Chapter Summaries

Minister Xiao and Wei Siqi asked Jian Wanyan to send Zhou Yi to Jiangnan to help solve two major unsolved cases. Though Jian worried about his future son-in-law, he agreed to consider the temporary assignment, leaving Zhou Yi’s move to Jiangnan pending.

• Minister Xiao asked Jian Wanyan to lend Zhou Yi to Jiangnan, citing the province’s need for an experienced police official after its wrongful-conviction scandal.
• Jian Wanyan hesitated because he had plans for Zhou Yi’s career and feared he would be mistreated away from Liaodong.
• Wei Siqi reprimanded Jiangnan’s officials for failing to solve two major cases in Changtian City and initially rejected the idea of borrowing someone from Liaodong.
• After reading about Zhou Yi’s success in a Liaodong case, Wei Siqi called Jian Wanyan and personally asked for his help.
• Jian Wanyan told Mu Yalan that he was considering sending Zhou Yi on a temporary assignment, and she supported the idea despite worrying about the risks.

Zhou Yi visited his uncle’s family in Changtian City with Jian Shuyue, but the reunion turned tense when his cousin Guo Wuxing was arrested after assaulting Yang Ni’s supervisor. At the police station, Zhou Yi challenged the officers’ handling of the case and called Brother Shan for help.

• Zhou Yi and his parents arrived at Guo Donglin’s home, where the family welcomed them and praised Jian Shuyue.
• Zhou Yi learned that Guo Wuxing and Yang Ni would arrive later, then spent the afternoon and dinner with his relatives.
• Guo Donglin received a call saying police had arrested Guo Wuxing for beating Yang Ni’s supervisor, Sun Xiang.
• Zhou Yi and his family went to the Dafeng District Police Station, where he saw Guo Wuxing bruised and handcuffed while officers treated Sun Xiang warmly.
• Chu Dawei told Zhou Yi that Guo Wuxing would serve five days of detention and warned him to take Jian Shuyue away from Sun Xiang.
• Zhou Yi noticed Sun Xiang staring at Jian Shuyue, called the situation courting death, and phoned Brother Shan for help.

Zhou Yi’s call overturned Sun Xiang’s efforts to have Guo Wuxing detained and left Chu Dawei ready to follow his orders. Guo Wuxing’s family still faced Sun Xiang’s demand for an apology, but Zhou Yi ordered Sun Xiang punished instead.

• Guo Siwei learned that officials wanted his family to bow to Sun Xiang, while Feng Momo’s family refused to help.
• Guo Wuxing recalled catching Yang Ni kissing Sun Xiang, who beat him after he intervened.
• Guo Donglin tried to reason with Sun Xiang, but Sun demanded that the family bow and apologize.
• Chu Dawei received instructions from his director and realized Zhou Yi was Director Zhou.
• Zhou Yi ordered Chu Dawei to release Guo Wuxing and give Sun Xiang five days in detention and a five-hundred-yuan fine.

Zhou Yi used his authority to secure Guo Wuxing’s release and have Sun Xiang detained, then urged Guo Wuxing to speak with Yang Ni. Guo Siwei told Feng Momo that his cousin was Zhou Yi, leaving her family astonished by Zhou Yi’s position and influence.

• Chu Dawei chose to follow Zhou Yi’s instructions, and the police released Guo Wuxing while arresting Sun Xiang for five days and fining him five hundred yuan.
• Zhou Yi took Guo Siwei and his family home, then advised Guo Wuxing to talk with Yang Ni.
• Feng Momo called Guo Siwei and learned that his brother had been released and Sun Xiang detained after his cousin intervened.
• Feng Momo told her parents what happened and revealed that Guo Siwei’s cousin was Zhou Yi, Yangcheng City's Political and Legal Affairs Commission secretary and public security director.
• Feng Liangliang excitedly recognized Zhou Yi as his idol.

Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue attended the preparations for Guo Siwei’s wedding, where their success and appearance impressed both families. At the reception, Feng Liangliang’s friends remembered Wei Shanshan’s trauma before Song Lingxin lightened the mood by recommending an erotic story about Zhou Yi.

• Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue returned to Guo Donglin’s home, where relatives praised Jian and Teacher Guo savored their admiration for her son’s career.
• At the Hongsheng Grand Hotel wedding, Guo Donglin introduced Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue to Feng Momo’s family, and Feng Jiaping greeted Zhou Yi before the couple joined the witness’s table.
• Feng Liangliang showed off Zhou Yi to his friends, then sighed when they asked whether Wei Shanshan would attend.
• Feng Liangliang and his friends recalled that Wei Shanshan had been struggling since surviving the Sixth Middle School dormitory tragedy, whose killer remained at large.
• Song Lingxin recommended an erotic online story featuring Zhou Yi, prompting Feng Liangliang to demand the link and threaten her playfully.

At Guo Wuxing’s wedding, Sun Xiang tried to provoke a confrontation and the Municipal Public Security Bureau arrived to take Guo away. Zhou Yi stopped the arrest by calling Deputy Director Liao Wensong, and the officers withdrew while Sun Xiang fled.

• Feng Jiaping told Zhou Yi that the 730 Dormitory Tragedy and the 83 Major Arson Case had left Changtian’s authorities without leads.
• Sun Xiang arrived at Guo Wuxing’s wedding, insulted him, and summoned three Municipal Public Security Bureau officers to take him in for questioning.
• Feng Jiaping challenged the officers’ authority, but Mu Junjie insisted they were carrying out their duties.
• Zhou Yi handed Mu Junjie a phone call from Deputy Director Liao Wensong, who ordered him back and told him to bring Huang Youmin to his office.
• Mu Junjie apologized and led the officers away, and Zhou Yi threw Sun Xiang’s red envelope at him and ordered him to leave.

At Guo Siwei and Feng Momo’s wedding, Zhou Yi realized Feng Liangliang might soon be in danger and wondered how to save him. Half a month later, Zhou Yi arrived in Changtian as the municipal Public Security Bureau’s executive deputy director, startling local officers who had met him before.

• Guo Siwei introduced Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue to Feng Momo, who admired the couple.
• Feng Momo introduced Feng Liangliang and his classmates to Zhou Yi, who recognized that Liangliang might become involved with Wei Shanshan and worried about preventing his fate.
• Zhao Xuanwen told Sun Xiang to drop his conflict with the Guo family and warned him not to provoke Zhou Yi.
• At a December 18, 2006 meeting, Chu Dawei and Mu Junjie saw Zhou Yi appointed executive deputy director of the Changtian Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Zhou Yi took up his post as Changtian City's acting Public Security Bureau director and began investigating the rape-murder case at No. 6 High School. As he arrived at the crime scene, he spotted Feng Liangliang and silently vowed to save her.

• Wang Haidong announced Zhou Yi's appointment, and Zhou Yi thanked the provincial and municipal leaders in his first speech.
• After a welcome banquet, Zhou Yi held his first Party committee meeting and heard work reports from the bureau's detachments.
• Zhou Yi ordered Ji Fengning to take him to the No. 6 High School crime scene, while Jing Xianfeng secretly informed someone about the visit and dismissed Zhou Yi as an outsider.
• Zhou Yi and the officers arrived at No. 6 High School, where Feng Liangliang, Song Lingxin, and Xia Yu Xun recognized him.
• Zhou Yi greeted the school administrators and spotted Feng Liangliang on the way to the girls' dormitory.

Zhou Yi inspected the unsolved murders of three students in a girls’ dormitory and reviewed the case with the investigators. He left them with a new deduction: the killers may have shaved off all their hair or been naturally hairless.

• Ji Fengning explained how four masked attackers assaulted four students in room 314, killing three and leaving Wei Shanshan unconscious but alive.
• Zhou Yi inspected the dormitory and learned that heavy rain and a broken surveillance camera had left investigators without clues.
• Zhou Yi returned to the bureau and told the case team he believed the attack had been planned and the killers had carefully avoided leaving evidence.
• Zhou Yi pointed out that the victims’ hair remained at the scene while none of the killers’ hair was found, suggesting they had shaved or were naturally hairless.

