Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yi returned to the Yangcheng Public Security Bureau meeting and continued directing its work despite his suspension, while Li Ruoyun worried his prospects were doomed. Ba Yan publicly criticized Zhou Yi, but provincial investigators suddenly announced Ba Yan was under investigation, as Zhou Yi joked to Li Ruoyun about putting him under Shuanggui.

• Zhou Yi entered the bureau Party committee meeting, reclaimed his seat, and said he remained in charge until he received formal suspension notice.
• Zhou Yi assigned preparations for a police assembly, monitoring public opinion about Fang Yuan's family, and revisions to the Special Rectification Campaign proposal.
• Li Ruoyun considered calling Zhou Yi but feared Ba Yan's influence would ruin their deal, while former bureau officials celebrated Zhou Yi's suspension and Xie Bingyi hoped to remove him permanently.
• Ba Yan publicly criticized Zhou Yi at a Yangcheng political and legal officials' assembly, but provincial Discipline Inspection Commission and Department of Supervision officials announced Ba Yan was under investigation.
• Zhou Yi joked to Li Ruoyun on the phone that they should put Ba Yan under Shuanggui.

After Ba Yan was taken away by the provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, Zhou Yi returned to his post and prepared to use the political fallout to reshape the Yangcheng Public Security Bureau. Command Center Director Fu Zhigang came to pledge his loyalty, but Zhou Yi ended their conversation by asking about Xie Bingyi's nightclub.

• Dai Zhengxing learned that Ba Yan had been taken away and revised his judgment of Zhou Yi.
• News of Ba Yan's detention shook Yangcheng and Qingyuan, while Qiu Ling reinstated Zhou Yi and confirmed support for his requests.
• Zhou Yi returned to the bureau and planned to use Ba Yan's downfall as leverage for his reform plans.
• Fu Zhigang reported that the all-officers meeting was ready, then declared his willingness to serve under Zhou Yi.
• Zhou Yi asked Fu Zhigang whether he knew about the Golden Sun nightclub registered in Xie Bingyi's name.

Fu Zhigang proved his allegiance to Director Zhou by leading a surprise inspection of the Golden Sun Song and Dance Club, while Li Pingwu sought advice from his nephew Li Linsen and then went to report to Zhou. The raid left Qiu Weiping realizing that Fu had turned against him, and he warned Li Pingwu that there was a traitor among them.

• Director Zhou ordered Fu Zhigang to lead a surprise inspection of the Golden Sun Song and Dance Club, and Fu agreed to prove his loyalty.
• Li Pingwu called his nephew Li Linsen to ask what kind of person Director Zhou was, and Li Linsen said Li still had a conscience and basic principles.
• Li Pingwu went to Zhou Yi and asked to report on his work.
• That night, Fu Zhigang, Shao Mingbao, and Cai Xiaobo led twenty officers in a surprise inspection of the Golden Sun Song and Dance Club.
• After the club manager called Qiu Weiping, Qiu learned that Fu was acting on Zhou's orders and warned Li Pingwu that there was a traitor in their midst.

After Zhou Yi shut down Xie Bingyi’s Golden Sun Song and Dance Club, Xie grew more desperate to retaliate. Despite Ye Ru urging caution, he secretly raised the bounty on Zhou’s life.

• Qiu Weiping told Li Pingwu that Xie Bingyi was offering money to have Zhou Yi killed, and Li reported the threat to Zhou.
• Zhou Yi learned that Fu Zhigang’s surprise inspection had uncovered serious crimes at the Golden Sun Song and Dance Club and sealed it.
• Tian Baishun told Xie Bingyi that the assassination price had risen to five hundred thousand, and Xie raged over the club’s closure.
• Ye Ru warned Xie Bingyi that Zhou Yi was provoking him and urged him to consult Xie Bingkun before acting.
• After Ye Ru left, Xie Bingyi secretly offered six hundred thousand for Zhou Yi’s death within five days.

Zhao Guosheng betrayed Zhou Yi under threats from Steel Nail and helped arrange an ambush on the road to Dongji. Chen Zhong thwarted the attack, leaving Zhou Yi unharmed and both gunmen unconscious.

