At the Han Province Public Security Department, in the Mobile Unit.
Elio’s Notes: The arc title Contending Voices also plays on the two leads’ names: the character pronounced Zheng in Chen Zheng and the character pronounced Ming in Ming Han combine to form the original title.
The conference-room door opened. Lu Hejing and Tang Xiaoli were already waiting inside. Lu Hejing was as unsmiling as ever, and Chen Zheng thought his brow was furrowed even more deeply than usual. Was it because they still had not caught Huo Yewei’s killer after such a long investigation?
Tang Xiaoli, by contrast, greeted him with a smile. “You’re back. Have a seat. Xiao Chen, you barely had time to put your feet up before we called you to a meeting. Sorry to put you straight to work.”
Chen Zheng shook his head. “Not at all. I was eager to report what happened in Junan City.”
The four murders at Weimo Mountain Resort were not themselves related to Heaven-Measuring Ruler, but one detail might connect them to the organization: Gu Qiang, the prominent lawyer who had been killed earlier.
When Zhu Yi and the others interned at Yongshen Law Firm, Gu Qiang had thought very highly of Zhu Yi and recruited her onto his team. If she had not devoted herself to helping the women of Yuanshu Township, she might already have secured a position at Yongshen and perhaps even become entangled in Gu Qiang’s later case.
Gu Qiang had worked for Heaven-Measuring Ruler and helped Huo Xiling defeat her competitors within the Huo family. His mistress He Mei was suspected of orchestrating the revenge for Zhu Yi. Although Gu Qiang had been murdered by his wife, Liao Huaimeng, Chen Zheng’s personal inference was that Heaven-Measuring Ruler had been involved behind the scenes.
After listening to the report, both Lu Hejing and Tang Xiaoli were silent for a long while. Chen Zheng watched Lu Hejing. “Director Lu?”
Lu Hejing came back to himself and nodded. “Gu Qiang, Huo Xiling, and Bu Yangyun were all people who helped Heaven-Measuring Ruler develop its early network in Hua Country. Gu Qiang’s position was special, however. He was a lawyer, a provider of professional services. He may have known more than Huo Xiling or Bu Yangyun. His death certainly wasn’t simple.”
Chen Zheng knew Lu Hejing and Tang Xiaoli had called him back for more than a report. They had to have something important to tell him. “Has there been news of Bu Yangyun?”
Lu Hejing looked at him, his gaze unfathomable. “We’ve lost contact with Han Qu.”
Chen Zheng froze. “Lost contact? How?”
Lu Hejing shook his head, showing a rare trace of worry. Chen Zheng understood his youngest maternal uncle well. This man, whom the Lu family regarded as a heartless figure made of steel, always buried his emotions deeply. Chen Zheng could scarcely recall a time when Lu Hejing had openly displayed joy, anger, sorrow, or delight.
Tang Xiaoli explained seriously that the Mobile Unit’s contact with Han Qu depended entirely on Han Qu’s circumstances. For his safety, they would never initiate contact. Over the past two years, Han Qu had transmitted intelligence whenever necessary. But ever since his last appearance at Yunxiang Theater in Nanshan City, he seemed to have evaporated.
Chen Zheng’s heart tightened and his palms began to sweat. Because Heaven-Measuring Ruler had targeted Ming Han that time, Han Qu had changed his plan at the last minute and appeared before Chen Zheng, effectively exposing himself. Had it caused problems for him? Had something happened after he returned to Heaven-Measuring Ruler?
Chen Zheng instinctively glanced at Ming Han, whose brows were drawn together and face tense.
“Han Qu wouldn’t have acted that way unless he believed he could manage the consequences. He’s not the kind of man who would jeopardize an entire operation just to save someone,” Tang Xiaoli said, looking at Chen Zheng. “Xiao Chen, you of all people should know that.”
Chen Zheng calmed down. That was true. Lu Hejing had chosen Han Qu precisely because of his resolve. The last time Lu Hejing had explained the truth to him, he said that the Mobile Unit and Han Qu had effectively created a line of operations parallel to conventional police work. Han Qu was not responsible for dealing with every crisis that might arise; that was the task of the regular police, just as the Qiusai attack planned in Luocheng had ultimately been stopped by officers led mainly by the municipal Major Crimes Team.
