Chapter Summaries

Zhou Quan’s National Security Law moved swiftly onto Hong Kong Island’s agenda, and his standing strengthened as the Police Force finalized promotions and appointments. He welcomed his twenty-one-year-old disciple Ah Zu into the Security Department as a probationary inspector.

• Mr. Dong and Hong Kong Island’s senior leaders placed Zhou Quan’s National Security Law on the agenda, prompting outrage among those with ulterior loyalties and their foreign backers.
• Zhou Quan focused on the Security Department while the law’s specific provisions were left to Hong Kong Island’s legal professionals.
• The Hong Kong Government Gazette approved promotions that kept Chow Sing Sing and Kwan Man Chin as senior superintendents and made He Wenzhan, Chan Wing Yan, and Lau Bo-keung superintendents in the Security Department.
• Zhou Quan called the Security Department’s officers to a meeting and introduced the young man standing beside him as he took up his new post.
• Ah Zu, Zhou Quan’s disciple and the son of Senior Superintendent Guan Zhibang, joined the Security Department as a twenty-one-year-old probationary inspector after graduating from CUHK and the Police Academy.

Zhou Quan completed the Security Department’s leadership reshuffle, welcomed his disciple Guan Zu into the T Group, and heard that Lee Man had been extradited from Thailand to face questioning over cases linked to Painter’s counterfeit-money group. The chapter left Zhou Quan intrigued by Lee Man’s unusual drawing ability and the case.

• Zhou Quan announced Chow Sing Sing and Kwan Man Chin’s promotions as the Security Department’s Operations and Administrative Supervisors.
• Zhou Quan promoted He Wenzhan, Lau Bo-keung, and Chan Wing Yan to command roles, then asked Chow Sing Sing and Kwan Man Chin to recommend candidates for vacant group positions.
• Guan Zu introduced himself to the officers as a Shirley Shield recipient, and Zhou Quan assigned him to He Wenzhan’s T Group.
• Luo Danian reported that Lee Man had been extradited from Thailand and was suspected of ties to Painter’s counterfeit-money group and several Hong Kong crimes.
• Zhou Quan focused on Lee Man’s exceptional drawing skills and considered what they might mean for the case.

Zhou Quan ordered the Security Department to investigate the Painter Group case after Lee Man was brought in for questioning, intending to use the case to launch the department’s work in the new era. He tasked Kung Ka-pui with retrieving the files and directed Ah Kwan to verify Yuen Man’s identity and current situation with the Mainland authorities.

• Zhou Quan ordered the Intelligence Group to monitor the Headquarters Division’s interrogation of Lee Man and dismissed the non-commissioned officers to their posts.
• Zhou Quan assigned Kung Ka-pui to retrieve and copy the files on Lee Man and the Painter Group, reassuring Kung Ka-pui, Chan Sau-yan, and Chung Kam-ming that he would include them in the department’s work.
• Kung Ka-pui returned with eleven copies of the files, and Zhou Quan and the remaining officers reviewed the case records.
• Zhou Quan identified Yuen Man as a key mystery in the Painter Group’s case and ordered Ah Kwan to confirm Yuen Man’s current situation with the Mainland authorities.

Zhou Quan learned that the real Yuen Man was living in the Mainland while an impostor was trying to bail Lee Man out in Hong Kong. He ordered a team to find the real Yuen Man and set off with Chow Sing Sing and Chung Kam-ming to confront the fake.

• Kwan Man Chin reported that the artist Yuen Man had returned to the Mainland after her fiancé, Luo Wen, died and had not left since.
• Yeung Chi-lung reported that a woman claiming to be Yuen Man had brought letters of authorization from prominent figures to bail Lee Man out.
• Zhou Quan ordered Kwan Man Chin to assemble an elite squad to find Yuen Man without alerting her, and asked Chung Kam-ming for an Arrest Warrant.
• Chung Kam-ming brought Zhou Quan the warrant, which Zhou Quan checked and signed.
• Zhou Quan took Chow Sing Sing and Chung Kam-ming to meet the woman posing as Yuen Man at the Headquarters unit.

Zhou Quan took over Lee Man’s case from Senior Assistant Commissioner Ho after Wong Tai-cheung accused the police of fabricating evidence. He then arrested the fake Yuen Man as the suspected Painter, leaving her facing charges for counterfeiting and multiple murders.

