Aoyama Xiu Xin and Miyashita Ryouko arrived at the hospital room only to see Kobayashi Nagashima waiting at the door. His face showed no sign of abnormality, and after bowing, he stopped the two with a calm tone, "Miss Liangzi, please wait outside for a moment. The Mayor wishes to see Minister Aoyama."

"You go first," Miyashita Ryouko said with a furrowed brow to Aoyama Xiu Xin. Though she was deeply concerned about her father's safety, she didn't dare disobey his command.

Aoyama Xiu Xin nodded his head, bowed back to Kobayashi Nagashima, and then pushed the door open to enter.

Inside the room, only the weak Miyashita Hidekatsu on the bed and Miyashita Ritsuki, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, were present. Mrs. Miyashita was not there, presumably having been sent away.

Miyashita Ritsuki's gaze towards him was like a sharp blade, seemingly wishing to tear him to pieces.

Aoyama Xiu Xin guessed that it must've been Kobayashi who had reported his conversation with Miyashita Ryouko on the rooftop. However, he had no choice but to brace himself and pretend not to notice, hastily stepping forward with an excited expression to bow to Miyashita Hidekatsu, "Mr. Mayor, you're finally awake. I'm so relieved to see that you're alright."

"Thank you for your concern, Minister Aoyama," Miyashita Hidekatsu said with a pale face, his words strained and his breathing slightly labored, "You said there was another gunman at the scene? What's the situation?"

"Yes, sir!" replied Aoyama Xiu Xin before recounting Mitsuo Mutou's confession, "Mitsuo Mutou claims he was about to take the fourth shot when someone beat him to it. He even saw the gunman's face. I've had someone create a sketch based on his description, and verify whether the bullet in your chest came from Mutou's gun. I personally don't think there's any need for him to lie when he's already doomed."

"Alright," Miyashita Hidekatsu nodded, then fell back into silence. Aoyama Xiu Xin also dared not speak rashly. After a while, Miyashita Hidekatsu's voice came, "Please describe the gunman's appearance to me once again, Minister Aoyama. Give me the details."

"Yes, sir!" Aoyama Xiu Xin felt the response was strange but recounted the description according to Mitsuo Mutou's account as the gunman's traits were quite memorable.

Miyashita Hidekatsu listened without speaking for a long time, his face showing visible emotional fluctuations. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Why did Mitsuo Mutou want to kill me?"

"He found out about your schedule from the news today. Realizing he couldn't escape death, he wanted to create a major news story to ensure more people remembered him," Aoyama Xiu Xin said succinctly.

After hearing this, Miyashita Hidekatsu opened his mouth as if to curse but swallowed the words back, took a deep breath, and changed the subject, "Now that I am fine, there's no need to make a big fuss. Let Mitsuo Mutou bear all the blame, and let the investigation stop here."

Aoyama Xiu Xin looked up in surprise at him, and upon catching his unyielding gaze, quickly bowed and responded, "Yes, sir! I understand."

There was clearly something fishy about the situation.

But since Miyashita Hidekatsu had told him not to investigate, he didn't want to bother tracking down the real culprit, preferring to close the case with Mitsuo Mutou already in custody.

Miyashita Hidekatsu exhaled and closed his eyes.

"The father is tired and needs to rest. Minister Aoyama, please feel free to leave," said Ritsuki Miyashita, turning his cold tone to Aoyama Xiu Xin as a sign for him to leave.

"Mr. Mayor, please rest well and strive to return to your post soon. Over a million citizens of Sapporo City are waiting for you. I won't disturb you any longer," Aoyama Xiu Xin said another insincere line before turning to leave.

As he stepped out of the door, the anxiously waiting Miyashita Ryouko brushed past him and ran inside, calling out with a sobbing voice, "Daddy!"

Aoyama Xiu Xin closed the door casually, nodded politely to Kobayashi Nagashima, straightened his suit, and strode away without looking back.

