Recaps

Zhou Yi used the video evidence to turn the provincial officials against Tian Zhengbing and expose his attempts to protect Song Tianlin. The meeting ended with Tian Zhengbing forced to agree that Song Tianlin should not be released yet.

• Zhou Yi argued that the video justified an investigation into the Chuanhai City Public Security Bureau, and Feng Shicheng and Xiang Qun supported him.
• Tian Zhengbing questioned Yan Li about the arrest, interrogation, and his connection to Zhou Xue, while Yan Li calmly answered that he had received an anonymous tip and had not tortured Song Tianlin.
• Zhou Yi challenged Tian Zhengbing to prove Yan Li had framed Song Tianlin, then suggested investigating whether Yan Li had acted on someone's orders.
• Yan Li denied acting on orders but implied Tian Zhengbing knew the truth, making Tian Zhengbing fear that Yan Li had evidence of his instructions.
• Zhou Yi asked whether Song Tianlin should be released, and Tian Zhengbing reluctantly said, "Don't release him yet!"

Zhou Yi ordered the Chuanhai Municipal Bureau to hand over Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu, while his crackdown on Song Tianlin’s case left Mayor Song Penghui and his allies scrambling. The municipal bureau reluctantly agreed to release the two women into the provincial department’s custody.

• After Zhou Yi outmaneuvered Tian Zhengbing at the leadership meeting, Tian called Sui Jianchang and warned him that video evidence implicated Song Tianlin and that the provincial department would investigate the Chuanhai bureau’s officers.
• Sui Jianchang failed to secure Song Tianlin’s release, and Song Penghui reprimanded him before returning home to face Yi Ling’s demands that he get Zhou Yi removed.
• Zhou Yi ordered Bi Wensheng to bring Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu from the Chuanhai Municipal Bureau, and Bi took Yan Li with him.
• At the Chuanhai bureau, Ji Feng claimed Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu had described their encounters with Song Tianlin as consensual role-play, but Yan Li rejected the claim and asserted the provincial department’s authority to take them.
• Ji Feng consulted Sui Jianchang, who swallowed his anger and ordered the bureau to hand Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu over.

After Zhou Yi intervened in Song Tianlin’s case, Hou Xiangyang and Lan Kun gave conflicting instructions over who should handle it. Zhou Yi was summoned to meet the governor and arrived at the Provincial Government, where Peng Jiaxue greeted him.

• Yan Li rescued Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu from the Chuanhai Municipal Public Security Bureau and took them away in a provincial police car.
• Sui Jianchang worried that Zhou Yi’s intervention could expose the Municipal Bureau’s misconduct to a provincial investigation.
• Hou Xiangyang told Cheng Zhixing he wanted Song Tianlin’s case transferred to the Chuanhai Municipal Public Security Bureau.
• Cheng Zhixing told Hou Xiangyang that Lan Kun had ordered the Provincial Public Security Department to handle the case according to law, with Zhou Yi supervising it.
• Hou Xiangyang told Cheng Zhixing to have Zhou Yi handle the case carefully, then considered Lan Kun’s motives for putting Zhou Yi in charge.
• Xu Wenjin summoned Zhou Yi to meet Governor Lan Kun at three that afternoon, and Peng Jiaxue greeted Zhou when he arrived early at the Provincial Government.

Zhou Yi assured Governor Lan Kun that he would refuse any order to release Song Tianlin, and Lan revealed that the Provincial Procuratorate would begin the arrest approval process immediately. Meanwhile, Qu Hongying prepared to go to Linhai, but Yi Yingxiang disappeared before authorities could arrest him, prompting Zhou Yi to help search for him.

• Zhou Yi told Governor Lan Kun that he would refuse even Lan's order to release Song Tianlin, and Lan confirmed the Provincial Procuratorate would begin the arrest approval process immediately.
• Lan Kun declined to identify the person who had called Zhou Yi a slippery little fellow.
• Jiang Bolin told Qu Hongying to stay vigilant in Linhai and said Zhou Yi could assist her if she ran into trouble.
• Jiang Bolin ordered Han Dong to cooperate in arresting Yi Yingxiang, but Yi disappeared from an entrepreneurs' reception before authorities could catch him.
• Cheng Zhixing instructed Zhou Yi to deploy the Criminal Investigation Corps and Public Security Management Corps to help find Yi Yingxiang, and Zhou Yi smiled when he heard the name.

