Zhang Ming

Biodata

Background / History

Zhang Ming supports a financially struggling family. His mother died young, his father has been ill for years, and his elder sister damaged her health and became lame while working to support his studies. At twenty-five or twenty-six, she remains unmarried. The family depends on Zhang Ming for living expenses and medical bills 105.

After learning their circumstances through Gossip System 011, Shen Shixu begins helping Zhang Ming without openly treating him as a charity recipient. He shares meals and pastries, provides allowances for investigative trips, and awards case-completion bonuses equivalent to a month of Zhang Ming’s salary. Although Shen believes these excuses conceal his intentions, Zhang Ming hears his inner thoughts and understands the kindness behind them 105.

Shen also includes Zhang Ming in Jiang Bin’s investigative lessons. They never formally become master and disciple, but their relationship functions as one of teacher and student. Zhang Ming’s later handling of endangered witnesses demonstrates how much he has learned under Shen 51 105 109.

Personality

Zhang Ming is courteous, sincere, and highly empathetic. He thanks a restaurant waiter for answering his questions—an unexpected gesture that leaves the man delighted. Shen considers his sensitivity to other people’s emotions a reason he maintains relationships so well, but also identifies hotheadedness and emotional influence as weaknesses in his investigative judgment 49 51.

His empathy can overwhelm him. While hearing what Feng Dayong’s wife, Miao Qinqin, and their child suffered, Zhang Ming sobs so intensely that he nearly passes out. He is also deeply grateful for Shen’s efforts to help his family while preserving his dignity 53 105.

Abilities & Skills

Social Awareness and Persuasion

• Understands people’s reservations and adapts his approach accordingly. When an elderly traveler hesitates to accept help, Zhang frames the invitation as repayment for shared food and emphasizes that the sick grandson can ride in the carriage 86.
• Wins cooperation through courtesy rather than relying solely on official authority 49.
• Persuades Chun Tao and Songshi to testify by contrasting the Court of Judicial Review’s promise of protection with their employers’ attempt to silence them 110.
• Limitation: His emotional identification with witnesses can lead him to treat a compelling motive as proof of guilt 50 51.

Investigation and Field Leadership

• Questions witnesses, reports findings, and assists searches; his initiative during the Guo Yongshun investigation earns Shen’s praise 49.
• Prepares practical supplies for investigative travel, including writing materials for Jiang Bin as well as himself 74.
• Leads four of the court’s best fighters on the mission to retrieve Chun Tao and Songshi 105.
• Deliberately waits for the assassins pursuing the witnesses, intending to rescue the pair at the moment of danger and thereby gain their trust 109.
• Limitation: Struggles with decomposing bodies. During the Song household investigation, he tries to endure the autopsy room but eventually leaves to vomit after Shen tells him not to force himself 75 76.

Awareness of Shen Shixu’s Inner Thoughts

• Can hear Shen’s thoughts and 011’s voice, allowing him to recognize Shen’s discreet financial assistance 105.
• Helps Jiang Bin prevent Jiang Miaokong and Song Zhuoyang from openly reacting when they first hear 011 86.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Dark blue-black official robes — Worn while questioning the staff at Ten-Mile Home 49.
• Court of Judicial Review lantern — Bears the court’s name and identifies him during his nighttime inquiries 49.
• Travel supplies — Changes of clothes, dry rations, charcoal pencils, and paper; he packs extra writing materials anticipating Jiang Bin’s lack of preparation 74.
• Saber — Carried during the witness-retrieval mission and drawn when his party intervenes against the assassins 109 110.
• Assignment funds — Receives two hundred-tael banknotes from Shen for travel expenses and a bonus; pays each of his four accompanying fighters ten taels 105 109.

Relationships

• Shen Shixu — Superior and informal teacher. Provides investigative training and discreet support for Zhang’s family; Zhang recognizes his consideration and is deeply grateful 51 105.
• Jiang Bin — Fellow investigative trainee and frequent companion. Zhang prepares extra supplies for him, and the pair carry out assignments together during the Song household case 74 83.
• Father and elder sister — Dependents whose medical and living expenses Zhang supports. His sister previously sacrificed her health to fund his education 105.
• Chun Tao and Songshi — Witnesses he rescues from assassins and escorts to the capital after securing their agreement to testify 109 110.
• Four Court of Judicial Review fighters — Subordinates on the retrieval mission. They praise his improved judgment and ask him to remember them if he rises in his career 109.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Guo Yongshun Murder Investigation

• Establishes the victim’s name and probable residence by questioning a waiter at Ten-Mile Home 49.
• Initially suspects the man whose elderly mother died because of Guo, citing both the blood feud and the man’s stated desire for revenge. Jiang Bin challenges this reasoning 50.
• When Shen directs them to the alley’s butcher, Zhang connects the lead with the coroner’s finding that the wound was made by a pig-slaughtering knife, then guides the party to the butcher’s home 52.
• Reacts intensely to the account of Guo’s abuse of Feng Dayong’s family 53.

Song Household Massacre

• Joins Shen’s expedition to Qu City as an opportunity to observe an investigation firsthand 73 74.
• His difficulty enduring the autopsy room causes him and Jiang Bin to fall behind Shen and Xiao Jinyi 75 76 85.
• Helps bring He Chenyang’s mother, Fang Keru, and Song Zhuoyang’s uncle to the confrontation. When the uncle faints, Zhang pours cold water over his face while Jiang Bin assists in reviving him 83.
• On the return journey, helps persuade an elderly man and his sick grandson to travel with the group 86.

Hu Lanxin Poisoning Investigation

• Travels to Majia’ao in Tianshui County with four fighters to retrieve the missing servants Chun Tao and Songshi 105 109.
• Conceals his party nearby until two assassins attack, then leads the intervention that captures them 109.
• Secures the servants’ cooperation and returns with them to the capital two days later 110.
• Responds promptly to Shen’s cue by having the captured assassins brought forward, supporting the case against Prince Changping for hiring killers 111.

Notable Quotes

“But we want you to come back alive and testify, while they want to silence you forever.” 110