Chapter Summaries

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.

Zhou Yi identified Dou Guozhong as the likely whistleblower in the Xinguang Factory embezzlement case, but a violent clash over the factory’s demolition forced him to intervene. He persuaded Huai Jinqi to speak with him and asked the former director to call the workers back.

• Zhou Yi told Qu Hongying that Dou Guozhong was likely the whistleblower, and she agreed to question him.
• Workers attacked Wang Qing at Xinguang Factory, and Huai Jinqi led more than two hundred workers to confront Shanhai Group’s demolition crew.
• Zhou Yi mobilized the Public Security Management Corps after Director Cheng ordered him to respond to the clash.
• Zhou Yi arrived at the factory, fired a warning shot, and called for Huai Jinqi until the fighting paused.
• Huai Jinqi confronted Zhou Yi, who politely asked him to have the workers withdraw first.

Huai Jinqi refused to let the demolition crews tear down Xinguang Factory, while Zhou Yi and senior officials tried to stop the clash from escalating. Jiang Yunlai and Cheng Zhixing failed to persuade Huai, leaving Jiang to seek instructions from Hou Xiangyang.

• Huai Jinqi rejected Zhou Yi's pleas to withdraw the workers and insisted that the demolition would have to happen over his dead body.
• Zhou Yi directed Jiang Xuezeng to get the injured workers to the hospital while the standoff continued.
• Jiang Yunlai, Cheng Zhixing, and other officials arrived at Xinguang Factory, and Huang Kun explained how Zhou Yi had brought the situation under control.
• Sui Jianchang stayed in the background and ignored Rong Jinxiu's calls, unable to act against the worker representatives after Zhou Yi intervened.
• Jiang Yunlai argued that demolishing Xinguang Factory was necessary for a development-zone project, but Huai Jinqi rejected his reasoning and restated the workers' slogan.
• Jiang Yunlai called Hou Xiangyang for instructions after Huai Jinqi refused to withdraw, while Cheng Zhixing also failed to persuade him.

Zhou Yi persuaded Huai Jinqi to withdraw his workers if Shanhai Group’s demolition crew left first, then put pressure on the crew with a one-minute ultimatum. Rong Jinxiu realized the demolition could not proceed and ordered her people to withdraw.

• Provincial Party Committee Secretary Hou Xiangyang ordered officials to calm the confrontation and asked Shanhai Group to withdraw its crew, but Rong Jinxiu refused.
• Zhou Yi privately urged Huai Jinqi to stand down after gaining publicity, and Huai agreed to withdraw his workers if Shanhai Group left first.
• Jiang Yunlai and Cheng Zhixing accepted Zhou Yi’s proposal to return to their cars while he dealt with the demolition crew.
• Zhou Yi warned Shanhai Group’s crew to leave within one minute or face detention, and told Jiang Xuezeng to keep time.
• Crew leader Zhang Quan called Rong Jinxiu, who ordered the crew to withdraw after learning Jiang Yunlai and Cheng Zhixing had left the scene.

Zhou Yi helped end the standoff at Xinguang Factory when the demolition team withdrew, then joined Huai Jinqi for lunch and explained why he had intervened. Huai Jinqi asked whether they could win, while Hou Xiangyang reflected on Zhou Yi’s abilities from the provincial committee.

• Zhang Quan withdrew the Shanhai Group demolition team after the chairman ordered him to avoid confronting Deputy Department Director Zhou.
• Huai Jinqi dismissed the Factory Protection Team, then pulled Zhou Yi into the factory and invited him to lunch.
• Huai Jinqi questioned Zhou Yi about how he learned of the arrangements, and Zhou Yi said a reporter had mentioned the factory’s plan.
• Zhou Yi told Huai Jinqi that the Supreme People's Procuratorate was secretly investigating Shanhai Group’s embezzlement of state-owned assets.
• Huai Jinqi asked Zhou Yi whether they could win, while Hou Xiangyang heard Cheng Zhixing’s report and lamented that Zhou Yi was not his subordinate.

Lan Kun reviewed Zhou Yi’s latest crackdown and ordered a briefing on the troubled Xinguang Factory acquisition as online scrutiny intensified. Meanwhile, Rong Jinxiu mobilized her aides to hunt for suspected informants, and the chapter ended with Qu Hongying telling Zhou that Dou Guozhong had disappeared.

• Lan Kun asked Peng Jiaxue to gather all records on the Xinguang Factory acquisition and project for a report at the Provincial Government.
• Peng Jiaxue told Lan Kun that reporter Lin Fang had published critical articles about the factory dispute and planned to investigate it further.
• Lin Fang thanked her online fan, Tian Tian, for alerting her to the Xinguang Factory story, while Tian Tian considered how to push her friends to get married.
• Rong Jinxiu told Lü Jiacai, Yang Xin, and Zhang Quan that the group had been reported and that Huai Jinqi had learned of the demolition plan, then ordered them to find the informants.
• Qu Hongying called Deputy Department Director Zhou and said Dou Guozhong had disappeared, surprising him.