Zhang Yi'ang and Yang Wei had reached an agreement for Yang Wei to atone for his crime by good deeds through capturing Mei Dong. However, releasing him wasn't going to be easy.
Currently, police internal management was strict. Even for minor offenses, once recorded in the system, early release required going through layers of procedures. Of course, if someone had just been arrested and their information hadn't been uploaded yet, a leader's word could indeed make a difference.
Yang Wei had caused Boss Fang's family to take to the streets in protest, creating significant repercussions. The police had immediately contacted the prosecutor's office to prepare arrest procedures upon detaining him. For Zhang Yi'ang to release him, not only would internal police approval be needed, but an explanation would also have to be submitted to the prosecutor's office. However, during the pre-case stage, as long as the police withdrew the arrest request and provided justification for atoning through good deeds, the prosecutor's office—as a sister department—typically wouldn't interfere.
Half an hour later, Wang Ruijun walked into the office with a reluctant expression and reported, "Director Qi has gone to the city. Without his signature, we can't proceed with Yang Wei's release."
"Find Director Zhao and have him stamp it," Zhang Yi'ang said casually. After all, this was criminal investigation business, and usually, the team's consensus was enough.
"Uh... I already spoke to Director Zhao. He opposes releasing Yang Wei."
"Why?"
"He said Yang Wei is still a criminal detention subject and can't be released."
Zhang Yi'ang snapped impatiently, "We're letting Yang Wei atone for his crime by good deeds—playing the long game to catch the big fish. Yang Wei doesn't have a history of major violent offenses. Why can't he be released?"
"Director Zhao knows Yang Wei's case isn't legally severe, but Yang Wei caused Boss Fang's group to protest in the streets with banners accusing the police of being his protective umbrella. The government got involved, and Director Qi was summoned for talks. If we release Yang Wei now, public opinion will confirm the police as his protectors. Director Zhao suggests we detain Yang Wei for six months first, then release him later to lure Mei Dong. He firmly opposes releasing him now."
"Detain him for six months first?" Zhang Yi'ang scoffed. "Lock Yang Wei up for half a year, then expect him to come up with a reason to trick Mei Dong back to the country? If Mei Dong were that careless, he'd have been caught hundreds of times already."
Wang Ruijun hesitated. "But Director Zhao just won't agree. I can't convince him—he doesn't work in criminal investigation and doesn't understand the practical difficulties we face."Zhang Yi'ang shook his head, stood up, and said, "Ruijun, let me tell you a story. Back when I graduated from the police academy, I passed the civil service exam and smoothly became a criminal investigator. I was quite lucky to be assigned to Director Gao's department. At that time, Director Gao hadn’t yet moved to the provincial level—he was still the head of the Ning City Criminal Investigation Division. A particularly heinous serial murder case occurred in one of the counties under Ning City. Since Director Gao was renowned for cracking major cases, the higher-ups assigned him to form a task force dedicated to solving this serial murder case. This case was also the first major case I ever worked on. Back then, the quality and coverage of surveillance equipment were nothing compared to today, and the criminal was highly skilled with strong counter-surveillance abilities. We spent several weeks with little progress. Just as we were tightening our net across the county, doing everything possible to identify the suspect, the killer struck again. Director Gao was under immense pressure then. The higher-ups saw that our task force not only failed to catch the killer but also allowed another murder to happen, so they sent another leader to replace Director Gao as the head of the task force. That leader knew nothing about criminal investigation. After fumbling around for a while with no results, he realized he couldn’t solve the case and, fearing accountability, found an excuse to resign and return. In the end, Director Gao was put back in charge. Within a few days, the case was solved. Director Gao ultimately caught the killer through his professional expertise and was commended. As for that unprofessional leader—well, he had nothing left to say."
After listening to the story, Wang Ruijun pondered it for a long while but still couldn’t figure out what his boss was hinting at. He had no choice but to swallow his pride and cautiously ask, "Chief, what does this... what does this have to do with Yang Wei’s case?"
"Then what does Yang Wei’s case have to do with Director Zhao?! Does he handle criminal investigations? Isn’t he just an office director? Has he ever worked on a case or arrested anyone? You’re the head of the Criminal Investigation Brigade—why do you need him to tell you how to do your job?"
