He Mei’s alarm bells went off. Once she had calmed down, she summoned two bodyguards. Gu Qiang had offended far too many people, so he had hired a security team of more than a dozen men to protect himself. He Mei had dealings with them as well. Now that Gu Qiang had fallen, she had both the money and the connections to bring them over quickly.
He Mei set her sights on A Xiu, the sick villager. The bodyguards tied him up in the basement of his home. Frightened so badly he could barely speak coherently, he spilled everything. The woman who had been sexually abused by men from half the village was the wife of Yi Lei, a villager from Yuanshu Township. Supposedly she was even a university student. She had borne Yi Lei a child, but according to A Xiu she had been ‘indecent,’ so Yi Lei had brought her here to make money off her.
He Mei gave A Xiu some money and arranged for someone to escort him out of Han Province. Before returning to Junan City, she quietly visited Yuanshu Township. Yi Lei sat sunning himself in his courtyard, while his elderly mother held her grandson and cursed incessantly in the local dialect.
Zhu Yi had wanted to save the women here, only to sacrifice her entire life in the attempt. He Mei felt it had been a terrible waste of Zhu Yi’s life.
Back in Junan City, she buried herself in work. Yongshen Law Firm had just survived a crisis, and many lawyers had resigned. She stayed, took over Gu Qiang’s legitimate business, and gradually became Yongshen’s leading female lawyer.
The higher she climbed, the clearer the view became. From fragments of information, she pieced together a truth riddled with cracks. Yi Lei was directly responsible for Zhu Yi’s death, while the six interns had been the invisible hands that pushed her toward it.
Zhu Yi’s very existence had been too dazzling for them. Du Ying was a “budget version” of Zhu Yi. Si Wei envied Dong Jing’s feelings for her. Li Ren wanted to displace her. Zhu Xiaodi hated having Zhu Yi’s excellence constantly held up as a contrast to him, the one who had gotten in through connections. Dong Jing could not let go of Zhu Yi’s rejection. As for Zhang Pin, he had such a weak presence that he barely registered.
Each of them had had a chance to reach out and pull Zhu Yi back. Instead, when she wanted to act as a mole on the inside, they had urged her on enthusiastically. And when she needed help, each of them withdrew their hand.
They cheered as they tossed her into the air. She turned toward the sunlight, but no one was there to catch her.
No wonder all of them had resigned. Perhaps those contemptible young people had ultimately been unable to bear the accusations of their own consciences.
“So you encouraged Liu Xun to avenge Zhu Yi?” Chen Zheng asked.
He Mei looked astonished. “Officer Chen, is that really what you think? I never encouraged anyone. Liu Xun was searching for the truth. All I did was let her know what that truth was.”
“And you also knew about the Mei family,” Chen Zheng said.
“As for Mei Rui, I first heard about her after Du Ying returned,” He Mei replied.
Once the interns returned to the firm, they had to submit legal-aid reports. Du Ying’s report mentioned Mei Rui, wife of Li Jiangbao of Yuanshu Township. He Mei therefore called Du Ying in for a talk. Du Ying hemmed and hawed as usual, saying she suspected Mei Rui had been trafficked there, but that Mei Rui rejected all attempts to approach her.
Yongshen Law Firm had a business relationship with Huyun Tea Factory. On an official visit to meet its senior management, He Mei heard that Mei Rui’s parents had brought her home, only for her to die by suicide. She did not have much information and could only infer that Zhu Yi had probably been responsible for bringing Mei Rui back.
“That family was pitiful. I heard a little about the mutual-aid group too,” He Mei sighed. “From Mei Feng’s point of view, the people who drove Mei Rui to her death deserved to die.”
“And Dong Jing and Zhu Xiaodi?” Chen Zheng asked. “Did they deserve to die too?”
He Mei smiled. “Officer Chen, there you go again. As I told you, I merely sold the truth to Liu Xun. Whatever she chose to do for Zhu Yi was beyond my control.”
“You’ve reminded me of something,” Chen Zheng said. “Bringing all those former interns back together was within your control.”
He Mei’s expression darkened a little. “I simply posted my wedding invitation on Moments. I was surprised they came too. Are you suggesting I held this wedding specifically to lure them here and then kill Dong Jing and Zhu Xiaodi? That’s absurd. However much I admired Zhu Yi, I would never go that far.”