• Tian Baishun secretly sent a message after Xie Bingyi ignored Big Sister's advice, while Yangcheng residents celebrated the shutdown of Xie Bingyi's Golden Sun Song and Dance Club.
• Zhou Yi told Zhao Guosheng to drive him to Dongji on Sunday, and Zhao remembered how Steel Nail had threatened his son and bribed him to report Zhou Yi's movements.
• Zhao Guosheng called the number Steel Nail had given him, and Xie Bingyi anticipated Zhou Yi's death on Sunday.
• Zhao Guosheng drove Zhou Yi and Chen Zhong toward Dongji, then stopped near a gas station and pretended to leave the car.
• Two masked men approached the Jetta with guns, but Chen Zhong disabled them before they could shoot Zhou Yi and knocked them unconscious.

Zhou Yi captured hitmen Ding Gang and Zou Qunbiao after foiling their attempt to kill him, then interrogated Ding Gang about Xie Bingyi’s contract. The chapter ended with Ding Gang wavering after Zhou Yi promised to support his nephew and niece, and asking whether he could trust Zhou.

• Ding Gang and Zou Qunbiao ambushed Zhou Yi, but Zhou and his team had anticipated the attack and captured them.
• Zhou Yi praised Chen Zhong’s skills, and the team transported the unconscious hitmen to the Yangcheng Public Security Bureau.
• During interrogation, Ding Gang denied knowing Xie Bingyi and claimed he had acted on his own.
• Zhou Yi revealed that the police had set a trap based on the terms of Xie Bingyi’s deal with the hitmen.
• Zhou Yi promised to cover Ding Gang’s nephew’s and niece’s living and education expenses until they graduated from university.
• Ding Gang wavered and asked Zhou Yi whether he could trust him, and Zhou assured him that he could.

Zhou Yi got Ding Gang to implicate Xie Bingyi in the murder-for-hire plot and led a police raid on Tianxiang Trading Company to arrest him. As Xie protested that Zhou had no evidence, Tian Baishun suddenly claimed he had some.

• Ding Gang agreed to tell Zhou Yi that Xie Bingyi had hired him to murder a public security director.
• Steel Nail called Xie Bingyi demanding the rest of his payment, but Tian Baishun disguised his voice and denied knowing Xie before destroying the SIM card.
• Ding Gang told Zhou Yi that Xie had not taken the bait, and Zhou ordered his officers to move out.
• Zhou Yi told Li Ruoyun he planned to bring Xie in immediately, and she agreed to provide more help.
• Zhou Yi led more than thirty officers in a raid on Tianxiang Trading Company and ordered Xie Bingyi detained on suspicion of hiring a killer.
• After Xie demanded evidence and pleaded that he was a People's Congress representative, Tian Baishun declared that he had evidence.

Tian Baishun revealed that he had secretly preserved the phone linking Xie Bingyi to an order to murder Director Zhou Yi, then guided the police to evidence of Xie Bingyi’s crimes. He disclosed that Xie Bingyi had killed his daughter Feng Xiaonuan, attacked him, and vowed to destroy the entire Xie Family.

• Tian Baishun produced a phone with Xie Bingyi’s fingerprints and testified that Xie had used it to order Steel Nail to murder Director Zhou Yi.
• Tian Baishun led Zhou Yi and the police to hidden compartments, bloodstained towels, and drugs in Xie Bingyi’s office and bedroom.
• Tian Baishun explained that he had secretly replaced the incriminating phone and SIM card, then revealed that Feng Xiaonuan was his daughter and Xie Bingyi had strangled her.
• Tian Baishun bit off part of Xie Bingyi’s ear and vowed that he would make the entire Xie Family pay for Feng Xiaonuan’s death.

After Xie Bingyi and his accomplices were arrested, Ye Ru devised a plan to get Zhou Yi away from Yangcheng, kill Xie Bingyi in detention, and destroy the evidence in a fire. Li Ruoyun warned Zhou Yi about the plan, and he thanked her, determined not to let it happen.