“Perhaps Han Qu used the last incident to gain access to Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s leadership,” Tang Xiaoli said. “Before Yunxiang Theater, his superior was that woman Xu Hetang. From the intelligence he sent back, only people surnamed Jin were part of the organization’s inner core. Heaven-Measuring Ruler has a great many people like Xu Hetang, and clients can’t contact the inner leadership. If something goes wrong, the leadership can abandon its intermediaries and slip free. That’s why we’ve never managed to identify its decision-makers.”
“Because he’s made progress, he can’t send any intelligence for the time being?” Chen Zheng asked.
“That’s the optimistic possibility,” Tang Xiaoli sighed. “But you know the closer you get to the truth, the more dangerous it becomes. One wrong move and you can draw suspicion. Han Qu is probably going through a difficult time right now.”
Silence descended over the conference room. Chen Zheng recalled how he had behaved while investigating in Junan City. Lu Hejing had told him that Chen Zheng himself was a crucial component of Han Qu’s supposed “betrayal.” Heaven-Measuring Ruler was certain to be watching him, judging his reactions to determine what Han Qu’s true role might be.
Chen Zheng clenched his fists. He could only hope he had not become the arrow aimed at Han Qu.
“Enough. Han Qu isn’t the only reason for today’s meeting.” Lu Hejing stood and looked from Chen Zheng to Ming Han. “Lately one of you has been in Junan City, the other in Luocheng, and you’ve both dealt with Heaven-Measuring Ruler directly or indirectly. There’s a contradiction when we put the intelligence together.”
Ming Han had barely been involved in the four Weimo Mountain Resort murders, concentrating instead on the Huo family’s Weihai Technology. He therefore knew more about Heaven-Measuring Ruler. “The organization is behaving very inconsistently.”
Lu Hejing nodded. “Last time you were in danger in Nanshan City, Heaven-Measuring Ruler was behind it. They wanted to use Zhan Fuhai to eliminate you, probably because of Bu Yangyun. Now in the Huo Yewei case, although the killer is still at large, we can say with reasonable confidence it was also Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s work. Huo Yewei is Huo Xiling’s son, so he had to die. But that’s strange. Heaven-Measuring Ruler was partnered with Huo Xiling and Bu Yangyun. Why would it attack their children?”
Chen Zheng frowned. “Another faction, perhaps victims of Huo Xiling and Bu Yangyun seeking revenge. That would make more sense.”
“Exactly. That was our initial theory too,” Lu Hejing said. “Huo Xiling testified that after Heaven-Measuring Ruler helped her establish her position, it contacted her less and less. Jin Chiye vanished, and she also stopped working with Gu Qiang. To her, Heaven-Measuring Ruler appeared to be having trouble expanding in Hua Country and gradually pulling out. After all these years, if the former victims have begun retaliating, it doesn’t make sense that Heaven-Measuring Ruler itself would be the one to kill Huo Yewei.”
Ming Han added, “I spoke to her again today. She still insists it was Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s enemies.”
Chen Zheng considered this. “The killer deliberately left Lin Dong’s shoeprint at the scene. We can’t rule out the possibility that someone was trying to create the impression Heaven-Measuring Ruler committed the crime.”
“Then how do you explain last time?” Lu Hejing asked. “Zhan Fuhai admitted that killing Ming Han was his admission ticket to Heaven-Measuring Ruler. And Han Qu appeared. Surely we can’t claim someone else was framing Heaven-Measuring Ruler that time too?”
Chen Zheng felt torn in two. It was true that another faction might have been involved in the Huo Yewei case, but the attempt on Ming Han could only have come from Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Why would the organization attack its former allies? Had Bu Yangyun sensed something wrong with it long ago and therefore gone abroad?
And the police intelligence clearly showed Heaven-Measuring Ruler stirring everywhere, spreading into new areas, even carrying out its criminal selection experiments in schools. Why, then, would a founding-level ally like Huo Xiling believe the group was retreating? Had she, Bu Yangyun, Gu Qiang, and others like them been abandoned?
Early allies were harder to control and more likely to make unreasonable demands. Had Heaven-Measuring Ruler changed strategy and turned on them?
But the logic still failed. If it merely wanted to discard its former allies, it should have removed them quietly. Why target their children instead?
Ming Han was a police officer, so perhaps his case was different. But Huo Yewei? He knew nothing about Huo Xiling’s past actions. Killing him would conceal no secrets. Its only apparent purpose was to torment Huo Xiling and make her suffer.
