Chapter 272: Wedding Surprise

Ever since Uesugi Kuninori grew old, the Yonezawa Uesugi Clan had been plagued by the problem of having no successor. Uesugi Hironori was truly incapable of shouldering the burden. Fortunately, the third generation—Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Muneyuki—both displayed decent capabilities on the surface. Uesugi Muneyuki, in particular, had become a prominent figure despite his young age and was considered the ultimate trump card of the Metropolitan Police Department.

In truth, based on Uesugi Muneyuki's niche skills, no matter how impressive he was in other fields, he was at best a mere "official" and could not stand on the stage before the true bigwigs. However, Uesugi Muneyuki's ability to solve cases was vital to the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Metropolitan Police Department was a "powerful department" that possessed legal coercive power and a monopoly on the use of violence; such powerful departments often held the resources and connections of the entire society.

Under these circumstances, it became necessary to be on good terms with Uesugi Muneyuki.

If one were to discuss who was the most respected in the current upper-class Peerage society, it would have to be the Head of the House of the Kanazawa Maeda Clan, Maeda Toshisuke. He was the Director of the Imperial Household Agency, holding a position and power equal to the Commissioner of the National Police Agency. Although the post-war Ma Emperor strictly limited the power of the Imperial Household Agency and stipulated that it could not speak freely on certain matters, the Imperial Household Agency still possessed immense influence, because once the Imperial Household Agency made a statement, it often signified the intentions within the Imperial Palace.

Then there was Tokugawa Tsunenari of the Tokugawa Shogun Clan. He was a director and concurrently the Vice President of Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, as well as the chairman of the Yokohama Revitalization Association. It is worth mentioning that when Tokugawa Tsunenari was studying at Gakushuin, he was once asked, "Who was the last Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate?" Tokugawa Tsunenari could not remember, so he answered with his own name, which became a joke.

Tokugawa Tsunenari and Maeda Toshisuke had once served as executives together at Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, which put immense pressure on their superior, the president of Nippon Yusen. It was joked within the company that the last person who could make Maeda and Tokugawa obediently follow orders was the Taikō Toyotomi Hideyoshi, so why didn't the president just change his name to Hideyoshi?

The Satsuma Shimazu Family that followed also had an astonishing scale, as did the Higo Hosokawa Clan. Hosokawa Morihiro had once served a term as Prime Minister, but this Prime Minister from outside the system failed to control Japan's Public Servant system and was thoroughly sidelined by the "Arnolds" and "Humphreys." This Prime Minister was also swept out of Nagatacho for failing to follow the wishes of the "Humphreys" (as for what that was, it is not easy to say clearly; those interested can look it up themselves), and he was kicked out of the political arena without even keeping an honorary title.

This situation would be considered a relatively peaceful ending in the Celestial Empire, but it was a very miserable outcome within the Japanese political ecosystem.

Hosokawa Morihiro being swept out also sparked a reckoning by politicians against the Public Servant system. It took about a dozen years for the politicians to finally suppress the Public Servant system, and the situation where Administrative Vice-Ministers and Cabinet Deputy Chief Secretaries could conversely brain-control Ministers and the Prime Minister no longer existed.

Being able to chat with these bigwigs who still held immense influence and resources in society, Watanabe Minami felt truly honored and felt that her coming in person today was absolutely the right choice.

These were all solid connections! They all belonged to this young lady's own connections!

Externally, the Watanabe Family did not say it was a marriage into the family. In the eyes of these bigwigs, she was the daughter-in-law of the Uesugi Clan, a dignified Lady Uesugi, Kora!

Thinking of this, it wouldn't be impossible to consider bringing in a legitimate son of the Uwajima Date Clan.

Seeing these Peerage ladies, one by one, old and gray-haired, with only the young lady Minami being youthful and beautiful, Uesugi Muneyuki smiled helplessly, then said seriously: "Since I can be moved by the requests of the elders Tokugawa, Maeda, Shimazu, Hosokawa, and Date, I will give you all face. But I will say the ugly things first: I will only give him one chance, and once he enters, he must obey my orders. Otherwise, if any problems arise, I will sweep him out. At that time, you and the Uwajima Date Clan must not come looking for me."

"That goes without saying. Uesugi-kun, feel free to discipline him; if there are problems, feel free to come to us." Several Peerage bigwigs all nodded. Uesugi Muneyuki's persona had always been frank and hard-tempered; it was already quite difficult to get him to make a concession.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, seeing that the time was about right, Uesugi Muneyuki prepared to take his seat with the young lady Minami.

"Actually, I really don't want to take in a Self-Defense Official," Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but complain to the young lady Minami: "You agreed too quickly!"

"In this situation, wouldn't it seem insincere to hesitate and then be forced to agree?" The young lady Minami pinched Uesugi Muneyuki's palm helplessly: "A Director of the Imperial Household Agency, a former Prime Minister, a Vice President of Nippon Yusen—could we refuse? Since we couldn't refuse, it was better to be straightforward."

Uesugi Muneyuki thought about it, and it seemed that was indeed the case, so he said quite stifledly: "So, bringing you along was the right thing to do?"

"Eiya! If you had dared not to bring me, I would have sent Ikeda to Hokkaido Otaru right now!" The young lady Minami said angrily. She knew Uesugi Muneyuki was joking, but she was still a bit annoyed: "Want to go back on your word now? Too late! Everyone knows I am your fiancée!"

"I didn't say I wasn't," Uesugi Muneyuki laughed.

The young lady Minami was only then satisfied and gave him a roll of her eyes.

