Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yi broke through Xu Qinglan’s defenses, and she confessed to the crimes and implicated those involved. Chen Qingyan tried to flee the city, but Zhou Yi intercepted him for an investigation, while Wei Siqi prepared to move against the Chen family.

• Zhou Yi convinced Xu Qinglan that she would not accept taking all the blame, and she admitted that Liao Qing and Mayor Chen had betrayed her.
• Xu Qinglan answered the investigators’ questions, revealed that more evidence was in her villa’s basement, and asked to be held with Chen Qingyan.
• Chen Yurong learned that Wei Siqi was about to act and rushed with Chen Qingyan toward the airport.
• Zhou Yi and the police stopped Chen Qingyan’s car, and Zhou Yi told him that Secretary Yang of the provincial Discipline Inspection Commission wanted to question him.
• Chen Yurong swore vengeance against Zhou Yi, while Wei Siqi watched from his office and resolved not to let the Chen family leave.

After Zhou Yi’s takedown of Chen Qingyan triggered a widening political investigation, he prepared to leave for Linhai Province and reported for duty there. He arrived to an elaborate welcome, where Executive Deputy Department Director Tian Zhengbing resented his rapid rise and suspected it came from his influential father-in-law.

• Chen Qingyan’s arrest exposed the Sifang Pharmaceutical Group case, leading to investigations of seven officials and implicating businessman Hu Shiyuan.
• Hou Xiangyang tasked Tian Zhengbing with leading Linhai Province’s organized-crime crackdown, and Tian resolved to prove he could outshine Zhou Yi.
• Zhou Yi visited the hospitalized Min Aiwu, declined to bring his other trusted subordinates to Linhai, and learned he would attend three months of advanced training in the capital.
• On April 15, Zhou Yi arrived in Linhai and reported for duty at the Provincial Public Security Department.
• Cheng Zhixing, Duan Ying, and Ruan Siwei welcomed Zhou Yi, while Tian Zhengbing resented his rapid rise and questioned whether it came from his well-connected father-in-law.

Zhou Yi settled into his new role in Linhai, where he suspected the unusual assignment of criminal investigation and public security management was a trap. His suspicions culminated when Yan Li arrested Song Tianlin at a nightclub on Zhou Yi’s orders.

• Zhou Yi arrived at the Linhai Provincial Public Security Department, met Tian Zhengbing, and decided to keep a low profile rather than seek further advancement.
• Zhou Yi attended three months of advanced training in Capital City while a disaster struck Southwest Province; preparations by Wei Siqi limited the damage.
• After returning to Linhai, Zhou Yi learned Tian Zhengbing held much of the department’s power, yet Cheng Zhixing had assigned Zhou Yi responsibility for criminal investigation and public security management without objection from the leadership.
• At the Imperial Nightclub, Song Tianlin assaulted two young women after Hu Lai brought them to him through deception and intimidation.
• Yan Li led plainclothes officers into Song Tianlin’s private room, arrested him on suspicion of rape on Zhou Yi’s orders, and told him that times had changed.

Song Penghui and Zhou Yi reacted to Song Tianlin’s arrest after Yan Li claimed he had acted on Zhou’s orders, while Zhou suspected Tian Zhengbing was trying to frame him. The chapter ended with Song Tianlin confessing under Yan Li’s interrogation, including details about his mother accepting bribes for his father.

• Song Penghui learned that Yan Li had arrested Song Tianlin at the Imperial Nightclub and ordered Bi Wensheng to investigate.
• Yi Ling demanded that Song Penghui force Zhou Yi to release their son, while Song Penghui sought help from Vice Governor Han Yue.
• Bi Wensheng called Zhou Yi to report the arrest, and Zhou denied ordering it and told him to bring Yan Li to his office.
• Zhou Yi informed Tian Zhengbing about the suspicious arrest and then went back to sleep, suspecting Tian was behind the attempt to frame him.
• Yan Li interrogated Song Tianlin, who confessed to his crimes and recalled his mother accepting bribes on his father’s behalf.

Zhou Yi clashed with Tian Zhengbing over whether he needed to report the arrest of Song Tianlin, then questioned Yan Li about falsely claiming to act on his orders. After reviewing the interrogation records, Zhou Yi went to the detention center, where Song Tianlin accused the police of torturing him into confessing.

• Zhou Yi challenged Tian Zhengbing’s vague instructions about reporting cases, and the two nearly came to blows in the elevator.
• Zhou Yi summoned Bi Wensheng and Yan Li and demanded to know why Yan Li had claimed to be acting on his orders during Song Tianlin’s arrest.
• Yan Li said he had used Zhou Yi’s reputation to intimidate Song Tianlin and claimed the evidence had led to a confession.
• Zhou Yi reviewed the interrogation transcripts and recordings, then went to the detention center to question Song Tianlin.
• Song Tianlin told Zhou Yi that officers had tortured him and forced him to confess, including to his mother’s bribery.