Linhai Province’s leaders discussed Deputy Secretary Yi Yingxiang’s escape from an attempted arrest and the growing search for her. After investigators found evidence of her preparations to flee, Yi remained missing, while Zhou Yi left without explaining where he was going.

• Han Dong told Hou Xiangyang, Lan Kun, Liang Kejian, Cheng Zhixing, and Jiang Yunlai that Yi Yingxiang had escaped through a hotel’s rear entrance as the Supreme People’s Procuratorate moved to arrest her.
• Cheng Zhixing reported that surveillance footage showed Yi Yingxiang’s car heading toward Nanchang County, and Tian Zhengbing ordered police to search roads, airports, and stations.
• Wu Daojun’s team searched Yi Yingxiang’s home and found cash, foreign currency, two passports under different names, and a hidden safe.
• Tian Zhengbing reported that police had intercepted Yi Yingxiang’s car, but only her driver was inside, and the search still had not found her by 11:20 p.m.
• Bi Wensheng told Tian Zhengbing that Zhou Yi had gone out with Yan Li, but he did not know where they had gone.

Yi Yingxiang tried to hide at Rong Jinxiu’s villa after evading a large police search, but Zhou Yi’s team arrested her there. Her capture stunned officials in Capital City and Linhai, where some leaders feared the investigation would implicate them.

• Yi Yingxiang escaped the hotel through a carefully arranged route and hid at Rong Jinxiu’s villa in Shanhai Garden.
• Deputy Corps Commander Yan Li and two other officers arrested Yi Yingxiang at the villa at 12:40 a.m. on August 6, and investigators also detained Kong Baorui and two Shanhai Group employees.
• Tian Zhengbing was furious that Zhou Yi’s small team had caught Yi Yingxiang after his much larger search had failed.
• Deputy Procurator-General Jiang Bolin learned that Yi Yingxiang had been caught and correctly guessed that Zhou Yi had led the operation.
• Several senior Linhai Provincial Party Committee leaders received the news, and some worried they might be implicated.

Qu Hongying traveled to Linhai after hearing about Zhou Yi’s arrest of Yi Yingxiang and planned to meet the celebrated deputy director. Zhou Yi arranged the transfer of Song Tianlin’s case, released Kong Baorui and his two subordinates for lack of evidence, and left Rong Jinxiu’s allies questioning his decision.

• Qu Hongying received Jiang Bolin’s account of Yi Yingxiang’s arrest and promised to seek Zhou Yi’s help if needed in Linhai.
• Gao Songzhi relayed Minister Xiao’s advice that Qu Hongying should rely more on others, and she set off for Linhai intending to judge Zhou Yi for herself.
• Zhou Yi told Yan Li to prepare Song Tianlin’s case files for transfer to the provincial procuratorate that week.
• Yan Li explained that Kong Baorui and his two subordinates denied knowing Yi Yingxiang was wanted, and Cheng Zhixing called Zhou Yi and ordered their release.
• Kong Baorui and the others returned to Shanhai Manor, where Sui Jianchang and Yang Chunlei questioned Rong Jinxiu about Zhou Yi releasing them.

Rong Jinxiu revealed that investigators had found a safe at Yi Yingxiang’s home, alarming the officials who feared she might implicate them. With Yi Yingxiang refusing to name powerful figures and the investigation stalled, Wu Daojun called Director Zhou for help.

• Guo Shushan, Sui Jianchang, and Guo Shucheng questioned Rong Jinxiu about Yi Yingxiang’s case, and Rong told them investigators had found a small safe in Yi Yingxiang’s home.
• Song Penghui and Liang Kejian worried that Yi Yingxiang might expose their ties to her and searched for ways to protect themselves.
• Wu Daojun examined Yi Yingxiang’s cash, diaries, and optical discs, but Yi Yingxiang admitted only to general wrongdoing and avoided naming influential people.
• After several days without progress, Wu Daojun was instructed to hand Yi Yingxiang over to the Provincial Procuratorate once he obtained key testimony in the Capital City case.
• Wu Daojun called Director Zhou to ask for help, surprising Qu Hongying, who had expected to enlist him first.

Zhou Yi agreed to help Wu Daojun investigate Yi Yingxiang’s hidden evidence, insisting that only Wu Daojun and Qu Hongying know about it. Meanwhile, the Linhai Provincial Procuratorate opened an investigation into Yan Li for extracting confessions by torture.