Wang Ruijun was immediately enlightened. He thought about it—what business did the office director have with how the Criminal Investigation Brigade operated? If the police department were a company, the office director would just be an administrator. Since when did business managers in any company have to listen to administrators? But then again, Director Zhao wasn’t just an administrator—he also doubled as the general manager’s secretary. His opposition to releasing Yang Wei was probably Director Qi Zhenxing’s intention, right? Not daring to challenge the chief’s authority, Wang Ruijun could only confess, "I think Director Zhao’s stance might represent Director Qi’s attitude. After all, Director Qi was called in for talks because of this protest. If we release Yang Wei now, it wouldn’t look good for Director Qi."
"Director Qi?"
Wang Ruijun coughed lightly and lowered his voice. "I’ve heard rumors in the department that Director Qi has some issues with our criminal investigation team’s daily operations—including the arrest of Li Feng last time. Director Qi wasn’t too happy about it."
"Why wasn’t Director Qi happy that we caught Li Feng?"
Wang Ruijun gave an awkward smile. "Because the entire Three Rivers Estuary knows it was you who caught him. Director Qi wasn’t involved in the case from start to finish, and on top of that, we usually don’t report our criminal investigation work to him. So, from his position, he naturally feels uncomfortable. If you directly oppose Director Qi this time, I... I wonder if it might be inappropriate?"Zhang Yi'ang slightly furrowed his brows, realizing that all leaders liked to assert their presence. They enjoyed it when their subordinates sought their guidance on matters, even if they didn't understand the issue. Offering a few high-level, principled directives would still make them happy. When Zhang Yi'ang first arrested Li Feng, he hadn’t consulted Qi Zhenxing. Later, during the Ye Jian case investigation, which might involve Zhou Rong and required secrecy, he again didn’t seek Qi Zhenxing’s approval. Besides, he and Qi Zhenxing weren’t on the same team to begin with. Maintaining a peaceful coexistence was already good enough—pleasing him was something Zhang Yi'ang simply couldn’t do. If he insisted on releasing Yang Wei today without consultation, the entire unit would know they had openly clashed, making future work extremely troublesome.
Zhang Yi'ang thought for a moment and sighed. "We went through so much trouble to persuade Yang Wei this time. If we don’t seize this chance to lure Mei Dong back, finding another opportunity like this will be difficult!"
"Exactly," Wang Ruijun agreed, feeling equally regretful but helpless.
Zhang Yi'ang looked at him. "Are you willing to give up on catching Mei Dong?"
"Of course not. But releasing Yang Wei involves Director Qi’s pride." Though Wang Ruijun was somewhat slick in his ways, as a detective, his instincts naturally leaned toward cracking major cases. Capturing Mei Dong was far more substantial than detaining Yang Wei.
Zhang Yi'ang smiled. This was the attitude he wanted. "We’ll find someone to argue our case to Director Zhao—present the facts, lay out the reasoning, and explain the stakes. Let Director Zhao and Director Qi understand that apprehending Mei Dong would be a major achievement for the entire unit. They should prioritize the bigger picture."
"Who should we send?"
"We need someone who isn’t afraid of offending Director Zhao or Director Qi."
Wang Ruijun thought for a few seconds before blurting out, "Forensic Doctor Chen? Hmm... but forensics has nothing to do with catching Mei Dong, and Old Chen doesn’t listen to us anyway."
Zhang Yi'ang chuckled, pointing at Wang Ruijun’s head and uttering two words: "Li Qian!"
In the next moment, Wang Ruijun’s eyes gradually lit up, and he couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—Director Zhang was truly a master!
Li Qian might be useless at work, but even useless things could be repurposed. She was, after all, the niece of the Deputy Minister of Public Security. If anyone was going to take the fall for opposing Director Qi, who else but her?
"Me? In charge of capturing Mei Dong?" Li Qian sat across the sofa, her mouth agape as she stared at Wang Ruijun, her heartbeat suddenly accelerating.
After the incident with Liu Bei, she had been completely sidelined by the detective team, forcing her to independently pursue a new line of investigation into Zhou Rong these past few days. Who would have thought she’d suddenly be entrusted with such a major responsibility—overseeing the operation to capture Mei Dong? In an instant, she forgot all about her covert investigation into Zhou Rong. With such an important task at hand, why bother digging into Zhou Rong alone?
"You don’t want to?"
"I... I do! Of course I do. Does Director Zhang agree?" Li Qian was so excited she could barely speak coherently.
"Director Zhang is naturally very cautious. This is my recommendation to him—"
"Thank you, Brother Jun!" Li Qian hurriedly fawned, but then doubts crept in. "But why recommend me?"
"First, you’ve been with our detective team for several months now. Detectives as motivated and driven as you are rare. Your performance speaks for itself, and we all think you deserve more opportunities to prove yourself."