• Wong Tai-cheung challenged Senior Assistant Commissioner Ho over evidence in Lee Man’s case, and Zhou Quan entered the conference room with Chow Sing Sing and Chung Kam-ming.
• Zhou Quan requested that the Security Department take over the case, and Senior Assistant Commissioner Ho approved the transfer.
• Zhou Quan identified the woman as the fake Yuen Man and formally arrested her on suspicion of identity-document forgery, counterfeiting, and multiple murders.
• Chung Kam-ming showed the arrest warrant to the fake Yuen Man and Wong Tai-cheung and read the caution.

Zhou Quan exposed Fake Ruan Wen's false identity and had her arrested after she challenged the Police Force. The Security Department took over the case, while Zhou Quan left open whether she was Painter and ordered Lee Man transferred.

• Zhou Quan issued an arrest warrant for Ms. Yuen Man, prompting her to accuse the Police Force of framing her friend and abusing its authority.
• Zhou Quan cited Fake Ruan Wen's gloves, evidence from the Tsim Sha Tsui hotel murders, and information from Mainland police about the real Yuen Man.
• Fake Ruan Wen collapsed after hearing that the real Yuen Man had never left her home, and Chow Sing Sing and Chung Kam-ming took her to the interrogation room.
• SACP Ho praised Zhou Quan for resolving the crisis and asked whether Fake Ruan Wen was Painter.
• Zhou Quan said Painter's identity could not yet be confirmed and ordered Inspector Ho to transfer Lee Man to the Security Department.

Zhou Quan began interrogating Lee Man about Painter and the counterfeit-money cases, while Ho Wai-lam watched from the observation room with SACP Ho. Zhou Quan saw through Lee Man’s performance and began probing him by bringing up Yuen Man.

• SACP Ho told Ho Wai-lam to observe Zhou Quan’s interrogation carefully and address him by rank during work.
• Zhou Quan dismissed the restraints and introduced himself as the officer in charge of Lee Man’s cases.
• Lee Man claimed Painter was dangerous, denied killing anyone, rejected the evidence from the Tsim Sha Tsui hotel, and asked to be sent back to prison.
• SACP Ho reacted angrily when Lee Man brought up Ho Wai-lam’s crude interrogation methods, but kept quiet so as not to disrupt the proceedings.
• Zhou Quan recognized that Lee Man was feigning fear and began probing him by asking whether he knew Yuen Man.

Zhou Quan confronted Lee Man with the arrest of the fake Yuen Man, while Lee Man tried to conceal his connection to her and coordinate their stories. After she was removed, Lee Man began recounting his version of the story about Painter.

• Zhou Quan told Lee Man that Yuen Man had arrived with a barrister and guarantee letters, but he had arrested her.
• Lee Man asked to see Yuen Man and claimed he would tell Zhou Quan everything afterward.
• Chow Sing Sing brought the fake Yuen Man into the interrogation room, and Lee Man called her Sau Ching while urging her to explain their supposed history.
• Zhou Quan ordered Chow Sing Sing to remove Sau Ching and warned Lee Man against coordinating their stories.
• Lee Man sighed and began telling Zhou Quan a version of the story about Painter.

Lee Man spun a story portraying himself and Wu Xiuqing as victims of Painter, but Zhou Quan exposed a fatal weakness by drawing the real person Lee Man had used as the model for Painter's invented identity. Lee Man realized the portrait could unravel his account and deepen suspicion about his involvement in the murders.

• Lee Man claimed Painter had forced him and Wu Xiuqing to make Super Dollars, and that Wu Xiuqing had rescued him after the Tsim Sha Tsui hotel betrayal.
• Lee Man said he had been caught in Thailand after using counterfeit money and had prepared his account to protect himself and Wu Xiuqing from murder charges.
• Lee Man described Painter as Wu Fusheng, a Hong Kong Island native, while Zhou Quan drew a portrait from his description.
• Zhou Quan showed Lee Man the portrait, and Lee Man panicked when he recognized the person he had used as Wu Fusheng's model.
• Lee Man realized the Police Force could identify the model and expose his story as fabricated.

Zhou Quan exposed Lee Man’s story as a fabrication and had the man in his portrait identified as an innocent vehicle commander. Confronted with the evidence, Lee Man refused to say anything further rather than confess to the Painter Group’s crimes.

