Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 443, Uesugi's Unspeakable Secret
In early March, one day, the restaurant "Gin Mingsui" was in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

Inside the elegant and quiet ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurant), Tokyo University professor Kuninori Uesugi sat on one side, while Tokyo Cultural Exchange Center director Hironori Uesugi and Tomoko Uesugi sat on the other. The three of them were enjoying delicious grilled saury and Sendai beef tongue teppanyaki.

Uesugi Hironori and his wife had finished eating everything on their plates, but Uesugi Kuninori's plate still had a lot of food left. The old professor was fuming, and when the waiter came over to ask, Uesugi Kuninori indicated that everything should be removed.

Seeing Kuninori Uesugi's expression, Hironori Uesugi felt a little embarrassed, while Tomoko Uesugi laughed and teased, "Father, today's dishes are really delicious!"

"Hmph~ Of course, this is a store where I'm a member!" Kuninori Uesugi said coldly.

"Excuse me." Tomoko Uesugi and Hironori Uesugi exchanged a glance, knowing that Kunihiro Uesugi was a little angry.

The reason is simple: although Kuninori Uesugi is a member of this restaurant, he decided to dine there on a whim to celebrate his grandson, Sadanori Uesugi, officially joining the Faculty of History at the University of Tokyo.

However, the ryotei "Gin Myo-sui" told Uesugi Kuninori that there were no seats available today because he hadn't made a reservation.

This infuriated the head of the Yonezawa Uesugi family—I'm a member! No matter when I come here, this restaurant always has a seat; they'd rather open a new table than say something like this!
However, this time, Uesugi Kuninori was rejected for the first time.

Such incidents have actually occurred repeatedly since the beginning of this year.

With only one year left until Kuninori Uesugi's official retirement from the University of Tokyo, the sense of being forgotten by the university after his departure has become quite apparent in the past year. The professors and university leaders no longer take him as seriously. Previously, he still had the influence of Muneyuki Uesugi, but with Muneyuki Uesugi and Minami Watanabe's engagement and the confirmation of their separation, the old professor has felt his influence rapidly declining in recent years.

That was bad enough, but then Uesugi Kuninori happened to run into Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji, who was at the University of Tokyo on business. After hearing about it, Watanabe Eiji made a phone call, and the ryotei immediately said, "Oh, we made a mistake. There are still seats available!"

Since Watanabe Eiji had already made the arrangements, and they had to give face to their in-laws, the family was still forced to eat at the ryotei, which really infuriated the old man.

People leave, and the tea grows cold; people leave, and the tea grows cold!

Uesugi Hironori, however, didn't seem to mind. He was used to being overshadowed by his father in his youth and by his youngest son in his old age. Recently, the cultural exchange center's business had been booming thanks to Uesugi Muneyuki! He was too busy with annual meetings, concerts, cocktail parties, and art appreciation events. In addition, both his eldest and youngest sons had successfully entered the University of Tokyo. Uesugi Hironori was in high spirits. Seeing this, he took the initiative to toast his father: "Father, don't look so sad, have a drink!"

"..." Uesugi Kuninori took a sip of his drink, his expression softening slightly: "While I do take good care of this restaurant's business and don't want them to treat me differently, this is still going too far!"

"If our godfather doesn't like it, then we won't come anymore," Uesugi Tomoko could only say softly, trying to comfort him.

"Who doesn't like it anymore? Who won't come anymore? I didn't say that!" Uesugi Kuninori was quite embarrassed and angry.

As a member of the Chinese ethnic group and a professor at the University of Tokyo, what I value is dignity! Dignity!

After thinking for a moment, Uesugi Kuninori had no choice but to change the subject: "Speaking of which, Sentoku Maru has been married for half a year... What, is there no sign of anything happening?"

“I’m already 74 years old. If I can’t hold my great-grandson before I die, how can I face my ancestors in the Uesugi family, Kenshin, Kagekatsu, Tsunakatsu, and Takayama!”

"You two should also go and urge them more!" Uesugi Kuninori stared at his son and daughter-in-law, indicating that they should also think of a way!

"Well, Father, things aren't like they used to be... What can we do?" Uesugi Hironori said somewhat awkwardly, "You know Sentokumaru's personality. He's obsessed with archaeological work and only comes home for a day or two a week. We can't exactly... have our son eavesdropping outside the door the day he comes home, can we?"

"Pfft!" This remark amused Uesugi Kuninori, who coughed twice, looking quite uncomfortable.

Uesugi Hironori was referring to a meme, specifically the custom of the shogun in the Edo period of "listening to the emperor's bedchamber."

This custom originated from Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun of the Edo period. As is well known, Tokugawa Iemitsu was a man in his early years, and because of his childhood play, one of the maids of the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, became pregnant. One of Iemitsu's pageboys had to take the blame, and the maid was executed in order to save his status as the heir. Therefore, Iemitsu had a deep hatred for women.

Iemitsu's principal wife, Lady Takatsukasa, married into the shogun's family and never shared a bed with Iemitsu.

It wasn't until Iemitsu was thirty years old and his physical functions declined, coupled with Tokugawa Ieyasu's decree that if the shogun's family had no heir, the throne would be inherited by either the Owari Tokugawa family or the Kii Tokugawa family, that Tokugawa Iemitsu realized the trouble of having no heir and the cost of the shogun's position falling to a collateral branch. Thus, he began to try to have children, and the tradition of "listening to the chambers" was born. When the shogun visited his wife or a concubine, there would always be two close attendants guarding outside the room. Their primary duty was to confirm whether the shogun had actually engaged in sexual intercourse.