Li Qian nodded repeatedly."Secondly, a major operation like capturing Mei Dong shouldn't normally be handled by a new officer like you. But we've encountered a significant obstacle in the first step of our plan." Wang Ruijun sighed. "After much consideration, I think you might be the only one who can resolve this."
"What's the obstacle?"
"What do you think of the Mei Dong capture plan I just explained to you?"
"It's excellent!"
Wang Ruijun nodded: "I've already agreed on this plan with Yang Wei, but Director Zhao refuses to release Yang Wei to lure Mei Dong."
"Why won't he agree?"
Wang Ruijun shook his head: "I don't know. He just won't approve it."
Li Qian snorted angrily: "Could Director Zhao be Mei Dong's protector in Three Rivers Estuary? No wonder we've never been able to catch him all these years!"
Wang Ruijun immediately coughed nervously: "We can't make baseless accusations against Director Zhao."
"What should I do now?"
"If we can't convince Director Zhao today, the entire operation to capture Mei Dong will fail. I've already approached him and got scolded. But you're different - first, you're a woman with that advantage, and second, Director Zhao knows your uncle is a ministry leader. He'll give you face. Tell him this was your idea, and that without releasing Yang Wei, your carefully devised plan would be wasted. Also, emphasize the pros and cons of capturing versus releasing Yang Wei - catching Mei Dong is what truly matters."
After leaving the office, Li Qian immediately went to see Director Zhao. While most colleagues didn't know about her uncle's high position, Director Zhao and other leaders had learned about it from Zhang Yi'ang during the Liu Bei case, and Qi Zhenxing had later verified it through higher channels. Director Zhao patiently listened to Li Qian's analysis, then frankly explained that Qi Zhenxing had been summoned by municipal superiors over this matter - releasing Yang Wei would leave Qi with no defense. He expressed willingness to release Yang Wei for the sting operation but said it required higher-level approval.
Unable to change his mind, Li Qian reluctantly called her Uncle Guo's secretary for assistance. For leadership at that level, this was easily handled. The minister's chief secretary happened to know a supervising leader at Three Rivers Estuary's municipal police bureau. After a call explaining the urgency to capture Mei Dong - all being investigators who understood time sensitivity - they agreed to special handling. The superior immediately contacted Qi Zhenxing to arrange it. With higher approval, Qi was happy to rid himself of the Yang Wei problem and instructed Director Zhao to proceed.
Within two hours, Li Qian returned to Wang Ruijun with the stamped documents. Wang was pleasantly surprised at her speed and praised her effusively, but said nothing about her participating in Mei Dong's capture.
Li Qian quickly reminded him: "Captain Wang, what should I do next for capturing Mei Dong?"
"Well... wait here. I'll have Bureau Chief Zhang instruct you."
Li Qian waited expectantly. Minutes later, chaotic noises came from outside as Song Xing protested: "Chief, having Li Qian handle Mei Dong's capture - I won't accept this!"
"Why?" came Zhang Yi'ang's voice."Yes, why is that? The chief and I had already agreed that if Li Qian could successfully secure Yang Wei's release, she would take charge of the case," said Wang Ruijun.
"You didn't agree with me, and I don't approve!" Song Xing pushed the door open and walked in, spotting Li Qian immediately with a look of surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Li Qian clenched her teeth, staring at him without a word.
Zhang Yi'ang took a deep breath and tried to reason with Song Xing. "Captain Song, Li Qian has done us a huge favor this time. Just cooperate and let her handle the next steps."
Song Xing glanced at Li Qian and continued to argue his point. "This isn't about favors, Chief. Solving cases isn't child's play, and work can't be used to repay personal debts. Li Qian's experience is far from ready for this, and no one will follow her orders anyway!"
Li Qian glared at Song Xing, her face flushing red with anger.
Zhang Yi'ang glared back at Song Xing. "Captain Song, I've already promised Li Qian. If you act like this, where does that leave my authority? Are you even following orders anymore?"
Song Xing snorted. "If something goes wrong with arresting Mei Dong, who takes the blame? I won't do it if Li Qian is in charge—fire me if you want, but I won't do it!"
"You—you!" Wang Ruijun pointed angrily at Song Xing before walking over to Li Qian and lowering his voice to console her. "You know how stubborn Old Song is. I really can't do anything about him. Li Qian, how about this—just bear with it this time, gain more experience, and next year—I promise next year you'll definitely lead a task force."
All three of them looked at her expectantly. Li Qian's gaze swept over each of them, her face filled with resentment and fury. She shouted at them three times, "Liars! Liars! Liars!" then shoved Wang Ruijun aside and stormed out.
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