Chapter 770

The next morning, Special Mission Division, Metropolitan Police Department.

Uesugi Minami has been swamped lately, as mentioned previously; since taking office as Special Mission Division Chief, she has been constantly holding meetings, meeting all kinds of people, and busy coordinating power boundaries and specific divisions among major departments, which is also the norm in Japan's civil service system.

However, contrary to expectations, the more she works, the more excited she becomes, the more energized she feels, the more vigor she gains.

There's no way around it—power is the best aphrodisiac, effective for men, and actually also for women.

Often, the feeling of being able to control everything about a person—their fate, their future, and even more seriously, their life and death—cannot be compensated by any other material enjoyment.

For example, compared to ancient emperors and ministers, modern people's standard of living has actually far surpassed theirs in most cases; the wontons that only county magistrates and above could afford during the Tang Dynasty can now be bought for four or five marks on the streets of Bremen, Germany; the "old jarred meat" once considered a rare delicacy by the common folk is now available almost anytime in supermarkets or via delivery; and even some dishes considered fit for an emperor are regularly accessible to ordinary people.

But the pleasure of power is something ordinary people cannot experience.

Ordinary people now just need to turn on the water heater to take a hot shower, but before boiler technology became widespread in ancient times, wanting a hot shower was an outright luxurious indulgence (of course, public baths did indeed exist during the Roman era), yet when a Ming or Qing emperor wanted to bathe, they could command fifty eunuchs to line up in a long dragon, passing hot water buckets hand to hand while admiring this magnificent sight.

This is another kind of pleasure.

Minami is currently enjoying this pleasure.

She is very busy, often working over ten hours a day.

But she is very happy, happy in every sense, and her concept of working ten-plus hours is different from that of Japanese laborers tightening screws at the Nagoya Automobile Factory for ten-plus hours.

Just after Minami had another meeting with the bureaucrats of the National Police Agency, her phone vibrated.

She absentmindedly picked it up, glanced at it, and then froze completely.

It was a photograph.

Sent by Shirakawa Mai.

In the photo, Uesugi Muneyuki lies in bed, eyes closed, face pallid, eye sockets sunken, his whole body appearing drained of vital essence, his bare shoulders exposed, collarbones clearly visible, and dozens of ambiguous red marks or tooth impressions on his chest, neck, and shoulders.

Beside Uesugi Muneyuki is the lovely face of Senior Student Mai, making a big "y" gesture, her smile radiant like a fox that stole a chicken. Complete! Total! Victory!

Caption beneath the photo: Thank you for your patronage, Uesugi Lady, last night's junior student, keep up the good work, please don't give up

Uesugi Minami's grip on her phone tightened, veins bulging.

She took a deep breath.

Took another deep breath.

On the third deep breath, she finally couldn't hold back and slammed the phone hard onto the desk.

"That bitch!!! Still coming???"

Her voice was so loud that several officers in the outer office area jumped, exchanged bewildered glances, wondering why the division chief suddenly flew into a rage. Uesugi Minami stood up, paced back and forth in the office, muttering under her breath, grinding her teeth:

"I know you and Muneyuki have something—I've always turned a blind eye, but you caused trouble on my wedding night by riding his face, I endured it, and now you're still coming? Still sending me photos? Still saying 'last night's junior student'? Still saying 'keep at it, seven dragons'? Shirakawa Mai!!!! You want to piss me off so you can take my place? Kora! Don't think I fear you just because you're the head of the Kanto Shrine Alliance—I, I, I… Minami, I, I, I… I've been calling half a day, and for a moment I couldn't think of how to punish Senior Student Mai; the more I spoke, the angrier I got, and finally I flung open the office door and shouted at the outside: 'Consort Eirina! Come in!'

Eirina Ikeda, wearing a suit and trousers, was organizing documents when this shout startled her; she hurried over, trembling violently: "Chief? What's wrong?"

"Come in! Close the door!" Minami shouted in her furious helplessness.

Eirina obediently entered, closed the door, then saw Minami shoving her phone at her face: "Look! Look at what that bitch Shirakawa sent!"

Eirina took the phone, glanced at it, then…

The corners of her mouth twitched, then twitched again.

Finally she couldn't hold back and burst out laughing with a "pfft."

"What are you laughing at!" Minami glared at her: "Aren't you my person? Rena-chan?!"

"No……Minami-chan……" Eirina covered her mouth, shoulders shaking violently: "Muneyuki's complexion……is it really that bad? What did Shirakawa Mai treat him as? A water pump?"

