Chapter 171

Friends who often serve as daimyo know that the best territory is one where the original lord has been completely transferred away, leaving a large area with only civilians and no warriors, allowing one to quickly take over the land and establish rule, yet not easily be drained by the complex local interests, facing all kinds of troubles.

Many people think that Toyotomi Hideyoshi's late-year transfer of Tokugawa Ieyasu to Kantou with 2.5 million koku was a bad move, but from the situation at the time, this move was actually problem-free.

First, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's core territory was in Kinai, while Tokugawa Ieyasu's location along the Tōkaidō had already threatened Kinai's security from the side; sending him to Kantou, that unstable newly acquired land, would greatly divert Ieyasu's energy and keep him away from Osaka, the ruling center.

Second, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's rule over Japan was actually a "united front" rather than "unification"; the western Mori, eastern Tokugawa, northern Maeda, Echigo Uesugi, and Shikoku Chōsokabe were major powers not destroyed but merely submitted, and in genuine sword-and-spear combat, Hideyoshi, who suffered at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, had no confidence of surely defeating Ieyasu, and if he did not treat Ieyasu well, many major powers would rebel.

The relationship between Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai is like that of Ieyasu and Hideyoshi; the two have temporarily achieved peace due to unequal status and position, with Uesugi Muneyuki currently indeed in a subordinate relationship to Mai Xuejie, and both sides are trying to find a suitable way to get along, naturally involving some probing.

Shirakawa Mai is somewhat unsure of Uesugi Muneyuki's ambition, and Uesugi Muneyuki is also not entirely clear about what Mai Xuejie wants, so when the two meet again secretly in the Odaiba Building, they both feel somewhat estranged compared to New Year's.

When Uesugi Muneyuki sees Shirakawa Mai, she is leaning against the second-floor stair railing making a phone call; she seems to have just arrived not long ago, still wearing a pointed-collar fitted white shirt, her smooth long hair dyed brown and neatly tied into a bun at the back of her head, her ample, full bosom straining the shirt into a taut, rounded shape, the collar revealing a section of white, delicate neck.

She wears white hollowed-out slender high-heeled shoes, one foot slightly raised, placing the thin heel against the cylindrical post of the railing; her legs, wrapped in flesh-toned stockings, are slender and long, the thin stockings making these long legs even more slender and well-proportioned; she wears a black knee-length formal skirt suit, the hip curve of the skirt fully displaying the National Goddess's abundance, her slender waist impossible to encircle with one hand, her full, rounded buttocks, her entire presence there a radiant scenery.

"Oh?! Junior Student!" After not seeing Uesugi Muneyuki for a long time, Shirakawa Mai is obviously still happy, her bright eyes full of teasing and smiles as she slowly approaches him: "You've recently done something big! I know all about it; the Tōdai alumni association has been asking me, saying you, this junior student, know the rules?!"

"Senior Student has also recently done something big." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled: "After the New Year, Mai Xuejie took on a most important drama, *Kamitantei Garireo 2*; since the original female lead couldn't appear due to scheduling, Mai Xuejie stepped in as the female lead of *Kamitantei Garireo 2*, continuing to work with Professor Yukawa to solve and scientifically explain various supernatural cases, and we haven't seen each other for several months."

The Head of the Kantou Shrine Alliance uses science to explain supernatural cases…… Uesugi Muneyuki can't help but complain about this.

It can only be said that Fuji TV knows how to hype things.

After Mai Xuejie joined, *Kamitantei Garireo 2* shot straight up, the on-screen pairing of the National Goddess and National God solving cases received the nation's utmost attention, the first episode's ratings broke through the 30% barrier, giving Fuji TV endless hope.

However, the ratings afterward did not develop as hoped; the second episode quickly dropped to 28% from 30%, then further fell to 26% before gradually stabilizing; afterward, the production team worked hard to spice things up, also bringing in many big names for single episodes, but the ratings never rose, lingering around 26%.

For a typical drama, 20% is enough to pop champagne, but for this drama, 25% ratings can only be said to barely justify the superstar cast of Fukuyama Masaharu and Shirakawa Mai, after all Fuji TV spent a lot of money and resources to get them.

However, this seems normal to Uesugi Muneyuki: the success of *Kamitantei Garireo* Season 1 benefited from the high quality of Higashino Keigo's original novel and Fuji TV's screenwriters' excellent adaptation, and at that time Higashino Keigo was merely a somewhat-known author, so people weren't particularly familiar with his works; after adapting them into TV dramas, surprises naturally followed, refreshing and novel.

Years later, when *Kamitantei Garireo* Season 2 was filmed, Higashino Keigo had already become a giant of mystery novels, and the adapted cases had already been read by everyone, so naturally there was no sense of surprise, because everyone already knew exactly what happened, the course of the case, who the culprit was, and what principle was used.

This situation has a similar example: Higashino Keigo's *The Dragon King with Eight Tons*; actually, *The Dragon King with Eight Tons*, which symbolizes the peak of Jin Yong's career, is a thoroughly "queer narrative" work, the book setting up many suspense elements, the origins and complex relationships of the three protagonists, each person's motives and purposes hidden beneath the surface, so this book is wonderfully exciting, with climax after climax, thoroughly depicting how, under different ethnicities, different ideals, all beings "strive in vain to obtain," "all beings suffer."

