Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 170 - 166: Mr. Aoyama Advances On His Own Merit

Chapter 170: Chapter 166: Mr. Aoyama Advances On His Own Merit

"What? Arrested for rape? A man!"

In the office, Renping Kuniaki held the phone for a long time without speaking, his mind somewhat chaotic, his gaze somewhat vacant.

He wondered whether the head of Saitama Prefecture’s police headquarters hadn’t woken up yet, or if it was himself who was still asleep.

"Hey! Director, the victim is adamant about not accepting a settlement and has also approached the media to cry out. The issue has already spread; we can’t just release the person rashly."

"Idiot! That bastard!" When Renping Kuniaki heard this, he finally confirmed that Nipponjiro had really done something so absurd. His face turned ashen with anger, his whole body shaking. The Renping family’s face was completely lost!

Rape was bad enough, but to rape a man!

Since the media was already involved, there was no way to suppress the matter; all that was left was damage control.

As a father who had failed to educate his son properly, he would inevitably have to come forward and bow in apology for his son’s actions—this was nothing short of a public execution, Renping Kuniaki filled with sorrow and fury.

"Director, please calm down. In my experience, the young master was most likely set up due to some grudge," someone suggested.

"Let him talk to me on the phone," Renping Kuniaki said.

"Hey!"

A moment later, the voice of a shocked, angry, and panicked Nipponjiro came through the receiver, "Dad, you have to get revenge for me! It was Aoyama Sosuke and Xiu Xin, those two brothers, who plotted against me! Those damned bastards!"

"What exactly happened, give me the details!" Renping Kuniaki was livid but also aware that there must be more to the story. After all, Xiu Xin was not the type to act against time; he wouldn’t plot against his other son knowing he had been previously threatened.

Nipponjiro didn’t dare to lie at this point and spilled everything, "I was planning to coerce and tempt them into fighting each other, but I didn’t expect Aoyama Sosuke, that idiot, to pull this stunt on me!"

"Self-proclaimed smart! Utterly foolish!" Renping Kuniaki swore vehemently, breathing rapidly, and said word by word: "It’s bad enough that you made a fool of yourself, but to drag the Renping family’s name through the mud, why don’t you just die?"

He was really nearly driven mad this time. Ninpei Oshiro’s scandal had already tarnished the Renping family’s reputation, and now the younger son caused another incident. If both sons kept misbehaving, wouldn’t that suggest a problem with the family upbringing?

The opinion of the general public didn’t matter, but those of the same social standing would certainly mock their family.

"Dad, I was wrong, but there’s no use talking about that now. Please think of a way to save me. I really want to go home!" Nipponjiro burst into tears.

He was now both mentally and physically collapsed.

To wake up and find out that the one he was holding down last night was a bearded man was a massive blow to a young man in his twenties.

"Waste of breath!" Renping Kuniaki cursed.

Although he was angry at his son’s stupidity, that was still his own son, so he hated Xiu Xin and Aoyama Sosuke even more, the primary culprits.

Fortunately, under Japanese law, there seemed to be no specific crime for male-on-male rape, and on that front, it might be possible for Nipponjiro to avoid imprisonment.

Of course, their reputation was irretrievably lost.

"Give the phone back to the chief of headquarters."

"Hey! Dad! You must save me!"

"Director." The chief’s voice came through.

Renping Kuniaki took a deep breath, calmed his agitated emotions, and said, "I’ve embarrassed myself with poor parenting. I apologize for the trouble caused to the chief. I will handle this matter promptly."

"Hey!" The chief acknowledged.

After hanging up, Renping Kuniaki pondered for a moment and then dialed his secretary, "Call for Xiu Xin."

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"Enter," Renping Kuniaki shouted.

Xiu Xin opened the door and entered, closing the door behind him and bowed respectfully, "Director, you wanted to see me."

He had talked with Aoyama Sosuke on the phone the previous night.

So, he had a hunch about why Renping Kuniaki wanted to meet.