This became the norm, and no matter how much the shogun disliked it or how hard he tried, he could not abolish the tradition of "listening in the bedroom." Whenever he had sex with a woman, someone would be listening in from within ten steps.

This is probably what is meant by "the emperor has no private affairs".

“But I always feel that Sadono and the others are a bit strange. Although they are very polite, aren’t they a little too polite?” Just then, Uesugi Tomoko said something inexplicable: “They don’t seem like a couple, but rather like…familiar strangers? Look at Yukimatsu Maru, he doesn’t seem like that at all. The group of women around Yukimatsu Maru, except for Asuka, I can tell at a glance that they have all slept with Yukimatsu Maru.”

“Indeed.” Uesugi Hironori nodded with certainty. The quickest way for men and women to eliminate the sense of boundaries and propriety is… well, not suitable for children. With his keen eye, when he visited his son in Kabukicho afterward, he could tell at a glance that all those beautiful women had slept with his son, and quite a few times at that.

The son and daughter-in-law's words deepened Uesugi Kuninori's doubts, but the head of the family could only keep quiet for the time being.

My son and daughter-in-law aren't in a hurry, since they're only in their early fifties, but he's in a huge rush! If we don't have children now, are we supposed to wait until I retire and die before we can have them?

No, no, that won't do! Now that my eldest and youngest grandsons have both entered Tokyo University, my last wish in this life is to hold my great-grandson!
Thus, Uesugi Kuninori returned home with a heavy heart and found Uesugi Muneyuki's sister-in-law.

"Granddaughter-in-law, come with me for a moment, I have something to ask you."

"Yes……"

The Japanese-style room in the Uesugi family home was eerily quiet. Seventy-four-year-old Uesugi Kuninori and his twenty-four-year-old granddaughter-in-law sat facing each other. His withered fingers rested on his knees, his knuckles slightly white, but his gaze was like a probe, piercing straight at the young woman kneeling opposite him with her head bowed—his granddaughter-in-law.

The two chatted about everyday things for a while. Uesugi Muneyuki's sister-in-law said everything was fine, that she was always the one at fault, and that she was very satisfied with Uesugi Sadanori.

"Enough! Forget it... I'll just say it straight, it's been half a year." Uesugi Kuninori's voice was low and slow, each word like a carefully polished blade. "I am already old and frail, and you should understand that the bloodline of the Uesugi family is the heaviest stone hanging over my heart."

His Adam's apple bobbed, and a rare hint of vulnerability, almost pleading, appeared in his voice. "I only wish I could hold my great-grandson in my arms... Tell me, do you and Dingxian have any good news?"

The granddaughter-in-law lowered her head even further, revealing a section of her fair and round neck beneath her dark hair, which trembled slightly.

Her hands, resting on her knees, gripped the fabric of her kimono tightly, her knuckles turning white from the effort. Her voice was barely audible: "Grandfather... everything is fine, please... don't worry."

The words drifted in the silent air, carrying an undeniable air of emptiness.

"Okay?" Uesugi Kuninori immediately sensed the vulnerability and pretense in his words. His sharp gaze, peering through his glasses, seemed to peel away the thin veil of pretense.

He leaned forward slightly, and the scholar's inquiry and the patriarch's authority blended into an invisible pressure that pressed down heavily.

“Look at me when you speak! What do you mean by ‘good’? I don’t want to hear this vague comfort. Tell me, where exactly is your ‘good’?”

His questioning grew increasingly insistent, like a rope being tightened ever more.

The eldest sister-in-law's breathing became rapid, and her shoulders trembled uncontrollably. She quickly glanced up at her grandfather's face, which was filled with stubbornness and anxiety, and then hurriedly looked away, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

“Grandfather…” she began again, her voice cracking with emotion, each word seeming as if she were struggling to move across scorching hot coals, “Really… really nothing…”

Something's not right! Something's definitely not right!

I've lived for 74 years! Do you think I'm blind?

"Granddaughter-in-law!!!" Uesugi Kuninori suddenly raised his voice, his aged voice containing a thunderous rage that had been suppressed for a long time. He slammed his wrinkled hand heavily on the low table beside him, making a delicate teacup on it vibrate.

“Look at me! Tell me the truth! Is it that Dingxian… is there something wrong with his health? Or is there… is there some difficulty between you?” His cloudy eyes stared intently at her, his gaze burning with the almost desperate longing for the continuation of life that belongs to an elderly person.

That sharp shout, like a cold awl, instantly pierced through the dam that the elder sister-in-law had been struggling to maintain. The grievances, shame, confusion, and unspeakable pain that had accumulated over the past six months finally broke through her last line of defense. She abruptly raised her head, and tears gushed out like a flood, rolling wildly down her pale cheeks.

“No…” she cried out almost in a sob, her voice broken and filled with a desperate sense of self-abandonment, “Nothing wrong…Grandfather…there was nothing wrong at all…he…Dingxian…” She took a deep breath, as if using all her strength to squeeze out the most shameful truth from between her teeth.

"He...in the six months since our marriage...has never...never touched me!" The last few words seemed to exhaust all her vitality. Her body trembled violently, her shoulders slumped, and only suppressed, intermittent sobs echoed in the deathly silent Japanese-style room.

Those thunderous words struck Uesugi Kuninori's eardrums clearly, and pounded heavily on his heart.

All the expressions on his face—majesty, anxiety, anticipation—froze and shattered completely in that instant.

What???!!!

He's been married for six months, and Qian Dewan hasn't touched his wife yet?

How could this be? Yukimatsu Maru must have five or six women around him already, right?
Why is it that when it comes to Sentokumaru... are these two really brothers? How come they're so different?

Wait, that's not what you need to think about right now!

The snow pine ...

That's all!
(End of this chapter)