• Police escorted Xie Bingyi, Tian Baishun, and other Tianxiang Company figures into custody, causing a sensation in Yangcheng.
• Qiu Ling, Gong Li, and Sun Yi worried that Xie Bingyi might reveal their secrets if he was not rescued soon.
• Ye Ru returned from Liaoyang and assured the others that the seized safe held no important documents, while hinting that provincial support might be coming.
• After the others left, Ye Ru told Li Ruoyun her plan to lure Zhou Yi away, arrange Xie Bingyi's death in detention, and destroy evidence in a fire.
• Li Ruoyun called Zhou Yi and described the three parts of Ye Ru's plan as hypothetical questions, and Zhou Yi thanked her and resolved to stop them.

After arresting Xie Bingyi, Zhou Yi prepared for the Xie Family’s attempts to silence witnesses and destroy evidence, assigning trusted officers to protect key locations and prisoners. Li Pingwu reported a likely effort to influence him and pledged to protect the detainees, while Ye Ru’s side continued its covert moves.

• Zhou Yi assigned Shao Mingbao and Cai Xiaobo to guard the Evidence Room and decided to rely on Li Pingwu to protect prisoners at the Detention Center.
• Li Pingwu accepted Qiu Weiping’s dinner invitation while secretly remaining loyal to Zhou Yi and gathering intelligence for him.
• Li Pingwu visited Zhou Yi the next morning and reasoned that several recent invitations were efforts to gain access to prisoners at the Detention Center.
• Zhou Yi instructed Li Pingwu to protect Tian Baishun, Ding Gang, and Zou Qunbiao, and Li Pingwu promised to move them to a guarded cell.
• Li Pingwu told his nephew Li Linsen not to mention the analysis he had provided, then privately resolved to win Zhou Yi’s trust.

Zhou Yi announced a sweeping disciplinary campaign at the Yangcheng City Public Security Bureau, while Li Pingwu arranged special protection for the suspects tied to Xie Bingyi’s case in Cell 213. After three uneventful days in detention, Tian Baishun died, leaving Li Pingwu stunned.

• Zhou Yi warned bureau officers that anyone who broke the law or disciplinary rules would be dismissed or expelled and held accountable.
• Li Pingwu visited the detention center and told Qi Heng to ensure Tian Baishun, Ding Gang, and Zou Qunbiao were treated properly.
• Qi Heng arranged for the three suspects to be protected and waited on in Cell 213, where Qu Cai and cell boss Bi Hesheng assured them they would be safe.
• Ding Gang warned Tian Baishun that Bi Hesheng seemed suspicious, but Tian Baishun said he no longer cared about his own life and only wanted to bring down Xie Bingyi and his family.
• After three days passed without incident, Tian Baishun died, and Li Pingwu was stunned by the news.

After Tian Baishun was killed in detention, Zhou Yi and Li Linsen suspected that Su Xiandong’s apparent fight with him had been staged and that witnesses had been compromised. Zhou Yi left Yangcheng as the Xie Family’s efforts to obstruct the investigation intensified, promising to return and deal with them.

• Qi Heng questioned Qu Cai about Tian Baishun’s death, and Qu Cai claimed Su Xiandong had killed him over a bunk assignment.
• Li Pingwu blamed Qi Heng for failing to protect Tian Baishun, but Qi Heng pointed out that the detention center had no suitable private cell.
• Zhou Yi and Li Linsen concluded that Su Xiandong’s motive and the supposed bunk dispute did not add up, and Zhou Yi suspected Ding Gang and Zou Qunbiao had been compromised.
• Li Linsen planned to investigate Ding Gang’s home, while Zhou Yi ordered him to preserve evidence and keep a close watch on the Evidence Room.
• The procuratorate required Zhou Yi to recuse himself, the Xie family filed a complaint against him, and Qingyuan established a task force to take over the case.
• Ding Gang and Zou Qunbiao appealed to retract their confessions, and Zhou Yi left Yangcheng, intending to consult his father-in-law before returning.

Ye Ru and Li Ruoyun believed Zhou Yi had been defeated by Qingyuan’s power bloc, but Zhou went to Jian Wanyan to discuss how to protect the Xie Bingyi case. When Qingyuan’s Special Case Task Force arrived in Yangcheng, the bureau’s leaders united against Political Commissar Qiu Weiping’s attempt to disparage their work.