As Uesugi Muneyuki took his seat, the wedding ceremony officially proceeded. The Yonezawa Uesugi Shrine priests retained only three parts: the "Purification Ritual," the "Offering Ritual," and the "Vow Recitation." The groom wore a "Black Crested Haori and Hakama," and the bride wore a "White Pure Kimono" with a "Modern Minimalist Horn Hider."

The wedding vows were very rarely recited in full Kanji using the ancient Chinese reading method, which was already very rare in Japan; it was only the Peerage that still retained a few traditions.

Subsequently, Uesugi Kuninori, as the Head of the House, took the stage to present the couple with a folding fan imprinted with their names and family crest, then played a short wedding video, and finally, the couple drank together, completing the entire wedding ceremony in general. What followed was eating and drinking.

"Finally, finally got this difficult son settled!" Uesugi Hironori's eyes filled with tears.

"Yes, it really wasn't easy. How many times has Chitokumaru been on blind dates? If not a hundred, then eighty times, right?" Uesugi Tomoko was full of gratification.

"Not that many, sixty-nine times." Uesugi Kuninori raised his eyebrows and said casually: "Like this, it is good. Both Chitokumaru and Yukimatsumaru have settled their life-long affairs. Next, we just need to welcome the birth of our great-grandchildren... You two, you must both work hard!"

"Grandfather!" "Grandfather~" Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Muneyuki both shouted subconsciously.

"Hehehe, this old man won't say any more, won't say any more," Uesugi Kuninori said happily: "Chitokumaru, Yukimatsumaru, remember to watch Grandfather's performance later. It's the last time."

"Huh?!" Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Muneyuki looked at each other, wondering what this was about.

The first course of the evening banquet was seafood sashimi and horse meat sashimi served in Kutani Ware vessels, imitating the snowy scenery of Yonezawa. However, before Uesugi Muneyuki could eat, several old men appeared on the stage of the banquet hall, the "Phoenix Hall."

They were the 73-year-old Head of the Uesugi Clan, Uesugi Kuninori; the 70-year-old previous head of the Kai Takeda Clan, Takeda Kuninobu; and President Komiyama of Tokyo University.

At this moment, a burst of powerful shamisen music rang out. These three old men—one dressed in samurai attire, one in court noble attire, and one in shrine priest attire—began to play music, starting the final performance of their lives.

They sang Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi's "Kanpai," a 1980 rock song performed by a temporary band composed of three old men whose combined age exceeded 200.

Perhaps they hadn't sung in a long time, perhaps they were no longer familiar with the instruments, perhaps they were old and lacked the breath, making the singing crooked and a bit off-key, but this was the most sincere blessing from the Uesugi Clan Head to the wedding of the next-next generation head. Many old people at the scene listened with teary eyes.

This song was the most popular song at weddings and was deeply loved by all age groups; it not only received support from the forty- and fifty-year-olds but also ranked in the top five among young people in their twenties and thirties.

Perhaps they were reminiscing—reminiscing about their youth, reminiscing about the past of the Peerage, and reminiscing about the lost golden age that belonged to this country.

Uesugi Hironori also wiped his tears and secretly said to Uesugi Muneyuki: "Actually, Father had thought about singing 'The Internationale' before, but I stopped him."

"Holy crap, don't!" Uesugi Muneyuki's PTSD flared up the moment he heard this. He rolled his eyes: "Grandfather definitely participated in the All-Campus Joint Struggle Committee in the past."

"All-Campus Joint Struggle Committee, what is that?" The young lady Minami blinked curiously.

"Nothing, it's a topic not suitable for a wedding," Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head repeatedly, while also feeling a bit emotional in his heart.

Times have changed; who would have thought that the descendants of Uesugi and Takeda would one day be singing together.

This Takeda Clan was the lineage of Umino Nobuchika, the second son of Takeda Shingen. Back then, after Takeda Shingen's successor, Takeda Katsuyori, was defeated by Oda Nobunaga, the Katsuyori lineage was severed from then on. The grandson of Umino Nobuchika, the second son of Takeda Shingen, Nobumasa, was enfeoffed as a High House in the 13th year of Genroku (1700) by the fifth Shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. The Kai Takeda Clan had been passed down to the modern era ever since.

Just as the wedding scene was peaceful, a noise suddenly came from outside the door.

"Hmm?"

Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami looked toward the entrance of the hall at the same time, only to see a middle-aged man of about thirty years old, wearing wrinkled sportswear, striding in from outside and heading straight for the scene.

"Hey! Mother!" The middle-aged man rushed toward Tokugawa Noriko, the Head of the House of the Kii Tokugawa Clan: "You didn't give the money you promised, and you have the nerve to be here attending some wedding?"

The hem of Tokugawa Noriko's kimono was gripped into swirling wrinkles, and the tortoiseshell hairpin on her bun slipped half an inch as she trembled. The man grabbed her withered-branch-like wrist, and his voice shattered amidst the singing at the scene. The performance of the three old men on stage stopped abruptly, and the sleeves of the bride's White Pure Kimono swayed slightly, like startled pigeons.

"Ryuichi, how did you..." Tokugawa Noriko, the Head of the House of the Kii Tokugawa Clan, was quite panicked, the breath in her throat crushed by the lacquerware dining table the man kicked away.

"I am the legitimate heir of the Kii Tokugawa Clan!" the man roared, then pointed at the man beside Tokugawa Noriko: "It's me! Not him! I am your son!"

"Ah?!"

A tsunami-like whisper rose among the guests.

What happened?

(End of chapter)