Director Zhou suspected that Wei Shanshan and an accomplice had orchestrated the dormitory massacre, and his orders led investigators to her stepfather. The next day, Zhou Yi reported that the suspect had already been caught, stunning the city’s senior officials.

• Director Zhou challenged the claim that four men had attacked the students and identified Wei Shanshan as a possible suspect, pointing to Lin Qiaoling’s toilet paper as a possible clue to the surname Wei.
• Director Zhou proposed that Wei Shanshan had resented her roommates’ help and planned the murders with someone outside the school, then ordered investigators to examine her social connections and movements.
• Ji Fengning investigated Wei Shanshan’s stepfather and found that he was bald, had sparse eyebrows, and was physically strong.
• At a Changtian City Standing Committee meeting, Vice Mayor Wen Wan received a call from Zhou Yi and announced that the dormitory massacre suspect had been caught.

On his fourth day in office, Zhou Yi solved the 730 Dormitory Tragedy, exposing Wei Zhonghou and his stepdaughter Wei Shanshan as responsible for the murders. The city and provincial leaders celebrated Zhou Yi’s success, while Minister Xiao Xiangqian asked to borrow him if he solved another case, but Wei Siqi hung up before answering.

• Zhao Dingzhi ordered Vice Mayor Wen to summon Zhou Yi so the standing committee could meet the director who had solved the case.
• Police questioning revealed that Wei Zhonghou had abused and exploited Wei Shanshan for years before murdering Huang Jingru, Lin Qiaoling, and another girl in their dormitory.
• Wei Shanshan admitted that jealousy and resentment had driven her to target her dormmates, and her attempt to mislead investigators failed.
• Ji Fengning and the other investigators praised Zhou Yi’s deductions about Wei Zhonghou, the evidence, and Wei Shanshan’s motives.
• Wei Siqi congratulated Zhou Yi through Zhao Dingzhi and told Xiao Xiangqian that the dormitory case had been solved in four days.
• Xiao Xiangqian asked Wei Siqi to lend Zhou Yi to him if Zhou solved the other case, but Wei Siqi hung up without answering.

After Zhou Yi solved the July 30 massacre, Wei Siqi celebrated his success and privately resisted Jian Wanyan’s expectation that he would return Zhou Yi after a year. Zhou Yi rejected Zhao Qiushui’s dinner invitation, so she ordered Sun Xiang to use his ties to the Guo Family to arrange another invitation, leaving Sun Xiang pleading for help at Guo Donglin’s door.

• Wei Siqi told Jian Wanyan that Zhou Yi had solved the Changtian City massacre, then brushed off Jian Wanyan’s reminder to return him after a year.
• Zhou Yi returned to the public security bureau, reflected on his successful debut, and decided to take the afternoon off.
• Zhao Qiushui invited Zhou Yi to dinner, but he said he did not know her and hung up.
• Zhao Qiushui ordered her secretary Qiu Guoguo to tell Sun Xiang to arrange a dinner invitation through the Guo Family.
• Sun Xiang begged Qiu Guoguo for help, then went to Guo Donglin’s home and slapped himself while pleading.

Sun Xiang apologized to Guo Donglin’s family under pressure from Zhou Yi, while Zhao Qiushui tried to arrange a meeting with Zhou Yi and revealed that a novel by her cousin Xia Mingyue had sparked her interest in him. The chapter ended with Xia Mingyue reflecting on her readers’ support and her limited ability to update.