• Wu Daojun asked Zhou Yi to discreetly investigate whether Yi Yingxiang had hidden more evidence, and Zhou agreed on the condition that no one beyond Wu Daojun and Qu Hongying know.
• Zhou Yi considered Linhai Province’s dangerous factional conflicts and decided to use his position to accomplish something rather than coast along.
• Zhou Yi summoned Old Yan to his office to assign him a mission.
• Han Dong approved Fang Zhen and Lu Xuexin’s request to investigate a suspected case of extracting confessions by torture.
• The Provincial Procuratorate’s Anti-Dereliction Bureau lawfully summoned Yan Li, deputy captain of the Provincial Public Security Department’s Criminal Investigation Corps.

After the provincial Procuratorate opened an investigation into Yan Li for torturing Song Tianlin, Zhou Yi suspected the move was part of a plan to overturn the case. Rong Jinxiu and her allies raced to find Yi Yingxiang’s hidden evidence first, while Zhou Yi turned to his bodyguard for help.

• Wu Daojun told Zhou Yi that the Procuratorate had opened a criminal investigation into Yan Li based on Song Tianlin’s account and testimony from others.
• Zhou Yi acknowledged that Yan Li had used torture but suspected the Procuratorate was targeting him and preparing to overturn the Song Tianlin case.
• Tian Zhengbing celebrated Yan Li’s investigation and planned to pursue claims that Yan Li had colluded with Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu to frame Song Tianlin.
• Rong Jinxiu ordered Sui Jianchang to search for Yi Yingxiang’s hidden evidence before Zhou Yi could reach it, while arranging to monitor Zhou Yi.
• Zhou Yi, left without Yan Li’s help, asked his bodyguard Chen Zhong to do something for him.

Zhou Yi struggled to find trustworthy people to secretly locate Yi Yingxiang’s hidden evidence, while Chen Zhong evaded surveillance and investigated the fish ponds. When Jian Shuyue called on her father’s behalf, Zhou Yi admitted he had a problem, and Mu Yalan took the phone to ask what had happened.

• Zhou Yi doubted he could trust Bi Wensheng and Jiang Xuezeng to investigate Yi Yingxiang, and missed having Li Linsen, Yu Xiao, and Meng Shen at his side.
• Chen Zhong noticed two plainclothes officers tailing him, escaped them by changing clothes and buses, and traveled toward Nanchang County.
• Sui Jianchang ordered more officers to watch Zhou Yi after his men lost Chen Zhong.
• Chen Zhong reported that Hongqiao Township had three fish ponds but he could not identify which leaseholder was connected to Yi Yingxiang.
• Zhou Yi recalled that Yi Yingxiang’s illicit funds and account books were buried beneath a hut beside one of the ponds, but feared a formal search would alert the conspirators.
• Jian Shuyue called Zhou Yi on Secretary Jian Wanyan’s behalf, and Mu Yalan took the phone after Zhou Yi said he had a problem.

Zhou Yi confronted Fang Zhen over Yan Li’s interrogation, but the Procuratorate kept Yan under residential surveillance and returned Song Tianlin’s case for further investigation. After several days of apparent inaction, Zhou Yi obtained a search warrant and led investigators to Hongqiao Township, where they found armed People’s Armed Police surrounding a building.

• Zhou Yi warned Fang Zhen not to frame Yan Li, while Fang insisted the Procuratorate would handle the case without outside interference.
• The Provincial Procuratorate placed Yan Li under residential surveillance and returned Song Tianlin’s rape case to the Public Security Department for supplementary investigation.
• Fu Kui brought Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu in for questioning after receiving a complaint and a phone-call recording from Zhou Xue’s relatives, and Zhou Yi reviewed the interrogation records and footage.
• Rong Jinxiu, Tian Zhengbing, Song Penghui, Liang Kejian, Qu Hongying, Fang Zhen, and Wu Daojun watched Zhou Yi’s movements as he remained publicly inactive for several days.
• On August 16, Zhou Yi obtained Cheng Zhixing’s approval for a search warrant and led Criminal Investigation Corps officers to Hongqiao Township.
• A Nanchang County Public Security Bureau deputy director arrived with county and local officers and found armed People’s Armed Police surrounding a building by a fishpond.

Zhou Yi led a covert search operation to Hongqiao Township, where armed police had already secured the fish-pond huts. The chapter ended with Wu Han reporting that his personnel were in position and awaiting Zhou Yi’s orders.