• Zhou Quan challenged Lee Man’s account after drawing a portrait of the person Lee Man claimed to have seen, then left to investigate the man.
• Zhou Quan asked Chow Sing Sing to have Ah Nin check whether the portrait matched anyone involved in escorting Lee Man.
• Zhou Quan and Chung Kam-ming joined SACP Ho and Inspector Ho Wai-lam in the observation room, where SACP Ho praised Zhou Quan’s interrogation skills.
• Chow Sing Sing reported that the portrait showed Ng Chi-fai, an innocent vehicle commander with badge number 28818, whose son was also an officer.
• Zhou Quan returned to the interrogation room and invited Lee Man to continue his story, but Lee Man said he had nothing to say.

Zhou Quan confronted Lee Man with his suspicion that the real Painter was Yuen Man, not Lee Man or Wu Xiuqing. Lee Man’s shocked response exposed Zhou Quan’s guess as the truth, while the Police Force’s senior officers watched in alarm.

• Zhou Quan told Lee Man that the evidence made him believe Painter was someone other than Lee Man or Wu Xiuqing.
• Zhou Quan suggested that Yuen Man, a renowned painter, was the hidden Painter behind the criminal organization.
• SACP Ho and the others were stunned by Zhou Quan’s accusation but waited to see how the interrogation unfolded.
• Lee Man’s thoughts revealed that he had acted as the visible Painter while Yuen Man secretly controlled the organization.
• Lee Man blurted out, “How did you know...” after Zhou Quan exposed his greatest secret.

Zhou Quan pressured Lee Man to choose between resisting and cooperating, using the threat of a Mainland trial and the promise of a reduced sentence. Lee Man agreed to testify against Yuen Man and disclosed evidence linking her to the Super Dollar scheme, leaving the police with leads to prove her guilt.

• Zhou Quan told Lee Man that the evidence already identified him as Painter and threatened to seek a Mainland trial if he refused to cooperate.
• Lee Man panicked at the prospect of execution and listened as Zhou Quan offered him a chance to serve a reduced sentence on Hong Kong Island.
• Lee Man agreed to cooperate with the Police Force and testify against Yuen Man.
• Lee Man said his Swiss Bank account contained records of money transfers with Yuen Man from Super Dollar proceeds.
• Lee Man revealed that Yuen Man had used his color-changing ink in her pigments, leaving traces in some of her sold works.

After Lee Man confessed and identified Yuen Man as the Painter, Zhou Quan arranged a joint operation with Mainland police to arrest her and focused on securing the group's Super Dollar printing plates. He left the ongoing interrogations to his colleagues and went to report the matter to Number One.

• Zhou Quan contacted Kwan Man Chin and arranged for Yuezhou Public Security Bureau and Mainland police to help arrest Yuen Man.
• Zhou Quan ordered Chow Sing Sing and Chung Kam-ming to continue taking Lee Man's statement, including details about the printing plates.
• Zhou Quan told an officer to have Luo Danian and Kung Ka-pui interrogate Wu Xiuqing and inform her that Lee Man had confessed.
• Zhou Quan entered the observation room, told SACP Ho the case was nearing its conclusion, and said he was going to report to Number One.
• SACP Ho recognized that the printing plates were a matter only Number One had the authority to handle and let Zhou Quan proceed.

Zhou Quan briefed Sir Hui and SACP Wong Bing Yiu on the near-resolution of the Painter Counterfeit Currency Crime Syndicate case and Lee Man’s confession. After learning that Lee Man had revealed information about the printing plate for America’s latest banknotes, Sir Hui ordered Zhou Quan to organize the evidence and accompany him to see Mr. Dong.

• Zhou Quan went to Sir Hui’s office, where SACP Wong Bing Yiu was also present.
• Zhou Quan reported that Lee Man had confessed and identified Yuen Man as the syndicate’s principal figure.
• Zhou Quan explained that Senior Superintendent Kwan Man Chin and the Yuezhou Public Security Bureau were preparing a joint operation to arrest Yuen Man.
• Sir Hui praised Zhou Quan’s handling of the case and said the Police Force’s core management trusted him to lead the Security Department.
• Zhou Quan revealed that Lee Man had told them about the printing plate for America’s latest banknotes.
• Sir Hui told Zhou Quan to organize the evidence and go with him to see Mr. Dong.

After the Painter Counterfeit Money Group’s final members were brought to justice, Zhou Quan turned to his personal affairs and gathered both families to discuss his marriage to Au Wing-yan. Their elders began arranging the wedding, with Oswald expressing his trust in Zhou Quan.