"You think so too!" Minami snatched the phone back: "This woman! This woman! Always like this! I'm too lazy to bother with her and Muneyuki's affairs, but she keeps riding his face!"

She paused, then lowered her voice to a level only two could hear: "……And she always does this, leaving nothing—what are we supposed to do?"

Eirina looked at her expression, suddenly understood, and teased: "Minami-chan, I'll let it slide, but your words……are actually easy to handle, so you're not really that angry, are you?"

Minami's face flushed slightly; she waved her fists angrily: "Who, who says I'm not angry! I am angry! Very angry!""But you just said……" Eirina, suppressing laughter: "Leave a bit—what does that mean? You're not out of strength all at once each time?" Minami was left speechless.

She opened her mouth to retort, but realized she couldn't.

Because she actually……had a bit……

Well, she admitted it.

When she saw that photo, her first reaction was anger.

But after the anger passed, a strange throbbing indeed welled up from deep in her heart—a feeling hard to describe, like being scratched somewhere, itchy and tingly, making her……a little excited.

She knows about Shirakawa Mai and Uesugi Muneyuki.

She has known since the beginning.

When she first took Muneyuki from Shirakawa Mai's hands, it was the proudest thing she had ever done in her life.

That woman is too career-driven, unwilling to sacrifice anything for a man, whereas she is different—she dares to gamble, dares to seize, dares to put everything on the line. She won.

But winning is winning, and she is fully aware of how terrifying Shirakawa Mai is, and moreover, she and Muneyuki share a bond they do not have.

So she has always turned a blind eye.

As long as it doesn't affect family, work, or……her share, she can pretend not to know.

But this time is different.

This time is face-riding output!

"That woman……" Minami gritted her teeth: "If it's not yours, just force it, huh? Not even afraid Muneyuki won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow! No way, I have to make things clear with her!"

She picked up her phone, typed a line quickly, and sent it:

Shirakawa-san, photo received. Muneyuki still has to work today—next time, please "go easy on the pedaling."

Sent.

A few seconds later, Shirakawa Mai replied: Minami5 also eating vinegar? (@'3P@)

Minami was so angry she nearly threw her phone.

Eirina, watching from the side, finally couldn't hold back and laughed: "No problem—from now on, we just won't leave her any."

"Hmph, I have four people—you, me, Mikoto, and Asuka—while this Shirakawa woman only has that little follower Miyawaki, so it's four to two, advantage is mine!" Minami snarled fiercely.

By the afternoon, the atmosphere at the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters had suddenly become strange.

First, someone in the hallway was whispering about something, then the doors of various offices opened one after another, people poked their heads out and exchanged glances. After that, some started scrolling on their phones, some began to exclaim in surprise, and some began running toward the Special Mission Division.

Minami Ojou-sama was handling documents and signatures when the office door was flung open violently.

Special Mission System Management Officer Okada Masayoshi rushed in, holding up his phone, his expression complex and hard to describe: "Section Chief! Something big has happened!" "What's wrong?" Minami looked up, a little annoyed; she had been somewhat excited by the Bai Ma incident and was waiting for Uesugi to return and tell her what they had done the previous night.

"Look!" Okada Masayoshi handed over his phone.

The screen showed the Yahoo! Japan News website, with the headline clearly written:

【Exclusive】Truth Behind the Serial Murders at Gunma Prefecture Hot Spring Inns! Legendary Forensic Doctor Uesugi Muneyuki Solves Case in Half a Day Amid Blizzard! Mother and Son Kill Each Other! One Person Accidentally Injured! Uesugi Minami Stunned.

She scrolled down and found that all major media were reporting on one

Sankei Shimbun front page: The Blizzard Mountain Villa Incident Actually Happened! Uesugi Muneyuki Displays Divine-Level Deduction Again! Brain-Twisting Loop, Exposing Old Secrets Within the Peerage Unknown to the Public, the Culprit Is Actually Him?

Nikkan Gendai: Mother and Son Both Dead, Innocent Victim Suffers—One Hundred Thousand Word Analysis of the Complex Truth Behind the Yonsen Onsen Murder Case! Weekly Bunshun: Exclusive Interview! Staff of Sekizenkan Recount Uesugi Muneyuki's Entire Case-Solving Process, Turning the Impossible into Possible! The Legendary Forensic Doctor's Miraculous Feat of Figuring Out Everything in Half a Day Reappears!

Moreover, on social media, things had already exploded.

