Chapter 771

"Are you seriously going to say it?"

Just as Uesugi Muneyuki indicated he wanted to talk with the Tokugawa couple, behind him, the four Cursed Grudges spoke up almost in unison.

Hironaka Mariko, Miyahara Toru, the Oosumikawa father and daughter, plus the Village Flower Palace who wasn't a Cursed Grudge, they were almost unanimously opposed, and especially Hironaka Mariko felt deep contempt for this: "Uesugi, do you absolutely have to say this? What good does it do besides making people sick?"

"Uh, that's also what I'm conflicted about." Uesugi Muneyuki retorted: "Actually, my principle as a forensic pathologist is... not to conceal, but I do have my own code, my code is not to conceal on matters related to the case, if something doesn't have much connection to the case itself, there's no need for me to abide by it."

"So does this matter have a connection to the case or not?" Oosumikawa Minoru couldn't help but retort: "TMD, they all say the court nobles of old kept inbreeding and produced a bunch of idiots allowing samurai to rise, but after samurai rose they likewise engaged in massive inbreeding and produced a pile of deformed children, the Tokugawa Shogunate really has to thank Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth Shogun Yoshimune was physically healthy with extremely strong reproductive ability, if not for him, the Tokugawa might have gone extinct again... huh, why did I say 'again'?"

"So I'll just ask first, just ask first." Uesugi Muneyuki answered with a wry smile: "The decline of the court nobles is more complex, it's not just a matter of inbreeding."

"Anyway you so-called nobles are all the same!" Oosumikawa Reina also retorted: "Han filth, Tang chaos, you're filthy and chaotic!" "Not true, after the Edo period the Laws for the Military Houses were implemented and it became much rarer." Uesugi Muneyuki argued a bit, but ultimately just said helplessly: "Fine, at least before it was indeed chaotic... how about this, I'll probe a bit first, see whether these two know anything, and how much they know." "What, inbreeding? Inbreeding yay!" The Village Flower Palace said quite naturally: "Didn't Fujiwara Michinaga's three daughters successively marry three generations of Emperors?"

"Regarding the possibility of adapting this incident into a TV drama." Uesugi Muneyuki said.

Tokugawa Ayako looked at Uesugi Muneyuki with some uncertainty, and upon hearing this, her face instantly turned pale.

"Adapt into a TV drama?" Her voice trembled slightly: "Chief Uesugi, one must have a conscience! My mother and younger brother just passed away, and you want to..."

"Please calm down, Lady Tokugawa." Uesugi Muneyuki hurriedly said: "I understand your and your husband's feelings, but you should also know this matter has already spread nationwide, sooner or later the media will report on it, rather than letting all kinds of false information fly everywhere, it's better to have official authorization to produce a work based on facts, with warmth. We can guarantee we will handle your family's story in the most respectful way."

"Otherwise, to deal with outside speculation and suspicion, I might have to conduct further investigation, otherwise the follow-up report won't be easy to write." Uesugi Muneyuki spoke meaningfully.

Sure enough, Tokugawa Ayako's body began to tremble slightly.

Uesugi Muneyuki, he still wants to investigate further?!

Right, he has a grudge against our family! Older Brother once caused trouble at his older brother's wedding and offended him!

But... he can't investigate everything, right? What if he finds out about my relationship with Older Brother...

Tokugawa Ayako glanced at her husband.

Some things Heaven doesn't know, Earth doesn't know, Husband doesn't know, but just in case, I mean just in case... what if this guy Uesugi Muneyuki has sensed something? Tokugawa Kazuya didn't suspect anything, he was silent for a few seconds, then asked: "Adapt into what? 'Hand of God'?"

"Yes, I'll personally participate, starring Shirakawa Mai. We'll reconstruct the entire process, including your mother's final choice, including her suffering, including everything she did to protect the family." Uesugi Muneyuki said.

Tokugawa Ayako's tears flowed down: "Mother... she;... what would she think? You actually this#;..."

"I know." Uesugi Muneyuki's voice was very soft: "She was a great mother. In her own way, she ended this tragedy. We will convey this point to the audience."