It was too strange. It looked like revenge. Heaven-Measuring Ruler had a motive to silence people, but not a motive for revenge.
Lu Hejing said, “Every action has a logic behind it, yet the logic doesn’t hold in these cases connected with Heaven-Measuring Ruler. If either of you has an idea, say it.”
Chen Zheng drew his hands swiftly across the tabletop. “The possibilities before us fall into two broad categories. First, Heaven-Measuring Ruler wants to rid itself of its early allies. It no longer needs Bu Yangyun or Huo Xiling. The difference is that Bu Yangyun recognized the danger early and left the country, whereas Huo Xiling still refuses to believe Heaven-Measuring Ruler was responsible for Huo Yewei’s death. Second, perhaps Heaven-Measuring Ruler truly didn’t kill Huo Yewei. In that case, who did? Given what happened to Ming Han, did Huo Xiling and Bu Yangyun once use Heaven-Measuring Ruler together to harm a third party? Could they, for instance, have wiped out that person’s descendants? In taking revenge, this person might then target the next generation rather than Huo Xiling and Bu Yangyun themselves.”
Lu Hejing’s brow furrowed. His mind wandered briefly. Chen Zheng really was remarkably similar to him when he was young.
“But the people who targeted me were Heaven-Measuring Ruler,” Ming Han pointed out.
Chen Zheng shook his head. “If we fixate on a single detail, we may never be able to move the larger investigation forward.”
Ming Han grew thoughtful. The outline of an idea seemed to emerge in his mind, but he had not yet found words for it.
“Xiao Chen is right. For now, we’ve lost Han Qu and can only proceed with the clues we have,” Tang Xiaoli said, checking the time. “It’s getting late. Go home and rest.”
Leaving the Mobile Unit, Chen Zheng sat in the car in a daze for a long while. Returning to Luocheng felt entirely different this time. The previous return had left his thoughts in chaos, his emotions swinging from one extreme to another. Now he was unexpectedly calm. Even after learning that something might have happened to Han Qu, he had quickly begun thinking about how to investigate the people Bu Yangyun and Huo Xiling had once targeted together.
“Bro, are we going home?” Ming Han asked.
Chen Zheng studied the traffic ahead. “I remember there’s a shopping mall around the corner.”
Ming Han was surprised. “What do you need to buy?”
“I still owe you a down jacket. Winter’s almost over.”
Ming Han’s eyebrows rose so high he looked incredulous. “Why did you suddenly remember that?”
“My mind just wandered,” Chen Zheng said, sounding almost aggrieved. “Don’t overwork me like Old Lu does. I only just got back. Can’t I even zone out for a moment without you two commenting on it?”
Ming Han laughed. “I won’t say another word.”
A few minutes later, Ming Han asked, “You really want to go? Shall I park?”
Chen Zheng glanced at him. “Do you think I can’t afford it?”
Ming Han parked the car. “Thank you, Brother Moneybags.”
Chen Zheng’s eyelid twitched. “Of all the things you could call me, you chose that?”
With people bustling around them, Ming Han lowered his voice. “Then forget the moneybags part. I just want Brother.”
He was standing so close that his warm breath brushed Chen Zheng’s ear as he spoke. Chen Zheng instinctively pinched his suddenly burning ear with cool fingers.
Chen Zheng had never seen Ming Han in a down jacket. He rarely wore long coats either, usually favoring short jackets or outdoor shells. He never looked particularly cold and could work more easily that way, but with Ming Han’s height, Chen Zheng felt it was a waste of those long legs not to wear something longer. After all, Ming Han had once cried because he grew so fast during middle school.
Last time Chen Zheng imagined Ming Han silently crying from growing pains, his heart had ached. This time he almost laughed.
“Bro, what wicked idea are you entertaining now?” Ming Han asked.
Chen Zheng slapped a down jacket that reached the calves into his arms. “Put this on. Let me see.”
Ming Han held it up and frowned so hard his brows nearly met. “It’s too long. What decent police officer wears something like this to work?”
“Mm. I’m sending you into show business,” Chen Zheng replied.
A shop assistant giggled nearby.
Ming Han put it on with visible reluctance. Chen Zheng had a good eye. Although the down jacket was an ordinary black, the details were well executed, giving it a striking silhouette without making it look bulky. But Ming Han’s reaction was funny. Perhaps because he had never worn anything so long, he felt awkward and could scarcely coordinate his arms and legs.
