What on earth is going on?
Yang Ming woke up from a nap, slightly bewildered by the information popping up on his glasses.
[Saka Family Murder: A bizarre and convoluted case, featuring a rising star in the detective world.]
[Exclusive Inside Story: A young man possibly the illegitimate son of Viscount Godoy effortlessly solves a complex murder case.]
[Saka Daily Personality: A boy named Hui.]
Seriously, how could such a trivial matter become major news on Saka Star overnight?
Well, at least it’s only circulating on Saka Star, and its reach is minimal beyond this planet.
A text message popped up:
’Boss! Was this the plan you calculated?’
’You have now gained a basic level of influence, which you can use to further solidify your image as a detective and establish your political persona.’
’Later, you can fully integrate into the judicial or local security system, which is indeed a relatively fast promotion route.’
Yang Ming couldn’t quite tell if Lyu was being sarcastic or genuinely encouraging.
What the hell was this "detective" thing anyway?
He only solved the case by cheating with the info Lyu gathered, and he almost slipped up and gave himself away several times.
Compared to this scholarly stuff, he preferred skipping gangs and drawing swords.
If he had planned to take this path from the start, why name himself Hui? Wouldn’t it be more fun to choose a symbolic name like Ke Bei or Poorlmes?
Yang Ming opened the projection keyboard and sent two lines of text over.
’Reduce the spread of this matter.’
’Even if I’m down and out, I won’t become a so-called detective with an undeserved reputation. Is high technology just for show these days?’
Lyu: ’Sure, boss, I’ve actually already suppressed the news to a certain extent. There are too many jesters in the Empire, and they all love this kind of story.’
Yang Ming’s lips twitched slightly.
Outside, footsteps deliberately slowed could be heard. Yang Ming severed the connection with Lyu and quietly waited for a while.
Viscount Godoy Saka first put his ear to the door and listened carefully, making sure Yang Ming was moving before knocking on the door.
"Breakfast is ready, Hui."
Yang Ming yawned, calculated the time since his last Genetic Stabilization Liquid shot, and sent the command to 026 to ’prepare the next dose.’
During breakfast, Yang Ming clearly felt that Godoy had become quite exhilarated, his eyes bright and full of spirit, his expression filled with joy, which also influenced Lady Daly beside him, radiating gentle feminine charm.
"Is there some good news?" Yang Ming asked.
"Oh, it’s nothing, nothing major," Godoy laughed, "Experiencing attention for the first time, the tale of you solving the case last night has spread through the noble circles on this planet. Everyone’s praising you highly. Many of my relatives contacted me for the first time this year just to ask what really happened, hahaha."
Yang Ming frowned and asked, "Is that really something to be happy about?"
"It’s a bit bittersweet, but," Godoy shrugged, "it’s quite satisfying, come on!"
The two of them clinked bowls of porridge and then took a big gulp.
Lady Daly beside them couldn’t help but raise her hand to her forehead, somewhat... looking away.
After this little episode, the negotiation over Godoy’s viscount title between Yang Ming and Godoy Saka accelerated.
The first hurdle in being recognized as Viscount Godoy’s illegitimate son was the parentage test, which was smoothly passed thanks to Godoy’s meticulous planning and Lyu’s protection.
Godoy retrieved hair samples from his own children and secretly swapped them with Yang Ming’s hair samples.
Lyu kept a watchful eye on the genetic testing agency throughout the process to prevent any unexpected situations, such as test samples with no blood relation being sent.
Fortunately, Godoy’s children were all his biological offspring.
This raised Yang Ming’s opinion of Lady Daly to a new level and even somewhat reshaped his stereotypes about Imperial lady nobles and noble wives.
After obtaining a notarized paternity test, Godoy had Yang Ming wait half a month before taking him into an imposing, old building.
They were facing the Imperial Noble Council.
Many preparations were made for this day.
To handle potential tricky inquiries, Yang Ming and Godoy spent time memorizing details about an ordinary woman’s identity.
—- She was a fabricated mother by Yang Ming and a fabricated lover by Godoy, and her identity information was verifiable on the Empire’s citizen network.
To make their actions appear more reasonable, Godoy went to lengths to stage a small argument with his wife before "deciding" to bring his illegitimate son to get notarization, allowing the son to receive a title and become independent from his current family.
—- This was to provide a reasonable explanation for their actions in pursuing notarization.
To counter any possible demand for an "immediate paternity test," Godoy prepared contingency funds for bribing staff and two sample boxes.
Of course, if it reached the point of bribing staff, it would mean they were on the verge of exposure and under much greater pressure.
Yang Ming also actively prepared himself for a mental and philosophical battle with reviewing officers.
But contrary to the expectations of Yang Ming and Godoy...
The entire review process was very relaxed.
There were two officials in charge of this council session, one being a relative of Godoy and the other an elderly lady who had appeared at a previous banquet but wasn’t very noticeable.
They kindly chatted with Yang Ming for a while, then stamped the document that represented an Imperial title.