Tokugawa Kazuya put his arm around his wife's shoulder, silent for a long time.

Japanese people have an extremely strong obsession with family name succession, but Japan's family concept is actually different from Germany's family concept, Japan's family is actually more similar to a "company", and the so-called "Tokugawa", "Uesugi", "Takeda", "Oda" are less surnames and more like family company names. After all, strictly speaking, Japan's surnames are actually only four types: "Minamoto", "Taira", "Fujiwara", "Tachibana".

And Japan's current surnames, in essence, are "myoji", for example the Fujiwara clan extended into "Kondo", "Endo", "Sato", "Naito", "Uefuji", "Muto", "Kato", "Fujita" and other myoji, essentially just the Fujiwara clan arriving in many places and giving themselves myoji locally.

If you really want to count surnames, whether Minamoto Muneyuki, Taira Muneyuki, or Fujiwara Muneyuki are all possible, but it wouldn't be Uesugi Muneyuki.

But what Grandpa wanted him to pass down was Uesugi, not Minamoto Taira Fujiwara.

The Kii Tokugawa Clan suffering this great disaster, without doubt the family name will be damaged, and will arouse huge outside controversy, and the Tokugawa couple at the center of the storm explaining themselves is actually very weak, but if they can get the Metropolitan Police Department forces led by Uesugi Muneyuki to assist, and leverage the streaming power led by Fuji and the national popularity of 'Hand of God'... maybe they can turn the Kii Tokugawa Clan into "victims", winning massive outside sympathy while simultaneously restoring the family name's glory!

This is probably what's called "turning a funeral into a celebration"?

Finally, he raised his head, looking at Uesugi Muneyuki: "Generally we can consider it, but can we wait a few days before giving you a reply?" "Of course, oh right, due to this fright and possible accidental ingestion, Madam when you return to Tokyo remember to go for a prenatal checkup, I can introduce you to the University of Tokyo Hospital, this is my business card." Uesugi Muneyuki hesitated a moment, then handed over a business card.

He probed a bit, and found that Tokugawa Kazuya seemingly didn't know the inside story.

This makes things difficult.

And it's only a possibility, after all during the conception period Tokugawa Ayako was certainly with her husband for a long time too.

What if? I mean what if... this child is also unquestionably Tokugawa Kazuya's? Then wouldn't I be in a no-win situation?

So Uesugi Muneyuki ultimately decided, let the hero investigate the hero, let the strongman investigate the strongman!

Kick the ball to the University of Tokyo Medical Department, they're the professionals.

Uesugi Muneyuki left.

Only the Tokugawa couple remained in the room.

Tokugawa Ayako leaned against her husband, saying softly: "Kazuya, what should we do?"

Tokugawa Kazuya looked at the sky outside the window gradually darkening, and slowly said: "I don't know either."

"But..."

"But," he paused, "if it lets Mother's story be known by more people, if it lets Ryuichi's tragedy become a warning... maybe, it's not completely unacceptable."

Tokugawa Ayako didn't answer.

Just leaned against him, silently shedding tears.

After returning to Tokyo, Tokugawa Ayako and Tokugawa Kazuya gave their reply.

Agreed to the adaptation.

Conditions were simple: respect facts, don't defame the dead, don't excessively consume the tragedy, and a substantial licensing fee. Fuji Legal decided on the spot, accepting all conditions in full.

The Tokugawa couple held that check, expressions complex.

This money was enough to pay off part of the debts Tokugawa Ryuichi left behind, and enough to let them start over.

"If Mother knew, she would agree." Tokugawa Ayako said softly: "Uesugi-san, truly a decent person."

Tokugawa Kazuya put his arm around her shoulder, didn't speak.

And the University of Tokyo Hospital prenatal checkup results also came out — although currently only three-plus months, multiple comprehensive examinations show the fetus is very healthy.

Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes flickered upon hearing this, but ultimately he still shut his mouth.

So it is... the rotten meat stays in the pot after all... if the fetus is healthy, I'll just shut up.