Chen Zheng could not help thinking of the German Shepherds Ming Han had looked after at the Zhuquan police dog center. Majestic animals, every one of them, until Ming Han whimsically put little pet shoes on their paws, leaving them unable to walk properly.
Now Ming Han looked a little like them.
Chen Zheng stepped forward, straightened Ming Han’s inner collar, then took his arm and swung it lightly a couple of times. “Have we got all four limbs trained now?”
Ming Han had clearly thought of the German Shepherds too. “The boomerang came straight back and hit me.”
As expected of an elite Mobile Unit officer, Ming Han’s awkwardness lasted only a few minutes. By the time Chen Zheng zipped up the jacket and pushed him in front of a mirror, he could already stride across the floor like a runway model.
The shop assistant could not stop praising him, insisting the jacket looked tailor-made.
“Let’s take this one,” Chen Zheng said, pleased with the choice. He was about to pay when Ming Han stopped him. “You’re the one who said you’d make up for a down jacket. I never said the thing I wanted was a down jacket. I haven’t decided what I want yet.”
Chen Zheng paused, then understood. “Then this one is just a gift from me.”
“So I can still ask for something else?” Ming Han asked.
Chen Zheng patted his chest. “You can, as long as you don’t go overboard.”
Ming Han strutted around in the jacket a few more times. “Having someone buy me clothes makes me feel like I’ve married into a rich family.”
Chen Zheng: “……..”
After returning to Luocheng, Chen Zheng rested for only one day before throwing himself into work. Kong Bing unexpectedly called. “Teacher Chen, would it be convenient for you to come to Suiguang City?”
“Any news about Bin Fa?” Chen Zheng asked immediately.
Kong Bing said there was none, but Bin Fa had more complications in his history than Kong Bing had expected, and it was too much to explain over the phone.
Suiguang City lay next to Luocheng and was practically part of it. Chen Zheng let Ming Han know and immediately drove there.
Kong Bing was at Suiguang City’s police bureau. Chen Zheng recognized nearly every officer who greeted him. In fact, they were only so forthcoming because Kong Bing had invoked Chen Zheng’s name. After exchanging greetings, a captain surnamed Zhang said, “Director Bin was my mentor. What a pity his life took that turn.”
Twenty years earlier, Suiguang City had not been nearly as closely connected to Luocheng. It handled and solved its own cases without relying on support from the provincial capital. In those days, the most outstanding detective in Suiguang had undoubtedly been Bin Fa. The detachment captain had personally trained him, and he was brilliant at everything despite his youth. Everyone assumed he would eventually take over the detachment.
For the next few years, everything went smoothly. Bin Fa not only had an excellent case-clearance rate, but the apprentices he trained grew to surpass their teachers. Yet fifteen years ago… Captain Zhang paused. To be precise, it had been sixteen years. A case that did not even happen in Suiguang City changed the direction of Bin Fa’s life.
Something jolted in Chen Zheng’s mind. Sixteen years ago, a case outside Suiguang City, yet connected to it? His thoughts instinctively went to the tragedy in Liang Yueze’s family.
Sure enough, Captain Zhang said, “Captain Chen, you know Yunquan Group, don’t you? Back then the head of the group and a pair of twins died in Country M. The incident was classified as a traffic accident.”
Chen Zheng answered steadily, “Yes. The investigation was led by the police in Country M, but I recall we sent officers to assist?”
Captain Zhang sighed. “Captain Bin was one of them. There wasn’t much choice. Yunquan Group had enormous influence here. After that trip, Captain Bin was a different person.”
“How different? Did something happen to Captain Bin over there?” Chen Zheng asked.
Captain Zhang shook his head and tapped his temple. “If you ask me, Captain Bin was too stubborn. He’d never experienced failure before, couldn’t let it go, and got himself stuck on the same thought.”
“Captain Bin believed the Yunquan Group case had never been solved. He was absolutely certain it wasn’t a traffic accident. But what could he do? It happened in someone else’s country. He had solved countless cases during his career, yet this one became a wound that would never heal.”
When the Suiguang bureau sent Bin Fa overseas, the best outcome would have been for him to work with local police and uncover the truth. He set off full of confidence. But once in Country M, everything was unfamiliar: the people, the language, even the national circumstances. The local police worked slowly; private armed groups and criminal organizations exchanged fire everywhere, and huge numbers of people died each day. What did a few dead foreign businesspeople matter? Many leads went untouched.