Inside the room, Miyashita Hidekatsu comforted his tearful daughter, "Don't cry now, it's okay. Daddy is fine; I just need some rest to recover."

"Yes, yes," whispered Miyashita Ryouko, sobbing and nodding.

After a while, Miyashita Ryouko was asked to leave.

Finally, Ritsuki Miyashita spoke up, "Dad..."

"My girl's fling with a man is just a whim, it's no big deal. Let's not bring it up again," Miyashita Hidekatsu interrupted.

The mindset had to be broadened.

Miyashita Ritsuki felt suddenly speechless. His words suggested one thing, but he felt like his family had been wronged. Given his father's attitude, though, he couldn't dwell on the subject and switched tracks, "Why not let Aoyama Xiu Xin investigate the gunman? It wouldn't be hard to identify him with the sketch. If that man isn't caught, you're still in danger."

"My people will take care of it. You don't need to worry," Miyashita Hidekatsu seemed a little irritable and with a wave of his hand, said, "Go busy yourself with your own matters and let Kobayashi in."

Ritsuki Miyashita could only leave reluctantly.

After he left and closed the door, he stopped Kobayashi Nagashima with a blunt tone, "Tell me what's really going on? I need to know what happened!"

He had thought his father would fill him in on the details after waking up, which was why he didn't press Kobayashi for information earlier, confident as the son. But unexpectedly, Hidekatsu Miyashita chose to keep it from him, and as he couldn't forcefully confront his own father, he now had to press Kobayashi.

Moreover, he was dissatisfied that his father would discuss everything with Kobayashi and not with him. Although a secretary was indeed trustworthy, was a stranger really more reliable and trustworthy than his own family?

Concerned about his father's safety, he felt as a son, it was necessary to understand what had transpired.

"Please, young master, don't make it hard for me. Since the Mayor has not told you, naturally, you cannot get any useful information from me," Kobayashi Nagashima bowed and spoke with neither servility nor overbearing arrogance.

Miyashita Ritsuki grabbed his collar and dragged him away from the hospital room. After slamming him against the wall, he said coldly, "I admire your loyalty to my father, but I am very angry about your disregard for me. With my father's safety at stake, I think you should consider who would protect you if something were to happen to him."

As a member of the Asahikawa City council with considerable influence, he maintained his own power base. Even if Miyashita Hidekatsu were to die, he was still a political force not to be ignored.

That's why he was entitled to say such a thing.

Kobayashi Nagashima's complexion changed slightly.

In the past, he had been devoted to Miyashita Hidekatsu and had never considered this issue. This time, with Miyashita Hidekatsu's life hanging in the balance after the attack, he indeed had these worries. Placing all his prospects on one person made his ability to withstand risks incredibly poor.

"Mr. Xiaolin, I hope you will not only be the right and left hand of my father but also of our Miyashita family," Miyashita Ritsuki said, having seen his wavering and adding fuel to the fire.

Kobayashi Nagashima pursed his lips with a low voice, slowly saying, "There are many who bear grudges against the mayor and no less who wish him dead, but these people dare not break the unwritten rules of political circles, so they won't take action. However, there is one exception."

He rationalized that revealing some information to the mayor's son wasn't considered betrayal, and even if the mayor found out later, he wouldn't hold it against him since they were all family.

"Who?" Miyashita Ritsuki immediately pressed for an answer.

Kobayashi Nagashima, with a grave face, uttered a name almost word for word: "Miyazaki Ting."

"Who is he?" Miyashita Ritsuki searched his memory quickly, certain he had never heard of this person.

Kobayashi Nagashima was silent for a moment, then in a subdued voice said, "The mayor had made mistakes in the past that many men make, some, like Master Naoyuki, were handled well. However, some were not, and Miyazaki Ting is one of those mishandled problems."