• Sun Xiang visited Guo Donglin’s home, offered an apology and a gift, and invited the family to a banquet while asking them to bring Zhou Yi.
• Guo Donglin rejected Sun Xiang and shut the door, and Feng Momo and Guo Siwei discussed their pride in Zhou Yi.
• Zhao Qiushui called Zhou Yi to invite him to meet, but he refused until he solved the arson case.
• Zhao Qiushui recalled how Xia Mingyue’s novel had made her curious about Zhou Yi and resolved to keep pursuing an acquaintance with him.
• Xia Mingyue read her readers’ requests for updates and felt grateful and apologetic that she could only write four thousand characters a day.

Deputy Director Jing Xianfeng tried to use a dinner to learn what Zhou Yi knew, but Zhou Yi got drunk and revealed that an informant named Jiang had offered evidence about the arson case for five hundred thousand yuan. Jing recognized the disclosure as a major opportunity and concealed his excitement.

• Xia Mingyue resumed writing, while Jian Shuyue and Tian Tian discussed a popular novel whose heroine resembled Jian.
• Jing Xianfeng reported Zhou Yi’s recent activities to his financial backer, who ordered him to keep watching Zhou.
• Jing invited Zhou Yi to dinner with several officials, intending to lower Zhou’s guard over drinks.
• Jing Xianfeng, Chen Bin, Liao Wensong, and Duan Shenghua toasted and praised Zhou Yi at the restaurant.
• After drinking several cups, Zhou Yi revealed that an informant named Jiang had offered evidence identifying the mastermind behind the arson case in exchange for five hundred thousand yuan.
• Jing Xianfeng realized Zhou’s disclosure could benefit him and hid his excitement as he drank with Zhou.

Director Zhou used Jing Xianfeng’s report to make Zhao Xuanwen suspect his own people, then convened the arson task force and revealed that a caller named “Mr. Jiang” had offered evidence for five hundred thousand yuan. The chapter left the task force with a regional expression that could help identify the informant, while Zhou planned to use Zhao’s mole to feed him information.

• Jing Xianfeng reported Zhou Yi’s words to Zhao Xuanwen and was rewarded with a luxury suite and two women.
• Zhao Xuanwen suspected Jiang Xin, Wang Jiang, and others of informing on him, then ordered his people to watch Jiang Xin and Wang Jiang.
• Zhou Yi anticipated Zhao’s suspicions and planned to cooperate with the police investigation while using the mole to his advantage.
• On December 28, Zhou Yi convened the task force and named the person who benefited most from acquiring Heavenly Fragrance Tower as the prime suspect.
• Zhou Yi told the task force that a caller calling himself “Mr. Jiang” had offered evidence for five hundred thousand yuan and had used the regional expression “I’m not spinning you a yarn!”

Director Zhou arranged a hot-spring visit to investigate a possible link between Zhao Qiushui and the arson case, while Zhao Xuanwen ordered Wang Jiang targeted and plotted to ambush Zhou. At Qiushui Garden, Zhao Qiushui confronted Zhou about his intentions toward the Zhao Family, and he challenged her to take a beating.

• Director Zhou ordered Tan Fengjiao and Xing Zhaojia to investigate whether any screened men came from Heavenly Capital.
• Jing Xianfeng agreed to arrange a hot-spring outing at Qiushui Garden, suspecting Zhou had discovered a connection to the Zhao Family.
• Zhao Xuanwen identified Wang Jiang as the likely source behind “Some Jiang” and ordered him targeted, then arranged for Zhou to be surrounded by women at the hot springs.
• Jing Xianfeng brought Zhou Yi, Chen Bin, and the others to Qiushui Garden and assigned them private courtyards.
• Zhao Qiushui entered Zhou's hot-spring room and accused him of coming to Changtian to go after the Zhao Family.
• Zhou pushed Zhao Qiushui away and asked whether she could take a beating.

Zhou Yi and Zhao Qiushui sparred in the hot spring while Zhou Yi used their apparent intimacy to deepen Zhao Xuanwen’s suspicions about her. Zhao Xuanwen ordered an attack on Wang Jiang, and Zhou Yi left the encounter determined to exploit divisions within the Zhao family.

