Chapter 82: Uesugi Muneyuki as an Adopted Son-in-law?

The news brought by his wife made Uesugi Hironori's mind race; outwardly easygoing but shrewd and capable at heart, Uesugi Hironori immediately realized this was an unusual signal.

The Watanabe Eiji family, it seems they only have one daughter, right?

Could it be that the Watanabe Eiji family also wants to take Yukimatsumaru in as an Adopted Son-in-law?

Uesugi Hironori fell into deep thought.

Compared to the Watanabe family, the main family is inferior; to put it bluntly, it is even a case of marrying above our station.

Watanabe Eiji's father, Watanabe Kazuo, was once the President of National Railways, his uncle Watanabe Gaokyu even served a term as Minister of Health and Welfare, and his wife Mori Michiko (now called Watanabe Michiko) is a daughter of the Mori Clan, a great political powerhouse.

Compared to the Watanabe family, the Uesugi main family actually has no figures with real power, nor are they very wealthy; the University of Tokyo professors are mainly just noble and refined.

"Did she say anything else?" Uesugi Hironori pressed.

"Nothing else. Michiko just asked, I said Yukimatsumaru hasn't gotten engaged yet and currently doesn't have an ideal partner, then Michiko said she understood, and that was it." Uesugi Tomoko was also a bit uncertain, but she still wanted to push for it: "Isn't this better than some bumpkin from Akita?"

"That is true, and for the main family to send a second son of a Noble to marry into another family, it wouldn't be an insult to him, Eiji," Uesugi Hironori said quite proudly: "Who told him he only has one daughter, who told him~ he only has one~ daughter~~~"

The man was quite smug, and the woman couldn't help but lift her head and smile triumphantly; Uesugi Tomoko's greatest pride was giving birth to two sons: "It's just because you didn't try hard enough, otherwise I wouldn't only have two sons."

"Hehehe~ whether there are only two, that's actually hard to say!" Uesugi Hironori cracked a joke, which was also his proudest thing.

"Oh, Danna-sama!"

The couple shared a small, off-color joke, then earnestly discussed how to "sell" Uesugi Muneyuki to a good place for a good price.

This trend of adopted sons actually blew from the Heavenly Empire to ancient Japan; by the thirteenth century at the latest, signs of large-scale "adoption" had already begun to appear in Japan to patch the loopholes in the Eldest Son Inheritance System.

Originally, in the Kamakura period, there was no concept of an Eldest Son Inheritance System; if one had several children, the territory was divided into several parts. Thus, as the number of family members increased, the great meritorious subjects who had followed the Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo soon discovered that within a few generations, the vast, crisscrossing territories they had been granted were cut into pieces. Some families in the later period even reached a situation where several towns outside the castle were cut into over a thousand parts, belonging to a dozen different branch families.

It was at this time that the Japanese began to realize the importance of the Eldest Son Inheritance System.

But after establishing the Eldest Son Inheritance System, the problem arose again—what to do with the sons other than the eldest?

And this trend happened to cater to the need for adoption. Japan had always been popular with the adoption system; no one could guarantee that every marriage would produce a son. If there were no sons in the family, one had to find a way to adopt a child, bestow the family name upon them, and let them take positions like Head of the House to maintain the authority of the paternal line.

However, adoption, after all, has no blood relationship; how to deepen the relationship between this adopted son and the main family?

Thus, the "Adopted Son-in-law" system came into being, which is to adopt a son without inheritance rights from another family, then marry a daughter to him. Both sides form a close relationship, and the family bloodline will also flow to the next generation through the daughter, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Yes, even in the most culturally conservative Japan, the vast majority of people believe that children born to their daughters are blood-related to them.

Some might think, isn't this just the "Uxorilocal Son-in-law" of the Heavenly Empire?

A bit like it, but not quite. The Uxorilocal Son-in-law emphasizes the "son-in-law," while the Adopted Son-in-law emphasizes the "son." In the Japanese environment, the Adopted Son-in-law is an extremely close relationship second only to a biological son; they are legal heirs with independent inheritance rights and family business. The status of an Adopted Son-in-law is to adopt first and then marry the daughter; the son-in-law becomes a son, and the daughter instead becomes a daughter-in-law.

Therefore, sending a second son to another family to be an Adopted Son-in-law is a very normal thing; there is nothing shameful about it.

And more importantly, biological sons actually cannot be "chosen," but an Adopted Son-in-law can be "chosen." The character and ability of one's own children are not fully controllable, but the character and ability of an Adopted Son-in-law are controllable. This has led to the Adopted Son-in-law system becoming increasingly popular among political and business factions in modern times; sometimes they would rather not have a biological son and instead adopt a capable Adopted Son-in-law to inherit the family business.

The Japanese are very stubborn about passing on the family name.