Deputy Department Director Zhou arrested Song Tianlin but refused to shoulder the political fallout, taking leave after Tian Zhengbing signed his request. As powerful officials called to pressure him, Zhou directed them to Tian, while Song Penghui resolved to fight to protect his position.

• Deputy Department Director Zhou left Yan Li and Bi WenSheng to handle the case and said Deputy Department Director Tian would cover his work while he was on leave.
• Tian Zhengbing smugly expected Zhou to take the blame, but Zhou presented a leave request already approved by Secretary Cheng Zhixing and challenged Tian to handle the matter himself.
• Tian Zhengbing signed Zhou's leave request, and Zhou delivered it to Xu Ya at the General Office.
• Song Penghui's wife berated him over Song Tianlin's arrest, and Song Penghui told her to stay out of it before resolving to show others he could not be easily brought down.
• Vice Governor Han Yue, Zhao Jungang, Wang Yuanming, and other officials called Zhou about the case, and Zhou told each that he was on leave and Tian Zhengbing was covering the work.

Zhou Yi concluded that Yan Li and other officers had framed Song Tianlin to target Song Penghui, while political pressure shifted toward releasing Song Tianlin. After Yan Li grieved over his fallen comrade’s daughter and drove off with revenge in mind, someone at the Provincial Public Security Department declared that Song Tianlin would not be released.

• Zhou Yi suspected Yan Li and two criminal investigation officers had framed Song Tianlin as part of a scheme against Song Penghui.
• Tian Zhengbing faced pressure from Song Penghui and changing instructions from provincial leaders, then ordered Bi Wensheng to release Song Tianlin.
• Bi Wensheng told Yan Li to release Song Tianlin, and Tian Zhengbing angrily rebuked Yan Li when he called to challenge the order.
• Yan Li remembered his fallen comrade’s daughter and drove toward the Public Security Residential Community, determined to pursue revenge if his last hope failed.
• Song Penghui told Yi Ling that Hou Xiangyang had agreed to release Song Tianlin, but his expression changed after a phone call.
• An uncompromising voice at the Provincial Public Security Department declared that Song Tianlin would not be released.

Yan Li pleaded with Zhou Yi to stop Song Tianlin from being released, revealing the circumstances behind Zhou Bing’s death and the effort to entrap Song. Zhou Yi decided to intervene, and the chapter ended with him confronting Tian Zhengbing over the case.

• Yan Li visited Zhou Yi and explained that Song Tianlin and his men had raped Zhou Bing, whose death the local police had covered up as suicide.
• Yan Li said Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu had used themselves as bait to gather evidence, but Tian Zhengbing had ordered Bi Wensheng to release Song Tianlin.
• After Yan Li left, Zhou Yi told Jian Shuyue he would not let Song be released and decided to end his leave.
• Tian Zhengbing summoned Yan Li to his office, where Zhou Yi and Tian Zhengbing argued fiercely over whether Song should be released.

Zhou Yi blocked efforts to release Song Tianlin and challenged the new claim that the rape case had been fabricated. At a leadership meeting, Gan Yongsheng cited the Chuanhai City bureau’s findings, and someone declared that evidence existed.

• Zhou Yi confronted Tian Zhengbing and refused to let Bi Wensheng release Song Tianlin, citing the case evidence and threatening to appeal to the Ministry of Public Security.
• Yan Li confirmed that witness testimony and physical evidence substantiated Song Tianlin’s crimes, so Tian Zhengbing proposed waiting for Secretary Cheng Zhixing’s view.
• Yi Ling raged at Zhou Yi for obstructing Song Tianlin’s release, while Song Penghui said he had made preparations to rescue his son.
• Cheng Zhixing convened a leadership meeting where Gan Yongsheng presented the Chuanhai City bureau’s claim that Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu had framed Song Tianlin.
• Zhou Yi challenged Gan Yongsheng to produce evidence for that claim, and a voice in the meeting room answered, “Of course there’s evidence!”

At a leadership meeting, Zhou Yi challenged Tian Zhengbing’s use of evidence from the Chuanhai City Public Security Bureau to discredit the investigation into Song Tianlin. He revealed a video showing Song Tianlin assaulting the women, then called for the bureau’s conduct to be investigated.

• Gou Hongtao claimed that statements and testimony proved Zhou Xue and Lin Zhu had illicit relationships with Song Tianlin.
• Zhou Yi protested that the Chuanhai City bureau had interfered in the provincial investigation, but Tian Zhengbing said he had authorized its assistance and blamed Zhou Yi’s team for a careless investigation.
• Zhou Yi pointed out that Tian Zhengbing, Gou Hongtao, and Gan Yongsheng had seen evidence he had not, then said he had evidence of his own.
• Yan Li played a video showing Song Tianlin’s conduct and sexual assault in a private suite at the Imperial Nightclub.
• Gan Yongsheng questioned the video’s source, and Zhou Yi asked whether it proved rape, exposed fabricated findings, and warranted an investigation into the Chuanhai City bureau.

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.