"Police Chief Aoyama, let’s speak plainly. Please state your terms," Renping Kuniaki said, loathing this person to the extreme and fully aware that the conflict was irreconcilable, thus he couldn’t be bothered with niceties.

But Xiu Xin deliberately agitated him, feigning shock and confusion, "What do you mean by that, Director?"

"Slam!" Renping Kuniaki slammed the table in anger, glaring fiercely at him, "You’ve already forced one of my sons to flee far away, and now you want another son of mine behind bars? Know that one should be forgiving when in a position to punish!"

"Please speak, Director," Xiu Xin said.

Renping Kuniaki halted, speechless for a moment. It was indeed true, but family didn’t reason like that, "Yes, they are at fault, but even if they were ninety-nine percent at fault, don’t you share one percent? It takes two to clap."

Xiu Xin was flabbergasted, astonished beyond measure.

The Director was leading by thirty years with his reasoning!

"Enough!" Renping Kuniaki also realized his words were somewhat shameful and couldn’t face Xiu Xin’s look, raging with embarrassment and fury, he said, "One should not make enemies when they can make friends! With me around, you can’t push Nipponjiro to a dead end; with the Asakai family around, I can’t utterly destroy you, so let’s just stop here."

"Please proceed, Director," Xiu Xin responded.

Renping Guoxiong offered a solution, "Japan’s law doesn’t have any provisions for convicting male-on-male assault. Have that so-called victim forgive Erlang and not pursue charges. Even without jail time, Erlang’s reputation is already ruined, which is enough for you to vent your anger."

It wasn’t until 2017 that Japan began to include male victims in its Criminal Law. Before the millennium, most countries’ laws actually didn’t protect men in this aspect. After all, when the laws were first written, no one could have imagined how surreal the world would become.

"Director General is right; Japan indeed doesn’t have such a law yet. But if your son’s case becomes a big deal, it might just lead to the creation of one, thus contributing to the progress of the legal system," Aoyama Xiu Xin said teasingly.

Renping Guoxiong’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. This was exactly what he feared. If that happened, Nipponjiro would be nailed to a pillar of shame for eternity.

The Renping family would also lose face.

"Aoyama Xiu Xin, don’t be so smug, your older brother isn’t clean either. As a Member of Parliament, having an extramarital affair and fathering a child outside of marriage—if this gets out, I’m afraid he’ll have to resign just like Oro," Renping Guoxiong threatened.

Aoyama Xiu Xin was indifferent, "Whatever. I don’t really care about that idiot anyway. As long as it doesn’t affect me, do whatever you want."

Still, the illegitimate child was an unexploded bomb. Both he and Aoyama Sosuke’s positions were not yet high enough. According to the plan laid out beforehand, the sooner it burst, the better it would be resolved.

"Really?" Renping Guoxiong looked at him with suspicion, doubting whether Aoyama Xiu Xin was just pretending not to care.

Aoyama Xiu Xin responded frankly, "Really."

"Good! If that’s the case, then don’t blame me for being ruthless." Renping Guoxing was going to test whether Aoyama Xiu Xin really didn’t care about Aoyama Sosuke.

"Suit yourself. Just don’t bring up my stupid brother anymore." Aoyama Xiu Xin yawned and said leisurely, "Although he’s an idiot, he does care about family ties. I can have the victim not press charges, but what are you willing to offer in return, Director General?"

His initial goal was only to socially destroy Nipponjiro, not completely annihilate him. It was better to exploit this situation for benefits from Renping Guoxiong’s hands.

"What do you want?" Renping Guoxiong asked.

Aoyama Xiu Xin smiled slightly, "I want a promotion."

Although Yanchuan Xianyou had promised to help him become Police Director the following year, if he could get promoted through his own merits earlier, Yanchuan Xianyou would have to offer him something else as compensation, perhaps pushing him up another level.

He wanted to advance on his own!