The Yonezawa Uesugi Clan already has Uesugi Sadanori as the Head of the House; Uesugi Muneyuki, as the second son, cannot inherit the family business. Therefore, whether it is Uesugi Hironori or Uesugi Tomoko, they both feel that sending Uesugi Muneyuki out to be an Adopted Son-in-law, where he can inherit a ready-made family business and exchange benefits for the main family, is a win-win choice.

And at this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki still did not know that his family had already discussed selling him for a good price.

He was sitting in the hall of the Garden Western-style House watching TV, while messaging Ikeda Erena, Watanabe Minami, and Shirakawa Mai.

Shirakawa Mai seemed to have no work today and had time to chat with him. Uesugi Muneyuki naturally answered every question from Senior Mai, but because of the screen, Uesugi Muneyuki always felt that he was a bit more rational, unlike when facing her in person where his head felt a bit dizzy.

Senior Mai's tone had a slightly strong, instructive air of a senior toward a junior. Uesugi Muneyuki responded naturally and also took the opportunity to ask for advice on some entertainment industry matters. Senior Mai chatted a little, and both sides agreed to talk in detail when there was time.

It seems Senior Mai isn't that hard to approach, Uesugi Muneyuki thought to himself.

The industry is full of rumors that the goddess senior is quite cold, and she has almost never been photographed by paparazzi in any street activities, shopping, or traveling; it's as if she evaporates the moment she returns home.

But after they got to know each other, Senior Mai was quite enthusiastic toward him; she probably really treated him as a junior.

Miss Minami asked him what he ate for dinner, and then showed Uesugi Muneyuki the charcoal-grilled Eel Rice, grilled chicken meatballs, and baked cookies she had made.

Chatting with Miss Minami was very pleasant, relaxed, and easy; they threw jokes back and forth and had a great time, and she even said Uesugi Muneyuki should treat her next time they go to the racetrack.

As for Master Ikeda, the tall beauty was now full of resentment because Uesugi Muneyuki had stood her up for their training session today to go to the racetrack. Since their last date, due to work, the chances for them to meet had decreased, and Ikeda was even more insecure. Every word she sent carried weight; Uesugi Muneyuki believed that if he said he wanted to see her now, Ikeda would rush over immediately.

Uesugi Muneyuki could only respond carefully, saying he was busy lately and they could discuss what to do next time on his day off.

After chatting with Ikeda for a few sentences, Uesugi Muneyuki received a message from Watanabe Minami: "Watch TV, Public Security is preparing to hold a press conference."

Hearing this, Uesugi Muneyuki immediately switched the TV to NHK.

At this time, Uesugi Hironori and Uesugi Tomoko also came out after changing their clothes.

They saw on the TV screen that a spokesperson from the Police Agency Security Bureau Planning Division was giving a report in front of the camera, with news reporters sitting below, and a banner behind them reading "Chiba Prefecture Dismemberment Murder Case."

It had been exactly 11 days since the Chiba Prefecture dismemberment murder case was reported as a disappearance, and the Japanese Public Security finally held a press conference.

By this time, this case had already attracted the attention of the entire Kanto Region; all five major TV stations except TV Tokyo had produced special programs and even sent special reporters to Chiba Prefecture to understand the situation.

Even overseas, some reporters had already reported on this matter.

The Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters, facing the reporters, could only helplessly state that this matter had been taken over by Public Security.

The reporters then found the Public Security Department of the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Public Security side stated that the case was still under further investigation and that they would hold a press conference as soon as there were results.

Due to the secrecy requirements of the Public Security Police, the outside world could only wait. During this time, countless speculations exploded on the internet; some guessed it was a revenge killing, some guessed it was an accidental death, some guessed it was a cult ritual, and some guessed it was a gangland shootout, among others.

Under immense social pressure, Public Security was finally forced to hold the press conference early.

"Recently, our Public Security Department has cracked a major murder case," the lead Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Department Security Bureau, wearing a well-fitted suit, said to the camera: "It is precisely the Chiba Prefecture dismemberment murder case that everyone has been concerned about."

"According to our investigation, this incident is related to the local Violent Group in Chiba Prefecture, the Futaba-gumi."

There was an uproar below.

This incident was actually related to a Violent Group?

Superintendent Ichijo of the Security Bureau said coldly: "Based on the DNA testing of the footprints sampled at the scene and the saliva from the discarded cigarette butts, we matched a criminal with a prior record in the criminal database."

"Ikawa Botaro, formerly known as Ishibashi Rin, is a former member of the Violent Group Futaba-gumi."

"According to interrogation and investigation, in the period before the case, the Futaba-gumi had conducted a drug deal in the C2 Warehouse at the Chiba City wharf, so we have reason to believe that the death of Doi Junpei is related to the Futaba-gumi."