• Fu Kui and Bi Wensheng questioned how Zhou Yi had obtained reliable intelligence, while Tian Zhengbing suspected the search was a smokescreen.
• Rong Jinxiu told Tian Zhengbing that armed police had secured the huts in Hongqiao Township and blocked the county bureau from entering.
• Cheng Zhixing learned from Wu Ping'an that the armed police were conducting an unscheduled field exercise in Hongqiao Township, authorized by Wu Ping'an.
• Zhou Yi arrived with the provincial department’s team and challenged Ji Feng, Zhu Sijie, and Deng Guofan over their presence.
• Wu Han saluted Zhou Yi and reported that all his personnel were in position and awaiting orders.

Zhou Yi’s search uncovered two ledgers hidden beneath the floor of Cabin No. 3, implicating more than thirty officials. As provincial leaders raced to decide how to handle them, Zhou Yi sealed the ledgers and left Cheng Zhixing and Tian Zhengbing wondering whose names they contained.

• Zhou Yi assigned Ji Feng, Zhu Sijie, and Deng Guofan to secure the perimeter while the search teams checked the cabins.
• Song Penghui and Liang Kejian anxiously feared what the search might uncover, while Governor Lan Kun learned that investigators had found two ledgers buried in Cabin No. 3.
• Hou Xiangyang ordered his staff to arrange an immediate return to Chuanhai after hearing the news.
• Zhou Yi returned to the Provincial Public Security Department under armed escort and told Cheng Zhixing and Tian Zhengbing that the ledgers implicated more than thirty officials.
• Zhou Yi said Governor Lan had ordered the ledgers sealed pending discussions with Hou Xiangyang and national authorities, leaving Cheng Zhixing and Tian Zhengbing seeking a way to learn whose names appeared in them.

Zhou Yi persuaded Cheng Zhixing and Tian Zhengbing to investigate Bi Wensheng and Fu Kui over a suspected leak, then secured their support for intervening in Yan Li’s treatment and reviewing Song Tianlin’s case. The chapter left Zhou with room to act against the men who had challenged him while Cheng and Tian publicly backed his requests.

• Zhou Yi pointed out that officers had arrived in Hongqiao Township before his team and recommended investigating Bi Wensheng and Fu Kui for leaking operational intelligence.
• Tian Zhengbing agreed to the investigation, deciding that Fu Kui could be made to take the fall, while Zhou planned to remove both men from the Criminal Investigation Corps.
• Zhou told Cheng Zhixing and Tian Zhengbing that the Provincial Procuratorate had improperly held and questioned Yan Li, and Cheng promised to press Procurator-General Han Dong for a satisfactory outcome.
• Zhou raised concerns that officials were trying to overturn Song Tianlin’s rape case by targeting Zhou Xue, Lin Zhu, and Yan Li.
• Cheng agreed to follow up with the Procuratorate and left Zhou to handle the case involving Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu, while Tian endorsed Zhou’s suspicions.

Zhou Yi secured Yan Li’s release and support for resubmitting Song Tianlin’s case while hinting that the ledgers’ fallout reached provincial officials. As powerful figures scrambled to protect themselves, Zhou Yi told Tian Zhengbing that the ledgers would go to the Discipline Inspection Commission, then left Jiang Yunlai’s fate uncertain.

• Cheng Zhixing ordered Procurator-General Han Dong to release Yan Li and indicated that Song Tianlin’s case could be resubmitted, then Zhou Yi hinted that the trouble extended from the province down to the counties.
• Cheng Zhixing realized that Rong Jinxiu, Jiang Yunlai, Hou Xiangyang, and Song Penghui would all be unsettled by the news, while Rong Jinxiu made numerous calls and Jiang Yunlai contacted Capital City to seek help.
• Jian Wanyan told a former leader that Jiang Yunlai should call him directly to discuss the matter, then received a call from Lan Kun.
• Song Penghui slapped Yi Ling and argued that others might protect him because they feared being implicated, while insisting his name might not appear in the ledgers.
• Zhou Yi asked Tian Zhengbing to support Yan Li temporarily taking charge of the Criminal Investigation Corps, and Tian agreed.
• Tian Zhengbing asked whether the ledgers would reach the Discipline Inspection Commission and what might happen to Jiang Yunlai; Zhou Yi said the ledgers would go there but left Jiang Yunlai’s future unanswered.

