The next day at noon, Zhang Yi'ang had his phone pressed tightly to his ear, enduring Gao Dong's furious tirade with a stiff expression. After hanging up, he wiped his face as if Director Gao's spit had somehow splattered through the phone onto him.
He let out a long sigh and turned to look at Li Qian, who was sitting on the sofa with a troubled expression. "Leader, just what level is your family at?" he asked gloomily.
Li Qian frowned and replied softly, "My uncle is the director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau at the Ministry of Public Security."
Zhang Yi'ang clenched his legs together to stop himself from jumping out the window, swallowing hard. "A vice-minister?"
Li Qian nodded slowly.
The vice-minister of the Ministry of Public Security also served as the director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau—and she had only mentioned the lower-ranking position.
Zhang Yi'ang, a mere deputy director of a small county-level city, had nearly gotten the niece of a vice-minister killed yesterday. Offending someone of that stature could mean being transferred from his dashing role leading investigations to stamping IDs at the household registration office with a single word—no amount of protection from Director Gao could save him.
Seeing his reaction, Li Qian quickly explained, "Uncle Guo isn't my biological uncle. He used to work with my dad locally, and my dad once saved his life. Later... later, my dad was killed by criminals during a mission. Uncle Guo has always treated me like his niece since then. Back then, he was still working locally before moving to Beijing."
Zhang Yi'ang thought to himself, Same difference. Your dad saved Minister Guo’s life and then died on duty. Minister Guo, out of gratitude, treats you like his own niece—that kind of life-and-death bond is stronger than blood. If anything happened to you, wouldn’t he make sure something happened to me?
Li Qian continued anxiously, "I explained everything in detail to Uncle Guo this morning. It wasn’t anyone’s fault—I was just inexperienced and reckless, and Liu Bei saw through me. But I wasn’t hurt! Uncle Guo said it’s fine, just told me to be more careful in the future. He promised he wouldn’t interfere with my work."
Zhang Yi'ang thought, Of course he’d say that to you—"It’s fine, it’s fine." But he definitely didn’t say the same to Director Gao, or else I wouldn’t have been chewed out like a dog!
Li Qian then spoke up for Song Xing. "Director, please don’t blame Captain Song for yesterday. It was purely an accident—no one could’ve predicted it. And... and please don’t hold back from letting me participate in investigations just because of my uncle. I grew up watching my dad work, and I decided back then that I wanted to be a criminal investigator."
"Of course it’s not because of your uncle," Zhang Yi'ang lied, not wanting to lose face in front of his subordinate. He adopted a solemn tone. "I’m just concerned about your safety! You’re new and lack experience handling emergencies, so I wanted you to learn first and build up experience with basic tasks. Don’t worry—once you’ve gained enough experience, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for investigations."
"Really?" Li Qian beamed with joy.
"Absolutely. Now, go call Wang Ruijun and Song Xing for me."
Li Qian jumped up from the sofa and happily went to fetch them. The moment the two entered, Zhang Yi'ang’s first words were: "From now on, anyone who lets Li Qian participate in investigations is fired!"Wang Ruijun and Song Xing didn’t know the exact identity of Li Qian’s family, but they had heard she was related to a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Public Security. Especially Song Xing—though their superiors had instructed him not to involve Li Qian in the investigation, she had pleaded with him several times yesterday. He figured that posing as a property management worker to check the situation couldn’t be dangerous; at worst, they’d be exposed, and Zheng Yongbing wouldn’t dare harm a police officer even with ten times the courage. So he took it upon himself to let Li Qian go upstairs. Who would have thought she’d nearly lost her life? He had been so terrified that he hadn’t slept a wink since last night.
The two of them could only nod, not daring to voice a single word of objection.
Zhang Yi’ang lowered his voice and said, “Remember, this order came from Song Xing. If Li Qian finds out it was me who said it, Song Xing is out immediately!”
Song Xing eagerly assured he had no objections, though inwardly he wondered—if Wang Ruijun were the one to spill the secret, would he be the one getting fired too?
Zhang Yi’ang reined in his anger and turned to business: “Have you found any leads on Liu Bei’s whereabouts?”