"According to reliable inference, the deceased must have happened to witness the secret deal in the warehouse while out, was unfortunately discovered by the Violent Group, and was brutally murdered."

Superintendent Ichijo briefly introduced the case: "Recently, our Public Security conducted a search of the Futaba-gumi and has arrested members including the leader Takakura, and members Kazama, Sakurada, Sato, Kawamura, Matsuzaka, etc. We believe the case will be solved in a few days."

There was a sound of admiration from below.

"As expected of Public Security." "The Metropolitan Police Department has really stepped up lately." "So efficient, is this what Public Security is like?" "It was actually done by a Violent Group? Targeting a child, have they gone mad?"

A reporter raised their hand: "Hello, I am Kuroda from the Asahi Shimbun. May I ask Superintendent Ichijo, according to this, why didn't the Violent Group throw the body into the sea, but instead kept the head and the body?"

"The criminal psychologists of the Organization Countermeasures Department believe this is a form of warning," Superintendent Ichijo replied coldly.

However, his answer was clearly not very convincing.

"May I ask who the perpetrator is? Is it the previously mentioned Ikawa Botaro?" Another reporter also seized upon the point that Public Security had not made clear in their words.

Superintendent Ichijo's expression was not very pleasant.

In fact, Public Security also wanted to convict Ikawa Botaro just like this, settling the matter once and for all by pinning the murder on him.

But Ikawa Botaro had a perfect alibi; on the day of the incident, he was working a part-time job selling hot dogs on the street in Funabashi City, and he was basically under roadside traffic surveillance the entire time, leaving him no time to commit the crime.

Although Public Security has great power, it is, after all, no longer the pre-war Special Higher Police; if they sent the case to the prosecutor and the other party argued with sufficient evidence in court, Public Security would be in big trouble.

"The perpetrator is currently still under investigation, but there is no doubt it is a member of a Violent Group," he could only answer this way.

"The perpetrator is not confirmed, and the murder weapon has not been found; is it too presumptuous to say directly that a Violent Group did it?" The reporters were relentless.

"It was done by a Violent Group," Superintendent Ichijo said coldly.

"What is the basis for this?"

"The footprints and cigarette butts at the scene are the basis. At the same time, we have confirmed during questioning that the Futaba-gumi did indeed conduct drug transactions at the C2 Warehouse. During the search of the group, we discovered large controlled bladed weapons and a small amount of narcotics samples. Furthermore, considering the Autopsy results, it must be someone skilled with bladed weapons and experienced in handling bodies; we have every reason to believe that this matter was the work of a Violent Group."

"But..."

Public Security's attitude was very firm: "It was the work of the Violent Group Futaba-gumi."

Uesugi Muneyuki watched the entire press conference in front of the television, and he furrowed his brows.

In his view, Public Security's deductions were generally correct, and it was reasonable that they were seen during a gang transaction and killed to silence witnesses, but there were still a few details about this matter that did not make sense.

For example, the idea of a warning was very far-fetched; who would leave a body at a transaction site as a warning? Wouldn't that tell everyone that there was a problem with this abandoned warehouse?

The whole family had their attention drawn by this case, and Uesugi Hironori even took the initiative to ask: "Muneyuki, why didn't the Metropolitan Police Department call you to perform the Autopsy?"

"The Metropolitan Police Department doesn't have jurisdiction over Chiba Prefecture!" Uesugi Muneyuki was caught between laughter and tears at this question: "Father, the Metropolitan Police Department is a local agency; cases in Chiba Prefecture are handled by the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters."

"Oh, oh, right, right, I always mix up the National Police Agency and the Metropolitan Police Department," Uesugi Hironori patted his head.

"In short, we can already announce that we have locked onto the perpetrator. As long as we find the missing murder weapon, the case will be solved." Several high-ranking Public Security officials had already stood up and bowed: "Please rest assured, citizens, everything is under our control..."

Just at this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki's phone suddenly rang.

It was Minami!

"Hello, Uesugi-kun, where are you right now? Can you come to the Metropolitan Police Department immediately?" Watanabe Minami's voice was urgent and slightly shaken: "Someone in Chiba Prefecture has reported a case!"

"A nine-year-old female elementary school student has gone missing, and her body has been discovered at a weather station!"

"Eh?!" Uesugi Muneyuki rose from his seat, and he looked at the screen in his home.

Also at almost the same time, someone walked quickly into the scene of the Live Broadcast press conference and whispered this news into the ears of the Public Security Police.

Another elementary school student had been cruelly murdered, and it was in Chiba Prefecture again!

Superintendent Ichijo: "?"

Public Security Counselor: "???"

The high-ranking Public Security officials who were watching the press conference from behind the scenes: "??????"

Today is the last day for double points, please vote for me~





(End of this chapter)