Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 266, A Shocking Turn of Events at the Wedding

Since Uesugi Kuninori passed away, the Yonezawa Uesugi family has been troubled by the lack of a successor. Uesugi Yuken is simply not capable of handling things. Fortunately, the third generation, Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Muneyuki, have shown considerable strength on the surface. Uesugi Muneyuki, in particular, has become a prominent figure at a young age and is the Metropolitan Police Department's most valuable asset.

In fact, given Uesugi Muneyuki's unorthodox skills, no matter how skilled he was in other fields, he would at most be a "clerk," and wouldn't stand a chance in front of the real big shots. However, Uesugi Muneyuki's crime-solving abilities were crucial to the Metropolitan Police Department, which is a "powerful agency" with legitimate coercive power and a monopoly on the use of violence. Such powerful agencies often have resources and connections throughout society.

In this situation, it becomes necessary for Uesugi Muneyuki to befriend him.

If we were to discuss who is the most respected member of the upper class of the nobility today, the first name that would be Maeda Toshiyuki, the head of the Maeda family in Kanazawa. As the Commissioner of the Imperial Household Agency, he holds a position of equal rank and power to the Commissioner of the National Police Agency. Although Emperor Munakata strictly limited the power of the Imperial Household Agency after the war and stipulated that it could not speak freely on certain matters, the Imperial Household Agency still wields enormous influence because once it expresses its opinion, it often signifies the will of the Imperial Palace.

Then there's Tokugawa Tsunetaka, a member of the Tokugawa shogunate's main family. He was a director and vice president of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) and the president of the Yokohama Promotion Association. It's worth mentioning that when Tokugawa Tsunetaka was studying at Gakushuin University, he was once tested on "Who was the last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate?" Tokugawa Tsunetaka couldn't remember, so he answered with his own name, which became a running joke.

Tokugawa Tsunetaka and Maeda Toshiyuki once served as executives at Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), which put immense pressure on their boss, the president of NYK. There was a joke within the company that the last person who could make Maeda and Tokugawa obey orders was the Taiko Toyotomi Hideyoshi. They joked that the president should just change his name to Hideyoshi.
The Shimazu clan of Satsuma followed with an equally impressive number of members, as did the Hosokawa clan of Higo. Hosokawa Morihiro once served as prime minister, but this prime minister from out of town failed to control Japan's civil service system and was completely sidelined by figures like "Arnold" and "Humphrey." This prime minister was also ousted from Nagatacho for not following the wishes of "Humphrey" (the reasons for which are not explicitly stated; those interested can look them up themselves), and was forced out of politics without even retaining an honorary title.

This situation would be considered a relatively good ending in China, but in the context of Japanese politics, it would be a very tragic outcome.

The dismissal of Hosokawa Morihiro sparked a purge of the civil service by politicians. It took them about a decade to finally suppress the civil service, and the situation where administrative vice ministers and cabinet vice ministers controlled ministers and prime ministers no longer existed.

Minami Watanabe felt incredibly honored to be able to chat with these influential figures who still wield significant power and resources in society, and she felt that coming in person today was absolutely the right thing to do.

These are all solid connections and influence! They all belong to me personally!
To outsiders, the Watanabe family never claimed that they were recruiting a son-in-law. In the eyes of these powerful figures, she was already the daughter-in-law of the Uesugi family, the dignified Mrs. Uesugi, Kora!

With that in mind, recruiting a legitimate son of the Uwajima Date clan is not an impossible idea.

Seeing that these noble ladies were all old and frail, with only Miss Minami looking youthful and beautiful, Uesugi Muneyuki smiled helplessly and then said seriously, "Since you have gone to the trouble of requesting this from the elders of Tokugawa, Maeda, Shimazu, Hosokawa, and Date, then I will give you face. However, I must make it clear beforehand that I will only give him one chance, and once he comes in, he must obey my orders. Otherwise, if any problems arise, I will kick him out. You and the Uwajima Date clan should not come looking for me then."

“Of course, Uesugi-kun, you can discipline him as you please. If there are any problems, just come to us.” Several bigwigs from the Hua clan nodded. Uesugi Muneyuki’s persona has always been that of an honest man with a stubborn temper, so it was already quite difficult to get him to give in.

After exchanging a few more casual words, seeing that it was almost time, Uesugi Muneyuki led Miss Minami to take their seats.

"Actually, I really didn't want to take on a Self-Defense Force officer." Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but complain to Minami-sama, "You agreed too quickly!"

“In this situation, hesitating and then being forced to agree would seem insincere, wouldn’t it?” Miss Minami pinched Uesugi Muneyuki’s palm helplessly. “A Grand Secretary of the Imperial Household Agency, a former Prime Minister, and a Vice President of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) – can we refuse them? Since we can’t refuse, we might as well be more decisive.”

Uesugi Muneyuki thought about it and realized that it was indeed true, so he said with a bit of frustration, "So, it was the right thing for me to bring you here?"

"Hey! If you dare not bring me along, I'll send Ikeda to Otaru, Hokkaido right now!" Minami said angrily. She knew Uesugi Muneyuki was joking, but she was still a little annoyed: "Want to back out now? Too late! Everyone knows I'm your fiancée!"