And when the news reached Fuji, the entire Production Department boiled over.

President Kameyama decided on the spot: Immediately launch promotion! Throw all resources at it!

That afternoon, the Fuji official website released a trailer: 'Hand of God' Special Episode — Yonsen Onsen Murder Case, true story adaptation, exclusive presentation. Social media instantly exploded.

"Holy shit, true story adaptation? Isn't that the one from the news a few days ago?"

"Mother and son killing each other?! This can be filmed?!"

"Chief Uesugi personally solved the case, of course it can be filmed!"

"That onsen shot in the trailer, Uesugi and Shirakawa Mai soaking in the onsen together???"

"I'm already dead, don't bother me."

The next day, all major media outlets scrambled to report.

The headline of 《Daily Sports》: "God's Hand" special episode sparks heated discussion, real case adaptation creates history for the Monday 9 timeslot.

《Tokyo Sports》 even went straight: mother-child mutual killing, accidental injury, snowy mountain villa—all of them are the must-watch divine dramas this summer!

《Weekly Bunshun》 directly cursed: Fuji, you're truly invincible! Godlike president, godlike production team, godlike case, paired with godlike TV drama and godlike forensic pathologist—how on earth did you gather a bunch of godlike people together?

Even the usually stern 《Yomiuri Shimbun》 left a space in its culture section: from real case to TV drama, one by one, discussing the social psychology behind the "God's Hand" phenomenon.

From the prosecutors' side, several prosecutors privately expressed dissatisfaction—case still in aftermath, TV drama already about to start filming—what kind of talk is this? But their dissatisfaction could only stay private.

No choice, the culprit is dead, cannot prosecute, the prosecution system won't and cannot prosecute two dead people; Gunma Prefecture directly announced the case is already closed—moreover, Uesugi Muneyuki's face is there on display, no one can well say anything.

"Forget it." Nishikawa Souchou, chief prosecutor of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, sighed: "Anyway, it's not the first time."

"Just give us prosecutors a somewhat positive portrayal, that'll do." Kirekawa Buchou complained: "Or why not simply let Kan'nari and them also go to the crime scene from now on?"

Social enthusiasm continues to rise.

On social media, the topic volume of "God's Hand" broke through two hundred million.

In convenience stores, weekly magazines—if the cover features Uesugi Muneyuki or Shirakawa Mai, they sell out that day. Even fans began organizing "holy pilgrimages," running to Shimanami Onsen Sekizenkan, just to catch a glimpse of the room where the incident occurred—of course, the inn politely refused. No matter how you say it, this is a dead person's room; Sekizenkan needs to renovate, and the general manager plans to remodel it into a "Blizzard Mountain Villa-themed suite"—"like vacationing as Uesugi Shiro"—with this promotion, phone bookings directly reached next year.

Even more surprising, the imperial family rarely issued a statement. According to an official of the Imperial Household Agency who accepted an interview, when asked what TV programs Emperor Akihito's family has recently liked, the official actually laughed and replied: "Maybe it's the 'God's Hand' TV drama? His Majesty looks forward to that special episode, he said, although the nobility system has already been abolished, but I hope everyone at Kasumi Kaikan will not disgrace the ancestors' reputation."

The reporter was stunned on the spot.

Imperial Household Agency, imperial family, Emperor Akihito.

Anticipation.

These two words together are enough to make any producer excited to the point of fainting.

When Kameyama Chihiro saw this news, he was eating lunch, he froze for three seconds, then put down his chopsticks, stood up, walked to the window, and took a deep breath.

Our Fuji is winning again.

In fact, our Fuji wins too much—so much that Fuji Media's board of directors doesn't know what to do; directors and shareholders keep coming to beg me, saying, "Please, President, we win too much, we can barely bear it; before you appeared, we were always losing, but now we win too much!"

President Kameyama smiled and shook his head, thinking: No, it's just that you're not used to my rhythm!

You will win bigger than ever before!

Our Fuji wins only 365 times a year, because only once every four years is there 366 days!

Win!