"Is he my father's illegitimate child?" Miyashita Ritsuki's eyes narrowed sharply, a mix of shock and disbelief clouding his features. He suddenly understood why Miyashita Hidekatsu had kept silent about the matter, even to him. After all, such issues are preferably hidden from strangers, let alone from one's own family.

Kobayashi Nagashima nodded, "Miyazaki Ting's mother was a bar hostess, quite attractive, and caught the mayor's interest during a business gathering thirty years ago. He favored her for a while."

"Later, the woman disappeared out of the blue; just a woman he had grown tired of, the mayor didn't pay much attention. But a year later, she appeared with a child, demanding that the mayor marry her."

"A whore is a whore, always scheming," Miyashita Ritsuki murmured disparagingly after hearing this part of the story.

Upon realizing she was pregnant, the woman, fearing she might be forced to have an abortion, deliberately went into hiding to carry the child to term. Once it was a done deal, she confronted him with the child, challenging how many men could see their beloved sons and not acknowledge them?

Kobayashi Nagashima continued, "At that time, the mayor was already married to Mrs. Miyashita. Of course, he couldn't marry her, but since you, the young master, weren't born yet, and Miyazaki Ting was the mayor's first child, he couldn't completely ignore him. He was also afraid the woman would make a scene in public and ruin his career."

"So he could only provide her with good material conditions while stalling. He managed to delay for several years until your birth, after which he paid much less attention to Miyazaki Ting and his mother. When she noticed this, she became increasingly extreme in pressuring the mayor, even encouraging Miyazaki Ting to do the same, which only made the mayor more irritated and indifferent towards both of them."

"Until a decade and a half ago, at a critical moment when the mayor was competing for an important position, Miyazaki Ting's mother threatened to expose him to the press. Soon after, their house caught fire. Miyazaki Ting's mother died in the blaze while he was not home and narrowly escaped."

Having said all this in one breath, Kobayashi Nagashima then added in a deep voice, "I ordered that fire."

Naturally, it was people found by Miyashita Hidekatsu whom he instructed.

After hearing about his father's dark history, Miyashita Ritsuki remained silent for a long time. His mistake was that he was not ruthless enough when he was young, and as he aged, he became too ruthless.

No wonder Miyazaki Ting wanted to kill him.

His father was truly a beast!

"Has he not made a move over all these years?" Miyashita Ritsuki frowned and asked.

If it were him, he couldn't have waited until today.

Kobayashi Nagashima shook his head, "Not long after his mother was burned to death, he made an assassination attempt. But because it was too hasty, he failed. After that, he vanished. He must have returned this time."

"I understand," said Miyashita Ritsuki after a long silence, exhaling deeply. He patted Kobayashi Nagashima's shoulder and said, "Thank you. Father is waiting for you inside, Mr. Xiaolin. Go in and await his orders."

"Yes!" Kobayashi bowed and watched Miyashita Ritsuki leave before composing his emotions and expression and turning to enter the hospital room. "Mayor."

"Mr. Xiaolin, took you a long time to come in. You must have been held up by Ritsuki, haven't you?" Miyashita Hidekatsu guessed immediately.

"Yes!" Kobayashi Nagashima nodded with a bitter smile, shaking his head, "I suppose I've offended the young master this time."

"He will understand you," Miyashita Hidekatsu said unconcernedly, shaking his head and then speaking in a low voice filled with murderous intent, "Find him, eliminate him."

Having failed to kill his own son, leading to his son seeking revenge for his mother, he naturally couldn't let others know this matter. Otherwise, where would he put his face? That was why he did not allow Aoyama Xiu Xin to investigate.

"Yes! I should pay for the mistakes I made years ago," Kobayashi Nagashima solemnly promised.

Meanwhile, Miyashita Ritsuki thought he should relieve his father of some worries by dealing with this illegitimate son who might threaten his father and the Miyashita family. So after leaving, he called his secretary and instructed, "Immediately start looking into someone named Miyazaki Ting. He should be 29 years old this year, with a mole above the left eyebrow."

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