“They’ve admitted receiving anonymous messages before they came,” Chen Zheng said.
“Then you ought to investigate them and the messages. Officer Chen, I’ve simply been dragged into this case. I’m innocent. I haven’t murdered anyone or instigated anyone to do so.”
He Mei was remarkably calm, as though she had long anticipated Chen Zheng’s questions and prepared her responses. There was currently no evidence that she had orchestrated everything. Mei Feng and Liu Xun had already admitted to the killings of Zhu Xiaodi, Gong Xiaoyang, and Lu Feng. Who had killed Dong Jing remained unanswered.
Chen Zheng and Ming Han had discussed the suspicion surrounding Li Ren and the others. By elimination, the murderer had to be among them; uncovering the truth was only a matter of time. Yet He Mei’s sudden emergence had muddied the water even further.
Chen Zheng remembered that Ming Han had gone to see Huo Xiling. Huo Yewei’s case remained another dark cloud hanging over the police.
Huo Xiling was under surveillance by the Mobile Unit. She continued working as usual, but for the time being she was not permitted to leave Han Province. Ming Han appeared in front of her every so often, striking up conversations about Huo Yewei.
Huo Xiling had not risen above her brothers and sisters in the Huo family for nothing. Even after her only heir was brutally murdered, she remained composed enough to manage the group’s affairs, treating Ming Han and the rest of the Mobile Unit as though they were air. If Ming Han had not known she was Huo Yewei’s birth mother, the longer he watched her, the more convinced he might have become that she herself was his killer.
A few days earlier, Huo Xiling had said, “I really have concealed some things. I still haven’t decided whether I should tell you. This concerns my future and that of the group.”
Until she chose to speak, Ming Han could only keep pressing her, while the Mobile Unit secretly investigated Weihai Technology. A calculating businesswoman like Huo Xiling had her own method for making decisions, one grounded entirely in her personal interests. Only when she decided she had no choice but to seek help from the police would she come forward of her own accord.
That afternoon, Huo Xiling finished presiding over a project meeting and returned to her office, where she became momentarily distracted. The Huo Yewei case was already affecting Weihai Technology, and Shu Jun was fanning the flames online, continually smearing her.
The Shu family was not one to offend lightly. At this point, she could not even find a suitable solution. Some cooperative projects had been suspended. Companies that had once catered to Weihai’s every whim were adopting a wait-and-see attitude, and the group’s share price continued to fall…
Huo Xiling tossed her files onto the desk and let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Well, well, President Huo. Not in the best mood today?” Ming Han had arrived again, grinning with the delighted curiosity of a spectator watching a scandal unfold.
Huo Xiling frowned at him, then put her rigid mask back on. “If you withdrew your people, perhaps my mood would improve.”
Ming Han approached and leaned against the desk. “And if it did, would you be willing to talk to me about Heaven-Measuring Ruler?”
Huo Xiling shot him a warning glance and remained silent.
“You know, if I hadn’t become a police officer, I might have ended up a lot like your son,” Ming Han said half-jokingly. “Maybe I’d have made a name for myself in entertainment. Maybe I’d even have done better than him.”
Huo Xiling studied him with a frown, as if to say: You?
“What’s wrong with me? With my height, my build, my face, and my sense of humor, it would be an injustice if I didn’t become famous.” Ming Han took a few steps as though the CEO’s office had become his personal runway.
Huo Xiling scoffed. “Showing off your plumage is useless with me. I’m an old woman. I’m not interested in young men like you.”
Ming Han pretended to be shocked. “What are you saying? I’m already spoken for. As for being an old woman… President Huo, when I said Huo Yewei and I were alike, I meant that we both have a businessman for a parent who’ll stop at nothing.”
Huo Xiling stared at him, apparently turning his words over in her mind.
“My father used to be a powerful man in Nanshan City and Luocheng. Then, just when business was booming, he ran off to Country G. Yunyang Tech. Heard of it? Just like your family’s company, it’s in technology.” A faint smile curved Ming Han’s lips.
“You’re Bu Yangyun’s son?” Huo Xiling asked.
