Li Yan’s Trial of Conscience

Li Yan’s journey traces how a burdened Beijing detective is tested by political pressure, personal grief, and the temptation of revenge before choosing law and responsibility.

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Living in Yifu’s Shadow

A Detective Shaped by Loss Inherited Lessons Li Yan carries the influence of his uncle Yifu, who taught him to look for truth in overlooked details and to think laterally. Even after Yifu’s death, Li measures his own failures and successes against the older detective’s example. A Private Burden Li’s family life has left him accustomed to loss and responsibility. He has taken in Xinxin, his young niece, and tries to give her the care and stability that her parents have not provided. His devotion to police work, however, repeatedly pulls him away from ordinary family life.

A Case Imposed from Above

The Burden of Shanghai A Setback in Court A Beijing murder prosecution collapses into uncertainty when the shoes linking the suspect to the scene cannot be produced. Li is left angry at a justice system undermined by missing evidence and at officials who cannot agree where responsibility lies. A Political Appointment Soon afterward, he is sent to Shanghai, where eighteen women’s remains have been found at a construction site. Director Hu appoints him to lead the inquiry, making him answerable for a rapid result while local officers resent the outsider placed over them. Li accepts the assignment despite recognizing that it is a dangerous political burden.

Following the Evidence

Conscience Against Convenience Resisting the Easy Answer Li works to identify the victims and tests the apparent lead of Jiang Baofu, whose medical training and night-watchman job make him suspicious. He does not let strangeness substitute for proof, even when the pressure to blame someone is growing. Defying Political Limits As the autopsies reveal that the women were killed during surgery, Li supports Margaret’s findings despite their conflict with the official story. He faces resistance when he seeks access to Cui Feng’s records, but continues pursuing leads because the victims’ identities and deaths matter more than protecting powerful reputations.

The Niece in Danger

Personal Stakes Become Immediate A Failed Afternoon When Xinxin vanishes from the children’s traffic park, Li’s investigative detachment gives way to fear. The discovery that a work van has been stolen, followed by surveillance footage of a child being transferred into a car, confirms that the disappearance is a kidnapping. Grief and Resolve Li initially blames Margaret, who had been looking after Xinxin, before learning that the kidnapper had been stalking her. His guilt does not remove his responsibility to act. The child’s danger makes the case’s wider pattern feel immediate and personal, sharpening his determination to find her.

The Cost of Complicity

Confronting a Betrayal A Colleague’s Confession Li finds Mei-Ling dead in Huang’s apartment and learns that Huang helped Cui’s organ operation after Cui arranged a liver transplant for Huang’s dying wife. Huang’s private desperation explains his compromise but cannot undo the deaths he helped conceal. Choosing the Law Huang reveals that Xinxin may be held at Cui’s Suzhou safe house, then kills himself before he can be arrested. Li has little time to absorb the betrayal: he must move at once to save his niece. Later, despite having confronted Cui with a gun and wanting revenge, Li presents the arrest warrant and lets the law take its course.

A Life Beyond the Badge

Choosing What Matters The Child Survives At the hospital, Li learns that Xinxin was heavily sedated but is expected to recover. The relief arrives alongside the knowledge that she will need sustained care after the terror and separation she has endured. A Changed Priority Li’s experience has forced him to question whether a life devoted to death and violence can remain a life worth living. He has considered leaving the police, but the closing moment does not resolve that decision. Instead, he and Margaret focus on the living child and the love she will need.

Before the Shanghai investigation

After the Beijing murder trial falters

During the first week of the Shanghai investigation

After Xinxin disappears from Tiantan Traffic Park

After the search of Huang’s apartment

After Xinxin is rescued