• Ye Ru mocked Zhou Yi’s setback while Li Ruoyun agreed with her, though she privately doubted Ye Ru could win.
• Zhou Yi reported to Jian Wanyan that Qingyuan had sent a task force to take over the Xie Bingyi investigation and asked for provincial oversight.
• Zhou Yi told Jian Wanyan he could help with a move against Qingyuan and promised that Xie Bingyi would not escape punishment.
• Luo Qing and Liu Jianbo arrived at the Yangcheng Public Security Bureau with the Special Case Task Force and received a warm welcome from Qiu Weiping.
• Rao Yu challenged Qiu Weiping for suggesting the bureau had failed, and Fu Zhigang, Gao Bo, Miao Jinwei, Han Yonghui, and Xiang Mei joined in defending the bureau’s work.
• Luo Qing and Liu Jianbo recognized that the bureau’s leaders were standing together under Zhou Yi’s influence.

Qingyuan investigators secured the case files and evidence against Xie Bingyi for reexamination while Liu Jianbo joined Yangcheng’s discipline inspectors in investigating Zhou Yi. At home, Zhou Yi kissed Jian Shuyue, but they were interrupted by her mother, who noticed her smudged lipstick.

• Captain Shao and Li Linsen initially refused to release evidence and files, then complied after Yu Chuntian obtained Deputy Director Miao Jinwei’s approval and completed the required paperwork.
• Qingyuan investigators took the evidence for reexamination, while Yu Chuntian’s team reviewed the case records and questioned suspect Xie Bingyi.
• Liu Jianbo and Yangcheng’s Discipline Inspection Commission began investigating Zhou Yi after the Standing Committee voted to open a formal investigation into him.
• Mayor Shan Wenxu criticized the Standing Committee’s majority vote, while Qiu Ling, Gong Li, and Sun Yi remained uneasy about Zhou Yi’s return to Liaoyang.
• Zhou Yi kissed Jian Shuyue on the sofa, and she hurried to sit across from him when her mother returned.
• Mu Yalan noticed that Jian Shuyue’s lipstick was smudged.

Zhou Yi received notice that the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection had opened an investigation into allegations that he beat Xie Bingyi, and arranged to return to explain himself. At dinner, Mu Yalan accepted him as Jian Shuyue’s boyfriend and advised him to consider moving from public security work into a township leadership post to improve his prospects for advancement.

• Mu Yalan found Jian Shuyue and Zhou Yi kissing, then warmed to Zhou and invited him to stay for dinner.
• Jian Shuyue told Zhou she had been praising him to her mother and warned him not to kiss her so intensely again.
• Zhan Keliang called Zhou on behalf of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and ordered him to report the next morning over a complaint by Xie Bingyi’s family.
• Ma Jun explained that the municipal Standing Committee had approved an investigation, and Zhou agreed to return the morning after next.
• Mu Yalan asked Zhou about his career plans and advised him to consider becoming a township Party committee secretary rather than remaining a specialist public security official.

After evidence and recanted statements undermined the case against Xie Bingyi, the Yangcheng People's Congress rejected the motion to detain him, and Director Zhou ordered his release. Zhou Yi then faced a joint discipline inspection interrogation, where he challenged the allegations and turned the questioning back on his interrogators.

• A Qingyuan City Public Security Bureau examination found only Tian Baishun's fingerprints on the phone, while Ding Gang and Zou Qunbiao recanted and blamed the Yangcheng police for coercing their confessions.
• The Yangcheng City People's Congress Standing Committee voted down the motion to detain Xie Bingyi and suspend him as a deputy.
• Director Zhou ordered Xie Bingyi released and told Li Pingwu to cooperate, while Li Linsen and Zhao Xin remained suspended pending investigation.
• Zhou Yi went to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, where Duan Kangming, Liu Jianbo, Ma Jun, and Zhan Keliang presented allegations that he had beaten and persecuted Xie Bingyi.
• Zhou Yi defended his reaction to Xie Bingyi's insults and questioned why the discipline inspectors were making such an elaborate investigation of the beating.