“Remember when I told you Heaven-Measuring Ruler nearly killed me? Those people may have wanted me dead because of that father of mine, who’s committed every dirty deed imaginable.”
The wrinkles on Huo Xiling’s face trembled faintly. She seemed shaken.
“I almost lost my life, but Huo Yewei wasn’t as lucky as I was. President Huo, what exactly did you people do? Why is the next generation being made to pay for it?” Ming Han was smiling as he spoke, but his smile made the room feel cold.
“I…” Huo Xiling gripped her fountain pen and looked away.
“I’ll tell you something else,” Ming Han said. “That old bastard Bu Yangyun has disappeared.”
“What?” Huo Xiling blurted out instinctively.
“Are you nervous or surprised? What’s your relationship with Bu Yangyun?” Ming Han asked.
“What do you mean, disappeared?” Huo Xiling asked in return.
“Exactly what it sounds like.” Ming Han moved closer. “He lived in Country G for many years and broke off contact with me long ago. But shortly after I got in touch with him, he vanished.”
Huo Xiling’s lips trembled. Her false mask was on the verge of falling away.
“President Huo, we haven’t spent all this time watching just you,” Ming Han continued. “I’ve also looked into how Weihai Technology changed before and after you took control. Back then, you were from a collateral branch of the family, hardly a suitable successor. Your youngest uncle, who was only seven years older than you, was the preferred candidate. How did a man so highly regarded and so careful of his conduct suddenly become addicted to gambling and drugs, only to die in prison?”
Huo Xiling’s face went pale. That decades-old affair was like a vine reaching out from the filth of the past to wrap itself tightly around her.
“And then there were Lingkong and Wanxing, two technology companies that used to be both Weihai’s competitors and its allies. If they had developed normally, Weihai would have had to cede quite a bit of market share to them.” Ming Han continued, “Unfortunately, both families descended into internal feuds, and Weihai emerged as the biggest beneficiary.”
Huo Xiling let out a long breath and went to the window. Wintertime Luocheng lay shrouded in smog, its buildings seeming to float in a lead-gray froth. Ming Han watched her back. “If I keep investigating, what else do you think I’ll find?”
“Your father and Heaven-Measuring Ruler were partners,” Huo Xiling suddenly said.
Ming Han frowned. “What?”
Huo Xiling turned halfway toward him, her eyes devoid of warmth. “Like him, I used Heaven-Measuring Ruler. We may have been among the first people in this country to profit from it.”
The story of Huo Xiling’s success began with her contact with Heaven-Measuring Ruler. After years of marketing and carefully shaped narratives, the prevailing opinion about Weihai Technology was now that the Huo family lacked capable men, while its few male members were disappointments. The standouts were all women, with Huo Xiling the brightest jewel of them all.
But the truth was that, in those days, the most highly regarded members of the Huo family had been her youngest uncle Huo Yingzheng and her younger male cousin Huo Meishen. When Huo Xiling was still supervising marginal projects within the group, those two were already participating in major decisions.
They had never taken her seriously. Between them and Huo Xiling stood plenty of others eyeing power. They schemed against one another, chose sides, and traded information. Huo Xiling did not even qualify to take a side.
But Heaven-Measuring Ruler dangled a taste of success before her, encouraging her to imagine possessing things that were never supposed to belong to her.
The person who approached her was Jin Chiye, the head of Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s operations in Hua Country. His real name was unknown. He came from Country K but spoke Hua Country’s language with remarkable fluency.
Jin Chiye had an alluring pair of peach-blossom eyes. He told her that a woman like her should not be sacrificed in a struggle for power among men. She clearly possessed talent no less impressive than Huo Yingzheng or Huo Meishen. Why should she be relegated to the sidelines of this family war?
She was still young then, and resentment was already burning inside her. Part of it came from her consistently excellent results since childhood; part came from the elders’ contempt for women. Had she not understood the rules of survival in a wealthy family, she might have stood out years earlier, only to be ruthlessly cut down.
Jin Chiye fanned those embers into a blaze. Yet she knew little about Heaven-Measuring Ruler and could not understand why such a clandestine criminal organization would choose to support her. Wary, she asked, “What do you want from me?”