• Zhou Quan helped conclude the cases against Yuen Man, Lee Man, and Wu Xiuqing after the counterfeit money group was dismantled.
• Zhou Quan considered his family situation and decided it was time to give Au Wing-yan a definite outcome after their years together.
• On August 18, 1997, Zhou Quan and Au Wing-yan’s elders gathered at Lee Garden to discuss the wedding.
• Lee Man-bun apologized to Oswald for delaying the wedding, and Oswald said he trusted Zhou Quan with Au Wing-yan’s future.

Zhou Quan proposed holding his wedding to Au Wing-yan on October 1, the first National Day after Hong Kong Island's return. After Old Master Lee Shu-tong reminded the family to consider Zhou Quan's grandfather in the north, the elders agreed and began discussing the wedding arrangements.

• Lee Man-bun suggested asking a fortune-telling master to choose an auspicious wedding date, and Oswald agreed.
• Zhou Quan proposed setting the wedding for October 1, saying National Day was the most auspicious date.
• Au Wing-yan supported Zhou Quan's choice, citing the significance of marrying on the first National Day after Hong Kong Island's return.
• Old Master Lee Shu-tong backed October 1 and reminded the family that they would need to notify Old Mr. Zhou in the north.
• Lee Man-bun and Oswald agreed to Zhou Quan and Au Wing-yan's wishes, and the women began discussing the wedding details.

Zhou Quan and Au Wing-yan began the formal marriage notice period, then Zhou returned to work and learned that Xinglong Group executive Tam Chung-yiu had been arrested with heroin in his car. The discovery made Zhou suspect someone was challenging his drug crackdown as he prepared to marry.

• Zhou Quan and Au Wing-yan registered their marriage notice at the Central Marriage Registry, beginning the fifteen-day waiting period.
• The Lee Family elders took charge of wedding preparations while Zhou and Au continued working.
• Zhou Quan held his weekly meeting with Security Department commanders and heard reports on the previous week's work and current priorities.
• He Wenzhan reported that police had found three hundred grams of number four heroin in Tam Chung-yiu's car after a public tip.
• Zhou Quan recognized Tam Chung-yiu as the eldest son of Xinglong Group chairman Tam Xintian and considered the drug case a challenge to his red lines.

Zhou Quan learned that Tam Chung-yiu had been arrested for drug possession while Tam Xintian was shot, amid a power struggle within Xinglong. Suspecting Yim Sai Kau and Yim Kwok-keui of framing the Tam family and trafficking drugs, Zhou ordered TUI to investigate and bring them down.

• He Wenzhan reported that Tam Chung-yiu had been arrested with heroin, while Tam Xintian was hospitalized after being shot at Repulse Bay.
• He Wenzhan said Yim Sai Kau and his son Yim Kwok-keui were vying with Tam Chung-yiu for control of Xinglong and might have framed him.
• He Wenzhan reported that TUI suspected Yim Sai Kau and Yim Kwok-keui of drug trafficking, though investigators were still seeking proof.
• Zhou Quan ordered He Wenzhan to coordinate with the Eastern District, mobilize TUI's undercover officers in Xinglong, investigate the case, and take down the Yim father and son.

After Zhou Quan ordered an operation against Xinglong Group, He Wenzhan went to Happy Valley Police Station to meet Tam Chung-yiu and coordinate with its commander, Cheung Man-wah. Cheung agreed to cooperate with the Security Department, and He Wenzhan’s team prepared to meet Xinglong’s leader.

• Zhou Quan ended the weekly meeting after his officers reported their plans, and He Wenzhan took his team to Happy Valley Police Station.
• He Wenzhan met Superintendent Cheung Man-wah, the station commander, in the station’s rooftop recreation area.
• He Wenzhan explained that the Security Department wanted to meet Tam Chung-yiu, who was being held at the station.
• Cheung Man-wah agreed to cooperate with the Security Department.

Cheung Man-wah let He Wenzhan decide whether to take over Tam Chung-yiu’s drug possession case, while Zhuang Qing asked He to grant her client bail so he could visit his critically ill father. He refused, but suggested she seek an earlier trial through the Department of Justice.

• Cheung Man-wah introduced Zhuang Qing, his former classmate and ex-girlfriend, to He Wenzhan as Tam Chung-yiu’s lawyer.
• Zhuang Qing asked He Wenzhan to release Tam Chung-yiu on bail and let him see his critically ill father, Tam Xintian.
• He Wenzhan denied her request, citing the heroin found in Tam Chung-yiu’s car and the need to follow the law.
• He Wenzhan advised Zhuang Qing to approach the Department of Justice to bring Tam Chung-yiu’s trial forward if she could prove his innocence.