“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” Uesugi Muneyuki said with a smile.

Miss Minami then gave him a satisfied glare.

As Uesugi Muneyuki took his seat, the wedding ceremony officially began. The priest of Yonezawa Uesugi Shrine only retained three parts: "Purification Ritual", "Offering of Food Ritual", and "Presenting the Oath". The groom wore a "black-patterned haori hakama", and the bride wore a "shiromuku" with a modern minimalist katakage.

It is very rare for wedding vows to be recited entirely in Chinese characters using classical Chinese reading methods. This is already rare in Japan, indicating that the Chinese people still retain some of this tradition.

Then, Uesugi Kuninori, as the head of the family, went on stage and presented the newlyweds with a folding fan printed with their names and family crest. A wedding video was then played, and finally the newlyweds drank together, thus completing the wedding ceremony. What followed was eating and drinking.

"Finally, finally we've managed to handle this difficult son!" Uesugi Hironori said, his eyes filled with tears.

"Yes, it's really not easy. How many blind dates has Sentokumaru been on? At least eighty or a hundred, if not a hundred," Uesugi Tomoko said with satisfaction.

"Not that many, sixty-nine times." Uesugi Kuninori raised his eyebrows and said casually, "That's good. Sentokumaru and Yukimatsumaru have both settled their life's major events. Next, they just need to welcome the birth of their great-grandchildren... You two need to work harder!" "Grandpa!" "Grandpa~" Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Muneyuki called out subconsciously.

"Hehehe, this old man will stop talking, stop talking." Uesugi Kuninori said cheerfully, "Sentokumaru, Yukimatsumaru, remember to watch Grandpa's performance, it's the last time."

"Huh?!" Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Muneyuki exchanged a glance, wondering what was going on this time?
The first course of the banquet was seafood sashimi and horse meat sashimi served in Kutani ware, imitating the snow scene in Yonezawa. However, before Uesugi Muneyuki could even eat, several elderly people appeared on the stage of the "Phoenix Hall" in the banquet hall.

They are Kuninori Uesugi, the 73-year-old head of the Uesugi family; Kuninobu Takeda, the 70-year-old former head of the Kai Takeda family; and Komiyama, the president of the University of Tokyo.

At this moment, a powerful shamisen melody began to play, and the three old men, one dressed as a samurai, one as a court noble, and one as a court official, began their final performance.

They were playing Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi's "Cheers," a 1980 rock song performed by a makeshift band of three elderly men whose combined age exceeded 200.

Perhaps it had been a long time since he had sung, perhaps he was no longer familiar with the instruments, perhaps he was too old and his breath was not enough, so he sang crookedly and a little off-key, but this was the most sincere blessing from the head of the Uesugi family to the next head of the family for his wedding. Many elderly people in the audience listened with tears in their eyes.

This song is the most popular song at weddings and is loved by people of all ages. It has gained support not only among people in their forties and fifties, but also ranks among the top five among young people in their twenties and thirties.

They may be reminiscing, reminiscing about their youth, reminiscing about the past of the Chinese nation, and reminiscing about the lost golden age of this country.

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

"Holy crap, no!" Uesugi Muneyuki's PTSD kicked in as soon as he heard this. He rolled his eyes and said, "Grandpa must have participated in the Zenkyoku in the past."

"Zen Kyoto, what's that?" Minami blinked curiously.

"It's nothing, it's not something that's appropriate to talk about at a wedding." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head repeatedly, while also feeling a little sentimental.

Time has passed, and the descendants of Uesugi and Takeda will one day sing together.

This Takeda family originated from the lineage of Takeda Shingen's second son, Unno Nobuchika. After Takeda Shingen's successor, Takeda Katsuyori, was defeated by Oda Nobunaga, the Katsuyori line ended. Unno Nobuchika's grandson, Nobumasa, was granted the title of Taka-ke in 1700 during the reign of the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. The Kai Takeda family has continued to this day.

Just as the wedding was proceeding peacefully, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.

"Ok?"

Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami both looked towards the entrance of the hall, where a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing wrinkled sportswear, strode in and headed straight for the scene.

"Hey! Mother!" The middle-aged man rushed towards Tokugawa Yoshiko, the head of the Kii Tokugawa family: "You promised to give me the money, and you have time to attend this wedding?"

The hem of Tokugawa Yoshiko's kimono was ripped into swirling wrinkles by her gripping, and the tortoiseshell hairpin on her hair trembled and slipped half an inch off. Grabbing her withered wrist, her voice shattered amidst the singing in the audience. The singing of the three elderly people on stage abruptly stopped, and the bride's white kimono sleeves swayed slightly, like startled pigeons.

"Ryuichi, what are you doing..." Tokugawa Yoshiko, the head of the Kii Tokugawa family, was quite panicked. The breath she was trying to utter was crushed by the lacquered dining table that the man had kicked away.

"I am the rightful heir to the Kii Tokugawa family!" the man roared, then pointed at the man beside Tokugawa Yoshiko and said, "It's me! Not him! I am your son!"

"what?!"

A tsunami of whispers erupted from the audience.

What happened?
(End of this chapter)