"Holy shit, Uesugi Muneyuki solved another case? And this time it's a real blizzard mountain villa?!"

"What the hell is mother-son mutual killing? This is too tragic…… Is the Kii Tokugawa family the main line of the eighth shogun Yoshimune?"

"That lady borrowing medicine is so pitiful, completely an accidental injury……"

"The point isn't whether Doctor Uesugi is handsome again? That useless mountain village police chief from Gunma Prefecture Police had me laughing, totally carrying the win!"

"Rumor has it Fuji people were filming at the scene? This material is too awesome"

"The Hand of God TV drama is going to take off this wave! Looking forward to it! The peerage secret is great!"

Uesugi Minami looked at these, her expression complex; solving the case was good, Muneyuki gaining fame was also good, but the problem was

how this news got out?

Was the Gunma Prefecture Police not keeping it secret?

Or did someone among the guests present at the time leak it?

Minami was thinking about this when the landline on her desk suddenly rang.

Caller ID: Kasumigaseki Kasumikaikan.

It was the old peerage representative!

She answered the call, and the voice on the other end was aged but dignified: "Are you the wife of Uesugi Chief Medical Examiner, Section Chief Minami Ojou-sama? I am Tokugawa Tsunenari of Kasumikaikan. May I ask—is what happened in Kii really true? Were Tokugawa Noriko and Tokugawa Ryuichi really mother and son who killed each other?" Uesugi Minami took a deep breath and began to respond.

This call lasted a full twenty minutes.

After hanging up, she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples.

Troublesome.

The old peerage side now knows, and more people will surely come asking next.

Although the Kii Tokugawa family is no longer what it once was, it is still the main line of the eighth shogun Yoshimune of the Kii Tokugawa, and their peerage rank is extremely high; if this gets out, it will shock the entire peerage circle.

As she was thinking, her phone rang again.

This time it was Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Minami, did you see the news?" His voice sounded tired but still composed: "The Metropolitan Police Department might have to hold a press conference."

"I saw it." Uesugi Minami lowered her voice: "What's going on? Who leaked it?"

"Unclear. Possibly the Gunma Prefecture Police, or possibly the guests present at the time." Uesugi Muneyuki sighed: "Just now, the peerage side already called, and several media outlets are also contacting me."

"Are they popping champagne over at Fuji?" Minami said with a cold smile: "Get ready to pay how much in adaptation fees?"

"Still negotiating." Uesugi Muneyuki said with a smile: "We definitely need to work something out; otherwise, having filmed all this material would be a waste." "And what about your Mai Xuejie? How much are you planning to pay me for the 'Muneyuki Usage Fee'?" Minami continued to tease.

"Then you talk to her!" Uesugi Muneyuki quickly declared his support for justice-loving Minami against the evil Mai Xuejie.

"Tsk, you're so beautiful, anyway, if there's anything to film, better do it now, or else once the Special Mission Division is ready, you'll have me busy." Minami Ojou-sama gave a cold laugh and let her husband off the hook.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Uesugi Muneyuki put down his phone; he was still at Sekizenkan, where many doctors had already arrived at the scene, including Tokugawa Ayako and Tokugawa Kazuya, who were currently undergoing medical diagnosis and psychological counseling.

However, other contents had not yet been diagnosed, and they first learned of a "surprise."

"Tokugawa Lady, you're pregnant, already three months!" The doctor exclaimed excitedly: "Congratulations!"

"Ah?" The 33-year-old Tokugawa Ayako had indeed been trying to conceive for over a year and had nearly reached the end of her fertile window; upon hearing this, she stared blankly.

"Ayako!" Tokugawa Kazuya was overjoyed, he suddenly embraced his wife: "You finally, finally have it! Wonderful, wonderful! Our Kii Tokugawa family has an heir! Has an heir! The four-hundred-year-old noble lineage will not end in our hands!"

"Yes, yes, Kazuya, congratulations, you're going to be a father." Tokugawa Ayako's expression was very complex; she squeezed out a smile. Meanwhile, not far away, Uesugi Muneyuki's facial expression was extremely vivid.

To be fair, the Kii Tokugawa family really does have an heir now…… well…… that's not wrong.

It's just that this child………

After thinking it over repeatedly, Uesugi Muneyuki still decided to find the couple.

"Mr. Tokugawa, Lady Tokugawa, may I trouble you for a moment?" Uesugi Muneyuki gestured that he wanted to speak with them privately.

Tokugawa Kazuya's facial expression changed slightly.

"What is it?"

"We want to talk with you two."