Zhou Yi withheld evidence until Governor Lan and Secretary Hou returned, then warned Wu Daojun that Qu Hongying's office might be bugged. A listening device was found in Qu Hongying's office, and Yan Li returned to the Provincial Procuratorate with a team on Zhou Yi's orders.

• Wu Daojun called Zhou Yi to request evidence against Yi Yingxiang, but Zhou refused to hand it over before Governor Lan and Secretary Hou returned.
• Zhou Yi told Wu Daojun that the leak of their earlier investigation suggested Qu Hongying's office was bugged, prompting Wu and Qu to search the room.
• Han Dong released Yan Li and recognized that Zhou Yi's possession of the ledgers made him someone the Procuratorate could not afford to offend.
• Lu Xuexin reported that a listening device had been found in Qu Hongying's office, and Han Dong rushed to inspect the scene.
• The task force and State Security personnel found a listening device hidden in an electric kettle, while Qu Hongying accused He Ya and said she had called the police.
• Yan Li returned to the Provincial Procuratorate with a team on Zhou Yi's orders.

Yan Li returned to the Procuratorate and exposed a scandal involving Fang Zhen and He Ya. Zhou Yi brought Yi Yingxiang’s two Ledgers to Hou Xiangyang and Lan Kun, then told them that listening devices had been found in Procuratorate offices, leaving Hou suspicious of a political attack.

• Yan Li led his men back into the Procuratorate, where He Ya clung to Fang Zhen and called him her husband in front of the staff.
• Peng Jiaxue summoned Zhou Yi to the Provincial Party Committee, where Hou Xiangyang and Lan Kun examined the two Ledgers he had recovered.
• Hou Xiangyang and Lan Kun reacted angrily to the Ledgers’ detailed records of Yi Yingxiang’s bribes to thirty-six officials.
• Zhou Yi said Wu Daojun had asked him to investigate Yi Yingxiang’s hidden evidence and that an anonymous caller had directed him to it.
• Zhou Yi told the leaders that Wu Daojun and Qu Hongying had found listening devices in their offices, and Hou Xiangyang suspected a coordinated attack on the Procuratorate.

Hou Xiangyang questioned Zhou Yi about the Provincial Procuratorate bugging scandal and the Ledgers while suspecting a plot against Han Dong. As Hou and Lan Kun began private negotiations, Zhou waited outside and met Ding Erniu, whose humorous story about a staged market inspection ended on a rueful note.

• Hou Xiangyang suspected the bugging scandal was aimed at Han Dong and pressed Zhou Yi for details about the investigation and who had seen the Ledgers.
• Zhou Yi explained that Qu Hongying’s team had found a listening device in an electric kettle and that the police had detained He Ya, while insisting he had not disclosed the Ledgers’ names or figures.
• Lan Kun praised Zhou Yi and asked him to wait outside while he and Hou Xiangyang discussed the matter.
• Zhou Yi chatted with Peng Jiaxue and met Ding Erniu, secretary to Hou Xiangyang.
• Ding Erniu recounted how a government employee posing as a meat vendor exposed a staged farmers’ market during Hou Xiangyang’s inspection, leaving the three men amused but rueful.

Zhou Yi and other officials awaited the start of Linhai’s anti-corruption campaign as Provincial Party Committee Secretary Hou Xiangyang convened an emergency meeting to address two ledgers naming more than thirty officials. When Liang Kejian challenged the evidence and Zhou Yi’s investigations, Zhou said ordinary citizens had provided the tips.

• Hou Xiangyang and Lan Kun agreed to launch formal investigations into city- and county-level officials named in the ledgers and refer suspected crimes to prosecutors.
• Hou Xiangyang told the Standing Committee that he had reported the provincial-level names to Capital City and requested central authorities’ involvement.
• Hou Xiangyang confronted Liang Kejian, who denied understanding the accusation and questioned the ledgers’ provenance.
• Liang Kejian challenged Zhou Yi to explain how he repeatedly found Yi Yingxiang and evidence against her.
• Zhou Yi said ordinary citizens had provided public-spirited tips.

Zhou Yi rebutted Liang Kejian’s accusations about the ledgers and insisted that their authenticity would be verified by the procuratorial authorities. After Zhou Yi challenged Liang to control who called him, Liang collapsed and was carried to the hospital, leaving the meeting in stunned silence.