Jin Chiye smiled and applauded. “Excellent question. Heaven-Measuring Ruler is no charity. Whatever we give, we recover several times over. And you have that kind of potential.”
Jin Chiye cited examples of wealthy conglomerates in Countries K and J. Though Heaven-Measuring Ruler was almost unheard of in Hua Country, it had already “helped” numerous previously obscure businesspeople in those two countries.
At first, those businesspeople had barely been able to breathe under the pressure of intense competition. With Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s help, their rivals vanished without a trace. Some of those once-small companies had since become dazzling industry stars.
Who did not yearn for success? Particularly someone like Huo Xiling, born with a silver spoon in her mouth yet forced to serve as a stepping stone for her uncle and younger cousin. Her eyes gradually shone, and Jin Chiye’s smile grew brighter.
What Heaven-Measuring Ruler demanded from the businesses it helped was not only money but also connections. In Country K, it had built an enormous criminal network through major enterprises, with everyone trapped inside exchanging favors and benefits.
Now this mature web was spreading toward Huo Xiling. She said, “I have one last question. Why me? If Weihai Technology is your target, my uncle and cousin are better choices.”
“First, let me correct one thing. Heaven-Measuring Ruler does not target specific companies,” Jin Chiye said. “We care about people within those companies. Imagine that you were Huo Meishen or Huo Yingzheng. If I stood here making grand speeches like this, wouldn’t you think I was a lunatic and call the police?”
Huo Xiling frowned and thought briefly. “You may have a point. They don’t need you.”
“Exactly. They already think victory is theirs, that they were born to rule. Why would they cooperate with an unknown organization from another country?” Jin Chiye replied. “So it had to be you, Ms. Huo. Your position is weak, but you refuse to settle for it. You want to swallow Weihai Technology whole. We’ve only just arrived and want to open new territory in this unfamiliar country. We need each other. It’s a perfect match.”
Huo Xiling admitted she had been persuaded, but she was cautious and dared not agree so readily. Her life had already changed the moment Jin Chiye appeared. She now knew Heaven-Measuring Ruler existed and that people marginalized like her could, under its protection, seize the unattainable. Fame, profit, everything she coveted: Heaven-Measuring Ruler could fetch it for her. All she had to do was succeed, then become a node in the network the organization was building.
She could no longer endure being relegated to the margins of the Huo family. Her sisters, in her eyes, were empty-headed beauties, while every man in the family had attained his position without deserving it. She looked at them through gritted teeth, imagining a day when she would trample them all underfoot and become the ruler of Weihai Technology.
Jin Chiye gave her plenty of time to think. She sought him out impatiently but retained a final measure of caution. She wanted to see a successful example, and not one from Country K or J. Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s operations overseas were already well-established; what she wanted was proof of its achievements in opening territory within Hua Country.
Jin Chiye was prepared. “You weren’t my first prospect in Han Province. Do you know Bu Yangyun of Nanshan City?”
“Bu Yangyun?” Huo Xiling frowned. She knew the name. In a sense, they were in the same industry. Their specialties differed, but both worked in the broad field of technology.
As far as she knew, Bu Yangyun had started out a penniless nobody with no background, winning over a wealthy family’s daughter through his looks and a little cleverness. He had built a business with his in-laws’ money and expanded it year after year.
Jin Chiye’s eyes curved in amusement. “His in-laws had some money, but they were hardly fabulously rich. A few million would have been the most they could give him. You’re in technology yourself. You know it’s an industry fought over with capital.”
“So you were the ones who backed him?” Huo Xiling asked.
“We merely helped him make a few connections and cleared some obstacles out of his way. The rest he worked out himself,” Jin Chiye said. “And if he hadn’t been capable, we wouldn’t have invested in him to begin with.”
Jin Chiye made it sound effortless, but Huo Xiling caught the scent of blood behind his words.
“Well?” Jin Chiye asked. “Is Bu Yangyun a convincing enough example? Of course, for now he’s only a small fish. We haven’t been in your country long and we’re still exploring. Frankly, besides you, I have another dozen or so prospective partners in discussions. Whether you choose to cooperate is entirely up to you.”
Huo Xiling extended her hand. Jin Chiye took it like a gentleman. “Here’s to a pleasant partnership.”