• Zhao Qiushui challenged Zhou Yi, but he caught her kick and subdued her during their close-quarters sparring.
• Qiu Guoguo stopped a waitress from entering Courtyard Eight, then exchanged warnings with Chen Zhong about the fight inside.
• A waitress told Zhao Xuanwen that Zhao Qiushui and Zhou Yi sounded intimate, convincing him that she was colluding with Zhou Yi.
• Zhao Xuanwen learned that Wang Jiang was at Springlight KTV and ordered his female bodyguard to make him talk that night.
• Zhou Yi reflected on Zhao Qiushui’s role in the Zhao Group and resolved to use family infighting against the Zhaos, despite her offer of friendship.

Zhou Yi rejected Zhao Qiushui’s attempt to recruit him and left her intent on finding a weakness she could exploit. Meanwhile, Zhuzi and Dajun tortured Wang Jiang for allegedly betraying their boss, but criminal police arrived before they could kill him.

• Zhao Qiushui asked Zhou Yi why he distrusted her, and he admitted that he could control his desires despite his body's reactions.
• Zhao Qiushui explained that the Zhao Group had used underhanded methods to build its business and asked whether it could still go legitimate, but Zhou Yi left without offering help.
• After Zhou Yi left, Zhao Qiushui recalled that anyone with a weakness could be dealt with.
• Zhuzi and Dajun tortured Wang Jiang, who admitted to other crimes but denied tipping off the police.
• Zhuzi received an order from his boss to clean up the scene and leave no traces, but Liao Wensong, Ji Fengning, and the criminal police stormed the warehouse.

Zhou Yi used a staged account of the mysterious informant to expose Zhao Xuanwen’s role in the arson investigation and set the task force on a new course. The chapter ended with Xuanwen realizing Wang Jiang was not “Some Jiang” and that his silencing attempt had instead led to three accomplices’ arrests.

• Zhou Yi secretly ordered Liao Wensong and Ji Fengning to keep Wang Jiang under round-the-clock surveillance.
• After officers rescued Wang Jiang from a kidnapping attempt at the Old Plastics Factory Warehouse, Zhou Yi told the task force that Wang Jiang had implicated Zhao Xuanwen and Jiang Xin in the arson case.
• Jing Xianfeng suggested questioning Jiang Xin and the other suspects, while Zhou Yi assigned Tan Fengjiao, Jing Xianfeng, and Ji Fengning separate investigative tasks.
• Zhou Yi warned the task force that “Some Jiang” might provide more evidence but that his motives were suspicious, and he noted the caller’s use of Sanqin dialect.
• Zhao Xuanwen learned that Wang Jiang was not “Some Jiang” and that his attempt to silence Wang Jiang had resulted in Zhuzi, Dajun, and Wei Dong being arrested.

Zhao Xuanwen tried to identify Some Jiang and secure his safety, while Zhao Yongbin questioned his children about Zhou Yi and the threat to the Zhao family. Zhao Xuanwen accused Zhao Qiushui of helping Some Jiang, and the siblings began suspecting one another, with Zhao Xuanwu also drawn into the dispute.

• Zhao Xuanwen reassured himself that his men would not implicate him, then called on his protective network and resolved to find and silence Some Jiang.
• At Zhao Group headquarters on New Year's Day, Zhao Yongbin asked Zhao Qiushui for her assessment of Zhou Yi, and she described him as formidable and dangerous to the family.
• Zhao Yongbin warned Zhao Xuanwen that he was not safe until he found Some Jiang, and Zhao Xuanwen said he suspected Zhao Qiushui.
• Zhao Xuanwen cited Zhao Qiushui's meeting with Zhou Yi, her secretary's contact with Zhou Yi's bodyguard, the arrests of his men, and her bribery of Wang Jiang as reasons for his suspicion.
• Zhao Qiushui admitted bribing Wang Jiang but denied involvement in the other events and suggested Zhao Xuanwu might benefit from a feud between them.
• Zhao Xuanwu denied having anything to do with Some Jiang, while Zhao Yongbin watched his children turn against one another.