Episode Summary
Duan Hongshan is arrested for a killing at a fish farm but refuses to cooperate with the police. A flashback reveals his deepening investigation into Jiang Ting's case, which is linked to lawyer Fang Lingyuan, witness Mei Zheng, and a mysterious man named Li Mufeng. After Duan vanishes following a series of strange events, he reappears covered in blood and confesses, claiming he acted in self-defense. His silence, however, hints that the current crime is deeply entangled with a case from fourteen years ago.
Spoiler Alert
"Justifiable Defense" Episode 2: The Silent Man and the Unraveling Past
The episode opens with prosecutor Duan Hongshan in a police interrogation room, utterly silent. He's been brought in for the accidental killing of a man at the Dongjiao Fish Farm but refuses to say a single word.
The story then flashes back to the day before the incident. The plot thickens around the case of Jiang Ting, a woman accused of murder. Lawyer Fang Lingyuan, who is assisting Duan on the case, learns a specific fish tank belongs to Jiang Ting and takes it away. On their way to the detention center to see Jiang Ting, Duan casually asks Fang if she knew Jiang Ting, as they both attended Wuyan No. 3 Middle School. Fang hesitates before saying they weren't close. During the meeting, Jiang Ting is confident she'll be acquitted because of an eyewitness, but Fang warns her that the witness's testimony could backfire, which visibly rattles Jiang.
Later, Fang discusses the fish from the tank—a Blue Gourami, which requires very specific conditions that Jiang Ting's balcony setup couldn't provide. This detail, coupled with their earlier interaction, makes Duan suspect that Fang and Jiang Ting are more than just acquaintances.
Fang's investigation leads her to a diving center to confront a woman named Mei Zheng. Fang cuts to the chase, questioning Mei Zheng's relationship with Jiang Ting and guessing she was the one who gifted the fish. Fang also reveals that Duan has been formally reported and that the complaint is directly related to Mei Zheng. That night, Mei Zheng goes to a bar, seemingly to meet someone.
Meanwhile, a man named Li Mufeng gives Duan's daughter, Yingying, a glass marble, prompting a worried Duan to warn his daughter to tell him if Li ever approaches her again. Later that night, Duan spots a mysterious figure in a raincoat standing motionlessly in the rain, staring at his home. After putting his daughter to bed, Duan leaves, telling her he's meeting a friend. At the bar, Mei Zheng waits, but her contact—presumably Duan—never arrives. The next morning, Duan is gone, and Yingying finds a second glass marble in the living room.
A frantic search begins. Yingying alerts her mother, Lei Shuang, about her father's disappearance. Mei Zheng, having been stood up, finds Fang Lingyuan and asks what would happen to Jiang Ting's case if she were to withdraw her testimony. The conversation takes a sharp turn when Fang insists the key is whether Mei Zheng saw the truth. Mei Zheng fires back, questioning if Jiang Ting's testimony from fourteen years ago was the truth either.
Fang obtains surveillance footage that shows Duan leaving his home and never returning. By tracking his route and last known phone location, she is led to a glass-making studio owned by Li Mufeng. Pretending to be a customer, Fang questions him about a fish tank, asking if it's the same model he sold to Jiang Ting, which he denies. Li admits that Duan had visited him the previous afternoon. In that meeting, Duan had mentioned his heavy responsibility in Jiang Ting's case. Li denied being the one who reported Duan, stating he was simply grateful for a past sentence that was only four years.
As the last person known to have contacted Duan, Li Mufeng is taken into police custody. He is only released when Duan Hongshan reappears at the police station, covered in blood. After signing a statement, Duan is formally detained at the Yuyan District Detention Center.
Now a suspect himself, Duan remains tight-lipped about the victim's identity and his motive, sparking public doubt about his integrity and past cases. His ex-wife, Lei Shuang, offers to represent him, but only if he signs over full custody of their daughter. Duan refuses her offer, stating only one thing about the killing: it was justifiable defense.