• Liang Kejian questioned whether Zhou Yi had fabricated the tip about the hidden ledgers, and Zhou answered each of his challenges.
• Liang accused Zhou of conspiring to frame him and demanded to know whether the caller existed and whether the ledgers were genuine.
• Zhou said the Criminal Investigation department had confirmed Yi Yingxiang’s handwriting and that the procuratorial authorities would verify the ledgers.
• Zhou asked Liang whether he could control who the public called, and Liang lost consciousness.
• Hou Xiangyang ordered staff to take Liang to the hospital while the Standing Committee members looked at Zhou with surprise.

Zhou Yi helped secure support for an uncompromising corruption investigation, then traveled to the Provincial Procuratorate, where Qu Hongying asked him to assist with a difficult case. After learning that Xiao Xiangqian had recommended him, Zhou Yi agreed to help.

• Lan Kun lightly criticized Zhou Yi, who apologized for his outburst and promised to visit Liang Kejian in the hospital.
• Hou Xiangyang told the Standing Committee that Capital City’s leadership ordered officials to be investigated regardless of rank or number, and assigned teams to pursue the cases and prevent suspects from fleeing.
• Zhou Yi, Qu Hongying, and Wu Daojun went to the Provincial Procuratorate, where Wu Daojun took the evidence and his team to interrogate Yi Yingxiang.
• Qu Hongying praised Zhou Yi’s investigative record and asked him to help with a difficult case on Jiang Bolin’s recommendation.
• After Qu Hongying said Xiao Xiangqian had recommended him and called her, Zhou Yi agreed to help and addressed her as Sister Qu.

Yi Yingxiang gave up resisting after Wu Daojun confronted her with the ledgers, which she believed Wang Shang had revealed. Qu Hongying then told Zhou Yi that she had come to investigate Rong Jinxiu, and wondered whether he could find the anonymous informant.

• Wu Daojun showed Yi Yingxiang the two ledgers, and she recognized them as the books she had written herself.
• Yi Yingxiang concluded Wang Shang had exposed the ledgers and agreed to answer Wu Daojun's questions.
• Qu Hongying told Zhou Yi that anonymous reports accused Rong Jinxiu of colluding with officials to misappropriate state-owned assets.
• Qu Hongying explained that the informant had provided leads but refused to meet, leaving the investigators to identify him without alerting Rong Jinxiu.
• Qu Hongying wondered whether Zhou Yi could find the informant, but believed he could.

Zhou Yi agreed to help Qu Hongying investigate Rong Jinxiu while keeping his methods for identifying the Xinguang Factory whistleblower secret. After a month-long anti-corruption sweep toppled thirty-six officials, he strengthened his position in the Provincial Public Security Department and brought trusted officers from Southwest to Linhai.

• Zhou Yi asked Qu Hongying whether Rong Jinxiu had learned about the investigation, then offered to discreetly investigate Xinguang Factory’s senior management.
• Zhou Yi returned to the Provincial Public Security Department to coordinate with Tian Zhengbing on keeping key suspects under surveillance.
• Beginning on August 16, 2008, discipline authorities investigated thirty-six officials across Chuanhai, Desheng, and Gaoxin after Yi Yingxiang’s arrest led to the discovery of hidden ledgers.
• Tian Zhengbing accepted Zhou Yi’s growing influence over the Criminal Investigation Corps as Yan Li took over its daily operations and Zhou Yi transferred six trusted officers from Southwest.
• Zhou Yi warmly welcomed Li Linsen, Yu Xiao, and Meng Shen in Linhai, intending to send them to investigate the Xinguang Factory whistleblower.

Zhou Yi assigned his trusted officers to investigate the whistleblower and arranged their new posts, while Jiang Xuezeng cautiously submitted to his authority. A month after the Xinguang Factory case stalled, Qu Hongying heard from Zhou Yi that his team had nearly confirmed the whistleblower’s identity.

• Zhou Yi assigned Cai Xiaobo, Shao Mingbao, and Zhu Jianping to investigate the deputy director of Xinguang Factory, while Li Linsen, Yu Xiao, and Meng Shen received posts under Yan Li.
• Zhou Yi placed the Auspicious Three Treasures under Jiang Xuezeng and warned him to discipline them if needed, prompting Jiang to ingratiate himself and promise to report developments.
• Qu Hongying reflected on the month without progress in the Xinguang Factory case and on her fruitless investigation of Huang Kun, which had instead uncovered suspicions about Wen Jianzhang.
• Zhou Yi called Qu Hongying and said they had nearly confirmed the whistleblower’s identity.