They shook their heads. Just as Zhang Yi’ang’s expression was about to darken again, Wang Ruijun quickly offered some good news: “Chief, last night Zheng Yongbing confessed something major about the goods he received.”
It turned out that the jewelry Zheng Yongbing had acquired not long ago was, upon investigation by the criminal police, identified as stolen property that the Provincial Public Security Department had recently issued a notice to track.
Over the past few months, small-scale terrorist bombings had occurred in three cities. The criminals used homemade explosives to create remote-controlled bombs triggered by mobile phones, detonating them in crowded areas. Though the bombs weren’t powerful—only causing minor injuries to a few civilians—the psychological impact of multiple explosions in public spaces was severe. The Provincial Public Security Department dispatched a task force, coordinating investigations across the three cities. When they linked the bombings together, they discovered that each explosion coincided with an armed robbery at a suburban jewelry store. Armed robberies were rare to begin with, and the timing was clearly no coincidence.
The provincial experts quickly deduced the criminals’ logic: by causing chaos and traffic jams with the bombings, they could carry out their robberies in the suburbs and escape unnoticed.
Unfortunately, the criminals were highly skilled in counter-surveillance, and despite extensive efforts, their identities remained unknown. Based on photos of some stolen jewelry provided by the stores, the Provincial Public Security Department issued a province-wide alert to local police, instructing them to arrest suspects immediately if the stolen goods were found.
And these very stolen goods had ended up with Zheng Yongbing.
When they reviewed surveillance footage from the time Zheng Yongbing recalled the transaction, only one camera had captured the criminals—and the image was blurry. According to Zheng Yongbing’s description, the two men had disguised their faces at the time, and after so many days, he couldn’t remember their exact appearances.
After some discussion, Zhang Yi’ang and the two officers concluded that the robbers weren’t from Three Rivers Estuary and were likely transient criminals. Given the time that had passed, they had probably already left the area, leaving the local police with no choice but to report the case to higher authorities. As for their current priorities—Liu Bei had to be apprehended, Ye Jian’s case had to be solved, and Zhou Rong’s trail needed to be followed closely.When Zhou Rong was mentioned, Wang Ruijun immediately reported another piece of good news: "Zheng Yongbing was terrified when he heard the goods he received were stolen items from a robbery case listed by the provincial authorities. He proactively reached out to me, wanting to atone for his crimes by helping us crack the cultural relics case. He said he has a former subordinate who used to follow him. Back then, when the subordinate’s family was in a car accident, Zheng paid for the arrangements, so the subordinate is completely obedient to him. Now, this subordinate works under Zhou Rong’s men as a driver in the security department and can be arranged to serve as our informant."
Zhang Yi'ang pondered for a moment. If they had an informant inside Zhou Rong’s circle, this was no longer just about the Chime Bells. It didn’t matter what unearthed relics were involved—even if Zhou Rong blew up the Thirteen Ming Tombs, Zhang Yi'ang wouldn’t care. What mattered was that having an informant would be extremely beneficial for investigating Zhou Rong. He asked cautiously, "Is this person reliable as an informant?"
"I think it’s worth a try. Zheng Yongbing said this subordinate shares a life-and-death bond with him and has been unhappy working as a driver under Zhou Rong these past few years. Zheng is willing to pay the subordinate himself for information, as long as we can offer him leniency."
"He doesn’t know we’re targeting Zhou Rong, does he?"
"No, he thinks we’re only after Liu Bei and investigating the unearthed relics scheme."
After further discussion, the three agreed the plan was feasible.
Now, they had to fight on two fronts. One was capturing Liu Bei—this scoundrel must not be allowed to escape. The other was following up on the Ye Jian case, especially since the criminals had attempted to frame Director Zhang. Such despicable acts were utterly unforgivable.
The Ye Jian case had led them to the Hydrotherapy Club, so naturally, the next step was to question the club’s owner, Lu Yibo. Although they had briefly interviewed Lu Yibo about the events of that night after Ye Jian’s death, it had only been a superficial inquiry. Zhang Yi'ang was convinced they could extract crucial information from Lu Yibo—after all, his name was so fitting. Once they "broke" Lu Yibo, they could "take down Zhou Rong’s gang in one sweep"!
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