Bin Fa tried to investigate on his own, but Country M obstructed him at every turn. His considerable abilities were rendered almost useless. When local police eventually ruled the deaths of Yunquan Group’s senior figures a traffic accident, Bin Fa stood outside the police station demanding further investigation, only to be ignored.
He sent reports to his superiors back home, but they could do nothing and ordered him to return. He refused. The other officers who had traveled with him came home, but he remained alone in Country M to investigate. Naturally, he made no new progress.
His superiors respected his determination and initially turned a blind eye to his refusal to return. But after he repeatedly ignored their orders, they finally lost patience and warned him that if he did not come home, he need not return at all. One week later he finally went back to Suiguang City.
Captain Zhang still remembered his appearance on returning: skin burned dark by the sun, a great deal of weight lost, disheveled clothes, and eyes full of grim suspicion. Where was the Captain Bin they all knew?
Bin Fa was summoned to the bureau chief’s office. Captain Zhang did not know what was said, but someone had eavesdropped and heard Captain Bin arguing with the chief. After that, Bin Fa was temporarily relieved of his duties and sent home to reflect.
Everyone in the detachment understood it was not truly punishment. The superiors were protecting Bin Fa, finding a pretext to let him rest and recover. They were optimistic. The Yunquan Group case had been frustrating, but the officers sent to Country M had done their best. Bin Fa could not accept it right away, and he had endured a lot overseas, but he would surely recover in familiar surroundings. Besides, Suiguang had other cases waiting for its famous “Detective Bin.”
Yet to Captain Zhang’s surprise, and everyone else’s, Bin Fa never moved past it. After his leave, he returned to work quiet and withdrawn, apparently deep in thought all the time. When new cases came in, he sent other team members to investigate while continuing to pursue the Yunquan Group case on his own.
“Did he return to Country M?” Chen Zheng asked.
“No, he didn’t,” Captain Zhang replied. Bin Fa had become convinced that someone within Yunquan Group had engineered the tragedy. It had to be tied to a wealthy-family dispute. Why else would the Liang family’s heirs be the ones to die? Whoever stood to benefit from their deaths was the mastermind.
Chen Zheng’s heart sank. Liang Yueze’s face appeared in his mind.
To outsiders, who had benefited from the deaths of Second Uncle Liang and the twins? Liang Yueze’s parents, his aunt, and Liang Yueze himself.
Most of all, Liang Yueze.
Had Bin Fa been investigating Liang Yueze all this time?
Captain Zhang continued. Bin Fa was stubborn and, once convinced of something, refused to let go. That trait had helped him solve cases throughout his career. But Yunquan Group was different. The leads had gone cold, he lacked his superiors’ support, and the deeper he dug, the more thoroughly he trapped himself.
His superiors spoke to him many times, gently and sternly. Bin Fa would not budge, as though his sole purpose in life had become solving the Yunquan case. Finally disappointed, they moved him to a district bureau and kept him off frontline cases. His marriage ended during that period as well.
Captain Zhang deeply regretted the breakdown of the marriage. Bin Fa’s wife, Ms. Gu, had been a gentle traffic officer. They met through an arranged introduction. When Captain Zhang was Bin Fa’s apprentice, he often visited their home for meals. His mentor’s wife was an excellent cook and a kind person. To the young officers, the Bin household seemed happy, even though the couple had no children.
But everything changed after Bin Fa became obsessed with the case. Even an outsider like Captain Zhang could barely stand his behavior, much less Ms. Gu, who lived with him every day. Rumor had it that Bin Fa himself proposed the divorce; everyone assumed he no longer wanted to drag her down with him.
Once alone, Bin Fa had nothing holding him back and devoted himself wholly to the investigation. Then, just when Captain Zhang expected him to fight to the bitter end, Bin Fa suddenly seemed to come to his senses. He stopped investigating and asked his superiors for a transfer elsewhere.
His superiors valued talent, and in view of his many achievements, they wanted him to return to the municipal bureau and make use of his abilities. But whether he felt unworthy or had simply lost his spirit, Bin Fa said he no longer had what it took for frontline work and wanted a posting where he would not get in anyone’s way. His superiors could not dissuade him. He was eventually transferred to the criminal research institute in Zhuquan City and never returned.
Captain Zhang sighed repeatedly. “Captain Bin was a good officer. Everything I know, he taught me. What a pity. Such a pity.”