Zhou Yi turned the interrogation into a pointed challenge to the officials accusing him of persecuting Xie Bingyi, while hinting that their conduct would not withstand scrutiny by higher authorities. After the interrogation, Qiu Ling ordered him placed under Shuanggui, and Jian Wanyan gave a brief command to begin.

• Duan Kangming and Liu Jianbo questioned Zhou Yi about hitting Xie Bingyi and allegedly forcing confessions, but Zhou Yi challenged their evidence and investigative methods.
• Zhou Yi argued that Xie Bingyi had more reason to retaliate against him and suggested that Xie Bingyi’s allies were persecuting the police handling the case.
• Duan Kangming demanded that Zhou Yi confess, and Zhou Yi asked whether they would dare submit the interrogation recording to the relevant authorities.
• Qiu Ling received a call, then ordered Zhou Yi placed under Shuanggui.
• Jian Wanyan ordered someone to begin.

Zhou Yi was placed under Shuanggui as Xie Bingyi was released, prompting Meng Shen to seek revenge for his sister’s assault. Yu Xiao knocked Meng unconscious and took the dagger, setting out to act in his place.

• Zhou Yi challenged Ma Jun and Liu Jianbo’s claims about Tian Baishun and warned that even the dead could speak.
• Duan Kangming announced that Zhou Yi had been placed under Shuanggui, while Qiu Weiping celebrated the decision and ordered Xie Bingyi’s release.
• Xie Bingyi returned to Tianxiang Trading Company in a lavish procession as Yangcheng residents reacted to Zhou Yi’s punishment and his release.
• Meng Shen sharpened a dagger and told Yu Xiao he intended to kill Xie Bingyi after describing how Xie had assaulted his sister.
• Yu Xiao pretended to accept Meng Shen’s decision, knocked him unconscious, took the dagger, and left to act in his place.

Wu Yongguang learned that Wang Zhenghe was leading a provincial Discipline Inspection Commission team to Qingyuan, while Xie Bingyi was confronted with a video in which Tian Baishun began exposing the crimes surrounding his daughter’s death. At an officials’ meeting, Feng Shi’s recorded testimony revealed his years-long effort to infiltrate Tianxiang Company and gather evidence, before he began describing a new public security director.

• Director Zhou endured near-constant Shuanggui interrogation but believed he would soon be released.
• Wu Yongguang learned that Wang Zhenghe was leading a confidential team to Qingyuan and suspected the investigation concerned the Xie Family.
• Ye Peng showed Ye Ru and Xie Bingyi a trending report and video in which Tian Baishun announced he might already be dead.
• Wang Zhenghe convened an unusual officials’ meeting in Qingyuan, where the attendees watched Tian Baishun’s recording.
• Tian Baishun, whose real name was Feng Shi, recounted his daughter Feng Xiaonuan’s suspicious death and his years gathering evidence against Xie Bingyi’s company.
• Feng Shi said a new, justice-minded public security director had arrived in Yangcheng, and began to describe him.

Feng Shi’s video exposed Xie Bingyi’s crimes and the corrupt officials who supported him, prompting Wang Zhenghe to launch a purge in Qingyuan City. As the investigation began, Zhou Yi left the Yangcheng City Municipal Party Committee to pursue more important work.

• Feng Shi’s video recounted how Xie Bingyi hired hitmen to kill Zhou Yi and showed footage implicating Xie Bingyi and others.
• Wang Zhenghe asked the officials for their reactions, then Li Lan announced that Su Baicheng, Zheng Li, Ji Lin, and Zhong Jian would be placed under organizational investigation.
• Zheng Li protested that a name in the video did not prove her guilt, but Wang Zhenghe said the investigation rested on separate evidence and staff escorted the officials away.
• Yuan Minglang and Wu Yongguang voiced support for the investigations, and Wang Zhenghe condemned Xie Bingyi’s unchecked power and the persecution of Zhou Yi.
• Wu Yongguang claimed he had ordered Zhou Yi’s release after discovering the mistake in the materials against him.
• An hour earlier, Zhou Yi had left the Yangcheng City Municipal Party Committee after giving Zhan Keliang a cold glance.