you have a photo of her?” Guan Xuxu asked.
Of course, Jiang Huai did not personally have a photo of the young lady of the Song Family, but it was not difficult to obtain one. He quickly had someone search social media platforms for her picture and showed it to Guan Xuxu.
With just a single glance, Guan Xuxu affirmed, “It’s her.”
Her certainty was unwavering, but the people in the living room did not show any signs of relief because of it.
To bring up the Song Family was no trivial matter.
The Song Family had a deep foundation, a wealthy clan with a century of heritage. If this matter truly proved to be real, then it could be said that the young lady of the Song Family had been indirectly harmed by the Jiang Family.
Even if the Jiang Family themselves had been unaware of Wu Sao’s actions from beginning to end, in the eyes of outsiders, what Wu Sao did would be indistinguishable from something the Jiang Family had done.
And given that, even after she became foolish, the Song Family continued to shower their young lady with affection and care, one careless move could very well bring the long-standing ties between the Jiang and Song Families to an end.
“What Eight Wisdoms or One Wisdom—sounds like complete nonsense. If it were that easy to swap, couldn’t I just swap too?” Jiang Suo could no longer tell if he truly didn’t believe or if he only wanted to go against this irritating cousin, Guan Xuxu.
Seeing him hopping about so tirelessly, Guan Xuxu finally deigned to respond to him with one serious line: “You really could exchange for another.”
Her features were delicate, her cheeks still carrying a trace of baby-like softness. At first glance, she gave people a sense of sweetness and obedience. So when she now replied in all seriousness, Jiang Suo actually thought she was sincerely giving him advice.
But in the next instant, when he realized what kind of “advice” she had given, Jiang Suo suddenly reacted with a start.
She was obviously calling him stupid!
“You dare insult me!” Jiang Suo’s face flushed red. He pointed at Guan Xuxu, looking as though he was about to pick a fight with her.
Just then, when the second and third branches of the Jiang Family came downstairs, what they saw was precisely this scene. Jiang Yutong immediately strode forward, raised his hand, and delivered a sharp smack across his son’s backside. “What are you doing?! Can’t you leave your elder sister alone for once?!”
That slap carried real force—smack!—and Jiang Suo instantly yelped, hopping on the spot. “Father!”
He turned his head, neck stiff with anger. “Why did you hit me?! It was clearly her who insulted me first!”
“Nonsense. Why would Xuxu scold you out of nowhere?” Jiang Yutong kept his face stern, full of disbelief.
Jiang Suo was about to explode with frustration. He pointed at Guan Xuxu. “She did insult me! She just called me an idiot!”
Both Jiang Yutong and the second branch looked toward Guan Xuxu. Off to the side, Lu Xuexi hurried to explain the whole situation from earlier—
including how Guan Xuxu had said that the young lady of the Song Family had become simple-minded because Wu Sao had exchanged her wisdom away.
The Third Madam, Jiang Suo’s mother, listened and then only stroked her son’s head affectionately. “Xuxu wasn’t wrong either.”
This mind really could be replaced.
Jiang Suo stared at his own mother in disbelief.
Was this really his birth mother?!
But compared to the matter of Xuxu “insulting” him, what the Jiang Family cared more about was Wu Sao burying talisman papers in the garden.
Even if they didn’t quite believe in such things, the fact that something like that had been buried in their own garden still left them uneasy.
As for Guan Xuxu, everyone simply assumed she had stumbled on it by sheer luck. As for all that talk about someone becoming foolish because their wisdom had been swapped away—they didn’t believe it in the slightest.
“A girl liking things like horoscopes and fortune-telling isn’t such a big deal, but you shouldn’t bring that sort of talk into your own home.”
The second son, Jiang Yumin, though he worked in the entertainment industry, didn’t believe in this sort of thing in the slightest. He even felt that his Big Brother’s daughter wasn’t very proper, always busying herself with messy nonsense just to draw the adults’ attention.
Jiang Yumin fancied himself as someone who understood the little thoughts of young girls.
Wasn’t it simply that she had just been acknowledged back into the family and wanted to assert her presence?
Not only Jiang Yumin thought this way—more or less, everyone else harbored the same suspicion.
Jiang Yucheng took in the attitudes of those around him, his gaze darkening slightly. Still, he told Guan Xuxu, “I’ll have someone give the Song Family a reminder. As for this matter, you don’t need to involve yourself.”
Since Guan Xuxu had just returned home, he didn’t want her becoming the target of criticism because of these things.
Listening to Jiang Yucheng’s words, Guan Xuxu merely looked at him steadily for a moment. After a pause, she nodded, as if agreeing.
If the Jiang Family didn’t want her meddling…
Then she would just meddle in secret.
Regardless—this money, she had to earn.