At this point in her account, Huo Xiling paused to scrutinize Ming Han. A deep puzzlement lay in her eyes, as if she were wondering why Bu Yangyun’s son had become a police officer.
“Back then, when Huo Yingzheng became addicted to drugs and lost his eligibility to compete for control, that was your and Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s handiwork,” Ming Han said.
But Huo Xiling laughed. “Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s, yes. Mine, no. I was only concerned with developing my own business. If he insisted on getting involved with that stuff, how could I stop him? If anyone pushed him over the edge, it was Huo Meishen.”
The names Huo Yingzheng and Huo Meishen had long since been forgotten. Back then, Huo Yingzheng had become addicted to drugs and repeatedly accused Huo Meishen of setting him up. Huo Meishen naturally denied everything. The Huo family was thrown into turmoil. To stabilize Weihai Technology, they abandoned Huo Yingzheng, who ultimately died in prison.
Huo Meishen enjoyed his advantage for barely half a year before people from Huo Yingzheng’s faction uncovered evidence that he had hired a killer, along with a series of other improper competitive practices. Huo Meishen tried to leave the country until matters cooled down, but drug traffickers killed him at the border.
Huo Xiling remained invisible through that series of upheavals. With the Huo family teetering, her project became the miraculous medicine that brought it back from the brink. She thus became someone the family had no choice but to entrust with real power.
“You make it sound as if you never got a drop of blood on your hands.” Ming Han sneered. “President Huo, if you were really that ‘clean,’ why was Huo Yewei brutally murdered, just as someone tried to kill me? Bu Yangyun’s hardly a good man. I suspect he went overseas to escape whoever was hunting him.”
Huo Xiling frowned. “But you said the people trying to kill you were Heaven-Measuring Ruler. How could that be?”
“Why couldn’t it?” Ming Han asked.
“Heaven-Measuring Ruler is an ally to both Bu Yangyun and me. Whoever attacked Huo Yewei must be Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s enemy.” As Huo Xiling spoke, a trace of uncertainty entered her expression.
Ming Han stared at her. “Then who is Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s enemy?”
Huo Xiling’s brow furrowed further. She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You were that close to Heaven-Measuring Ruler, and you have no intelligence whatsoever?” Ming Han demanded.
“It’s not that.” Huo Xiling said, “I suspect Heaven-Measuring Ruler has changed the direction of its development.”
Ming Han raised an eyebrow. “Oh? In what way?”
Huo Xiling pressed her lips together, hesitating over whether to tell the officer before her. Her position was delicate. Huo Yewei’s death had thrust her into public controversy, forcing her to reveal dark secrets she should have kept buried. But now that she had come this far, fresh concerns were holding her back.
“I haven’t been in contact with Heaven-Measuring Ruler for many years,” she said. Her link to the organization had depended on Jin Chiye. The last time they had met, he looked weary and said he was returning to Country K for a while.
Jin Chiye had often disappeared before, so she was accustomed to it. Only after more than two years passed without news of him did she begin to find it strange and suspect something had happened to him after he returned to Country K. But she had no way to contact Heaven-Measuring Ruler except through Jin Chiye. She could only wait for someone else from the organization to approach her.
“To tell you the truth, I felt relieved when Heaven-Measuring Ruler vanished,” Huo Xiling said with a bitter smile. “No one wants to face the sins of their past. Once they disappeared, it was as though they’d taken everything I had done with them and wiped the slate clean.”
In recent years, Huo Xiling no longer relied on Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Her former cooperation with them had become a dark stain on her history, and she had repeatedly dreamed that they were coming to collect their debts. In reality, though, nothing of the sort happened. Heaven-Measuring Ruler had arrived without a sound, and apparently departed just as quietly.
“So you think something happened to Heaven-Measuring Ruler and its enemies struck back?” Ming Han asked.
Huo Xiling nodded. “That’s the only possibility. Otherwise, why would Jin Chiye leave and never come back? I heard Heaven-Measuring Ruler withdrew its intelligence network beyond our borders.”
“Then think again. Who might want revenge against Huo Yewei?” Ming Han asked.
Huo Xiling was silent for a long time. The light gradually faded from her eyes.