"You’re mad? Even Asai Ayumi had to be 25 before becoming Police Director, to avoid gossip. Aren’t you afraid?" Renping Guoxiong thought Aoyama Xiu Xin completely misunderstood the principle of standing out invites trouble.

Aoyama Xiu Xin responded directly, "Am I not high-profile enough already? Thanks to you, Director General, sparing no effort in backing me, I’ve already been put on a high pedestal. If there ever comes a day when I fall, what’s the difference between falling from 100 meters or 150 meters? Both will shatter my body. Since that is the case, why not enjoy the view from above before I fall?"

It was a line to disarm Renping Guoxiong, but it also reflected a portion of his actual thoughts. His current situation was one where he could advance but not retreat. Knowing he was being set up for a fall and that stepping down was inevitable, he might as well go all out.

"Fine! As long as you can convince your father-in-law not to obstruct your future, I’m willing to do you a favor." Since Aoyama Xiu Xin was the one asking, Renping Guoxiong didn’t mind fanning the flames.

After all, the short work history of Aoyama Xiu Xin wasn’t a problem. Those rules were thresholds set for those without connections. Aoyama Xiu Xin had connections and had just established a great merit, a special promotion was justifiable.

However, after the promotion, even more people would envy him and resent him for breaking rules, which would be delightful to watch.

These ill-intentions wouldn’t show while Aoyama Xiu Xin was in favorable circumstances, but once he ran into trouble, they’d turn into piercing arrows, leaving him unable to die a good death.

And is there anyone in this world who can forever sail smooth waters without trouble? Renping Guoxiong thought not.

Aoyama Xiu Xin bowed, "Thank you for your help."

"Get out!" Renping Guoxiong spat out a word.

"Hey!" Aoyama Xiu Xin bowed and left.

............

That evening, the news of the Police Director’s second son, Nipponjiro, being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a man was reported, and the news about Saitama Prefecture County Councilor Aoyama Sosuke having an extramarital affair and fathering a child was also made public.

Renping Guoxiong’s quick exposure of these incidents was both an act of revenge and a probe, but also a hope to muddle the waters with this event to divert some heat from his family.

Indeed, the incident did divert some attention off the Renping family.

But conversely, the Renping family also diverted attention from Aoyama Sosuke, which was beneficial for both parties.

"Is screwing men and oppressing women not enough for the second generation? Do they need to start topping men and bottoming women?"

"Assaulting a man, that’s quite a heavy taste!"

"If I remember correctly, the National Member of Parliament who resigned amid a scandal also had the surname Renping, right?"

"Having an affair and fathering a child within marriage, our country’s officials are such a despicable bunch of beasts! How can such people lead our country forward?"

People were discussing heatedly, some taking it merely as entertainment, not taking it seriously, while others were filled with righteous indignation, feeling as if the country would perish the next day.

After the news broadcast, Renping Guoxiong held a press conference that same night to apologize, admitting that he had failed in educating his son. He claimed it was drunken behavior between the parties, and compensation had been paid to the victim who had agreed to forgive and not pursue the matter any further.

Publicly apologizing for his son’s assault on a man, standing before the podium, Renping Guoxiong had never felt such a moment of shame in his life and almost fainted right there. He harbored even deeper hatred for Aoyama Xiu Xin.

At the same time, Aoyama Sosuke held a press conference in Saitama Prefecture, claiming that the allegations of having an out-of-wedlock child were completely unfounded. He announced he would provide evidence to prove his innocence in three days.

Three days later, Aoyama Sosuke held another press conference and presented two paternity test reports.

One report indicated no blood relation between him and the child, while the other report revealed Ashida Kazuko’s ex-boyfriend and child shared a father-son relationship, resolving the matter.

Subsequent media skepticism about the authenticity of the reports was countered by some media outlets who, having been paid, took it upon themselves to speak out for Aoyama Sosuke.

Combined with the significant distraction Nipponjiro provided, Aoyama Sosuke smoothly got over the crisis without fear of further attacks leveraging the situation.