However, after this drama, the adapted film and TV dramas have been one worse than the next in quality, one worse than the next in influence and discussion, with a major problem being: everyone has read Jin Yong, so at the start everyone knows Bridge Feng is a Khitan, Duan Yu is not biologically related, Xu Zhu's mother is Ye Erniang wanting to return to secular life and join the Xiaoyao Sect, Murong Fu's martial arts is false, wanting to restore the nation, thus this book's queer narrative theory and suspense feeling have been greatly weakened; compared to other works, this loss of novelty for such suspense-mystery-queer-narrative works, whose main selling point is this, is a huge blow.

Moreover, because Season 1 added the romance between Professor Yukawa and the female police officer Naihai, their exchanges—a high-IQ professor and a dim-witted female officer going south when they should go north, with a seemingly present but absent romantic feeling—were also a major selling point, while Season 2's change of female lead makes it impossible to continue the romance—because the audience does not accept it, and the Soul Agency also does not like its top star frequently playing roles with romance.

Actually, regarding the New Year gossip between Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai, the agency president Miyazaki Hidetaka and Miyazaki Takataka, two brothers, were very dissatisfied; the president personally went to Mai Xuejie's office to make a report, and also wrote a proposal to submit to Mai Xuejie's agent for approval, issuing a protest.

Unfortunately, it was of little use.

"How have you been lately?" Mai Xuejie gestured for Uesugi Muneyuki to follow her: "Come on, let's go downstairs."

"Not bad, I've already preliminarily mastered the use of chakras." Uesugi Muneyuki followed behind Mai Xuejie; indeed, due to the suppression and sharing of a set of chakras, when facing the National Goddess he feels tongue-tied, heart racing, head dizzy and swollen; in front of other women he can speak fluently and even tease a bit, but only when facing Mai Xuejie does he fail.

So, just how strong is she?

According to her, although she has temporarily not yet reached the "New God" realm, she should not be far behind.

So just how strong am I?

"Very good, then we can almost prepare for dual cultivation." Mai Xuejie slightly tilted her head to glance at Uesugi Muneyuki, scanned him once and then turned back, merely saying her voice was much smoother than before: "Have you been causing trouble for other women during this time?"

"What do you mean by 'causing trouble'?" Uesugi Muneyuki rolled his eyes: "I'm just normal socializing."

"I already said, if a certain woman has relations with you multiple times, her body will be forcibly remade to channel energy according to your chakra's operation, and over time she will become unable to leave you." Mai Xuejie still looks radiant and icy, her beautiful eyes holding a hint of teasing, her beautiful face full of bashfulness: "With many dual cultivation sessions, I'm the same."

"Then your sacrifice is quite great?" Uesugi Muneyuki actually also looks forward to it, but for some reason blurted out something still somewhat yin-yang strange.

"Please, Junior Student, since it's cooperation, then you need to show some sincerity!" Mai Xuejie said softly: "If we always maintain this attitude of mutual suspicion, we are destined to go down the wrong path."

"Because you never tell me."

"That's because you never asked." Mai Xuejie laughed: "Moreover, some things for your current self, knowing them is harmful and useless."

"I temporarily believe you."

Chatting, the two arrived at the underground level two of the Odaiba Building.

In the dim, gloomy light, the steel plate wrapped in yellow sealing tape bore the words "No Entry for Strangers," the air filled with a strange atmosphere, three entire corridors sealed off with reinforced concrete, right on the steel plate, a talisman written by Shirakawa Mai's own hand was posted.

Behind Uesugi Muneyuki, Mai Xuejie's long, straight stockinged legs were crossed in an elegant stance, her clear, bright eyes unblinking as they stared at Uesugi Muneyuki, curious about what he was about to do next.

Uesugi Muneyuki didn't bother with nonsense; he directly reached out and peeled off the talisman, summoning the Aizen Myōō Dharma Image.

Instantly, a thick wave of resentment surged forward, from deep within the steel plate came the scratching sound of fingernails, those crisp cracking sounds tearing small wounds on the eardrums.

The sealed corridor suddenly emitted a rusty groan, a shadow thicker than night slid down the wall, first seeing pale finger joints bent backward in a way defying anatomy, gripping the turn, then a skull matted with clotted black hair, slowly lifting at the angle of the broken cervical vertebra.

Hironaka Mariko appeared!

The former Fuji TV anchor's whites of the eyes occupied two-thirds of the eye sockets, her black pupils like torn voids in emptiness, all light vanishing in those two depths.

With her appearance, the entire Fuji TV underground groaned in pain as she crawled, as if about to give birth to some unspeakable existence.

Hironaka Mariko, evolved?!

Damn! Uesugi Muneyuki didn't expect this to be so annoying, he even turned a bit pale.

Fortunately, the Death Soul Contract is still in effect, Uesugi Muneyuki's binding on Hironaka Mariko remains valid.

"Uesugi, my Wisdom King!" Hironaka Mariko, upon seeing Uesugi Muneyuki, instantly widened her eyes in excitement, returning to the embrace of Aizen Myōō, but even so, her terrifying, ferocious appearance remained: "You finally came! I have a crucial message to tell you!"

Hironaka Mariko told Uesugi Muneyuki a crucial piece of information.

"What?" Uesugi Muneyuki slightly narrowed his eyes, his expression changed.

"Saijo Yasue's grudge, still not completely dissipated?!"

(Chapter End)