Fushimi Roku guessed correctly, Kujo Hikari's motive for murder did indeed stem from his father, Kujo Mutsumi, but it wasn't Kujo Mutsumi's direct instigation.

You see, Kujo Mutsumi is seventy-six this year, which, when you round up, makes him almost eighty. Not everyone at eighty has the energy to become the President of the United States. Kujo Mutsumi can feel his health declining, time is fair to everyone, and he has a premonition that he won't live much longer.

Previously, Little Wei came back home once for the sake of her daughter. At the time, Kujo Mutsumi urged for marriage, also out of necessity, as the Kujo Family had dwindled in numbers and all the major conglomerates faced a situation of having no successors.

Kujo Mutsumi even considered passing the position of Family Head to his daughter, letting Kujo Yua manage the Kujo Family, but after some thought, he gave up.

It's not just because she's a woman, nor merely because she's unmarried and single, the main reason is that her heart is not with the Kujo Family.

Since the excellent eldest daughter has talent but lacks virtue, Kujo Mutsumi could only pick the best among the lesser contenders.

The third son was directly ignored; he had already been swayed by western ways; the second son was ordinary since childhood, never remarkable, and now his mind is focused on family, spoiling his three daughters, making it difficult for him to gain support if he rises to power.

Thinking it over, only the eldest son, Kujo Hikari, remained. His abilities were so-so, cleverness he had, but the problem was his poor character and extreme methods in handling matters.

Kujo Mutsumi thought jade needs carving to become a vessel, perhaps with some tempering, his son could be of great use.

So he mentioned in passing to his son, advising Kujo Hikari to deal with his romantic entanglements, not to indulge in the comforts of women, especially resolving the issues with his wife, with the possibility of inheriting the family business one day.

Then Kujo Hikari turned around and killed his wife and mistress.

Kujo Mutsumi's first reaction was something must have happened to his son, he couldn't imagine, even if beaten to death, that his son's ambition for the family head position had reached such a mad extent.

He had been the Family Head for forty years, never thought of it as a great job, worked himself to the bone organizing a large group of people, every day he opened his eyes there was a bunch of ancestors greeting him for a meal, constantly needing to find ways to make money, dealing with politicians and businesspeople... Even Little Wei saw through it, afraid of getting involved, and went to Tokyo to develop her career on her own.

On the day of the incident, Kujo Mutsumi was still pondering over who had done it. Not until Kujo Hikari, intentionally or otherwise, came to take credit did he realize something was amiss.

But Kujo Mutsumi still held onto a glimmer of hope, what if his son didn't mean that? What if it was just a misunderstanding on his part? If he mentioned it, wouldn't it chill his son's heart? After all, he just lost a wife and then a mistress, if his father baselessly suspected him of being the killer, he might become utterly disheartened and might not recover...

However, facts proved Kujo Mutsumi overthought it.

He entrusted Minamoto Tamako and Fushimi Roku to find out the truth, little did he expect, the results they uncovered were the worst.

That aside, with the people dead, no amount of pursuing punishment would bring them back. Kujo Mutsumi thought, if his son could get through this, at least it would temper his temperament, worthy of being ruthless and decisive, 'using every trick in the book' is an excellent quality for a Family Head.

The premise is that it must succeed.

As long as it succeeds, no matter the means, they are good means. Kujo Hikari killing his wife to ascend isn't necessarily not a hero.

But Kujo Hikari failed, and failed miserably, he couldn't even deceive the young girl Minamoto Tamako. Even so, victory and defeat are commonplace in military operations, yet he didn't even have the courage to start over, couldn't accept defeat, and even tried to take Minamoto Tamako down with him...

Kujo Mutsumi was almost angry enough to meet his maker.

He brewed himself a pot of tea to calm his anger, pondering how to educate his son. But Kujo Hikari couldn't wait for even the time it took for a pot of tea, his anger really couldn't be held back anymore, and he began to scold fiercely.

Kujo Hikari first froze, his movement to rise became stiff, he slowly sat back on the tatami mat, lowering his head and tilting his eyes sideways.

Seeing him like this, Kujo Mutsumi's anger flared up even more, kicking over the tea stove, charcoal and boiling water scattered all over the ground. The attendant inquired if help was needed, Kujo Mutsumi replied with a 'get lost,' then looked at his son and questioned, "What, haven't you grown hands? So used to being a young master that you can't even right a fallen stove?"

Kujo Hikari had no choice but to reach out and set the tea stove upright.

Kujo Mutsumi, holding the cane, rasped, "What about the charcoal? Can't pick it up? The floor is covered in tea, and you can't even wipe it?"

Kujo Hikari really didn't know how to deal with the mess on the ground barehanded, so the two could only sit there staring at each other. Luckily, the attendant opened a door crack, handing in a rag, mop, and bucket, avoiding the awkward scene of father and son glaring at each other.

Kujo Mutsumi started scolding again, telling the attendant not to interfere. Kujo Hikari knelt beside, slowly cleaning the floor, picking up the charcoal with leisurely motions.

After scolding for a while, Kujo Mutsumi's anger subsided; that's just how old people are, their liver fire isn't vigorous enough, getting angry is already remarkable, and after the scolding, only deep helplessness remained:

"What were you thinking exactly? How could you do such a foolish thing?"

Kujo Hikari didn't lift his head, continuing to rub the floor on his own, appearing to clean, but actually just idly scraping a spot: "It was your order."

"When did I order you to do such a thing?"

Kujo Mutsumi, a pile of old wood, was about to burn out: "Is that what I meant? I wanted you to focus! I meant for you to break it off with those dubious women outside, and live your life properly with Yuka! Don't think I don't know, what you were scheming by transferring assets under the mistress's name!"

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