Chapter 32: Striking Second is Self-Defense

Two bailiffs carried the remains of Gu Pei, following Gu Zhengchen and Gu Cheng as they exited the magistrate’s office.

The case was closed; the bones were to be laid to rest in peace.

Just as they stepped out, Gu Zhengchen heard a rush of rapid footsteps. He looked up to see Wang Youcheng sprinting toward him.

"Gu Zhengchen!"

Wang Youcheng snarled through gritted teeth, quickening his pace. Gu Cheng started to step forward, but Gu Zhengchen raised a hand to stop him. He loosened his wrists, his gaze fixed coldly on Wang Youcheng.

As Wang Youcheng approached, he swung his fist, striking Gu Zhengchen directly on the cheek.

A stinging, burning pain flared.

Gu Zhengchen stumbled back a step, then lunged forward, tackling Wang Youcheng to the ground. He mounted him and began raining heavy blows onto his face with his right hand!

*Slap! Slap! Slap!*

The sharp, rhythmic sounds startled the onlookers. The townspeople, who had just begun to disperse, gathered around once more.

Wang Youcheng struggled to fight back, but having spent his life as a dissolute young master, his physique was even weaker than that of Gu Zhengchen, a scholar. Dazed and seeing stars from the beating, he could only flail his arms aimlessly.

Gu Zhengchen raised his hand, balled it into a fist, and slammed it straight into the bridge of Wang Youcheng’s nose.

*Crack!*

The nasal bone shattered, and Wang Youcheng let out a blood-curdling scream.

"Stop!"

Assistant Magistrate Jin Dache ran out. Seeing the scene, he shouted in alarm.

*Slap!*

Gu Zhengchen landed one last blow on Wang Youcheng’s face before standing up to face Jin Dache.

Jin Dache looked at Wang Youcheng—who was bruised, swollen, and covered in blood, wailing incessantly—and then at Gu Zhengchen, who was calmly wiping blood from his hand with a handkerchief.

"Scholar Gu, this is..." The assistant magistrate was at a loss.

Gu Zhengchen tossed the blood-stained handkerchief onto Wang Youcheng and said coldly, "He struck first. Both the bailiffs and the townspeople can testify to that."

"I’ll kill you! I’ll kill your whole family!" Wang Youcheng glared with bloodshot eyes.

Gu Zhengchen narrowed his eyes, stepped forward, and delivered a heavy kick to Wang Youcheng’s chin. The chin slammed into the upper jaw, and a sharp, dull thud echoed inside Wang Youcheng’s skull.

Jin Dache quickly pulled Gu Zhengchen away. Looking at Wang Youcheng, who was now moaning and unable to even speak, he felt a shiver run down his spine. *Gu Zhengchen, you are a man of letters—why are you so ruthless? If I didn’t know better, I’d take you for a street thug...*

"What is going on here?" Magistrate Li Yi emerged, accompanied by several bailiffs.

Gu Zhengchen remained silent, eyes locked on Wang Youcheng. *You dared to strike first, and I dared to beat you back.*

That was it. If you are struck and fight back, it is mutual combat. Under the Great Ming Code, in cases of mutual injury from fighting, the severity of the wounds determines the sentence, and the one who strikes last—if justified—receives a two-degree reduction in punishment.

Listen to that: "The one who strikes last, if justified, receives a two-degree reduction."

Whoever strikes first is at fault. The law is not meant to be used against the good and kind, but to punish the wicked! Old Zhu understood this principle; he explicitly stated that the one who strikes last is in the right, and regardless of the severity of the blows, he is entitled to a two-degree reduction in sentencing.

According to the laws on mutual combat, as long as no one dies, the punishment is typically a flogging or a caning. A caning reduced by one degree becomes a flogging, and a flogging reduced by another degree results in an acquittal.

Though Old Zhu might not have called it "self-defense" and certainly wouldn't encourage fighting, his intent—or rather, the value system of the ancients—was clear: the one who strikes first bears the heaviest guilt, and the one who strikes later, provided he has reason, will be granted leniency by the authorities. This legal provision was designed to deter the aggressor.

After Magistrate Li Yi clarified the situation, a crowd of witnesses confirmed that Wang Youcheng had indeed struck first. His injuries were proof enough. Fortunately, Wang Youcheng was not dead nor severely wounded, though his face would be swollen for some time, and he had lost a tooth.

Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief. *Thank goodness it was only one tooth. If he had lost two, the sentencing would have been much more complicated.*

Since the facts of the brawl were clear, Li Yi announced the verdict: "Wang Youcheng and Gu Zhengchen engaged in mutual combat. By law, Gu Zhengchen caused minor injury and the loss of one tooth, which warrants one hundred strokes of the heavy cane. Considering he struck later and was provoked without cause, his sentence is reduced by two degrees. You are free to go."

"I was injured, I want compensation for medicine..." Gu Zhengchen reached out his hand.

"Get out!"

Li Yi was so frustrated he felt like vomiting blood. *I still don't know this guy well enough. His style of handling things is like exploiting loopholes in the law—no, it's like doing backflips inside them!*

*And you, Wang Youcheng! Your father killed his father, and you, the son, actually dared to strike his son? It’s no wonder Gu Zhengchen beat you so severely. If it were me, I would have beaten you even worse—I’d take the two-degree reduction and the flogging just to make sure you couldn't get out of bed for half a year.*

A blood feud for a father’s murder is irreconcilable.

Your father is doomed. You had better stay home quietly and not dream of paying a fine to commute your sentence. Such a heinous case of extreme cruelty is generally ineligible for redemption. Moreover, the Ming Emperor needs to establish authority and set rules right now to pacify the people. A case this malicious will surely be handled with the utmost severity; he might even throw in a "flaying and stuffing" or a "thousand cuts" package along with the death sentence.

"Wang Youcheng engaged in mutual combat and caused minor injury. By law, he is to receive forty lashes. Administer it here."

After issuing the order, Li Yi turned and walked away.

Jin Dache signaled the bailiffs. They grabbed the rattan sticks and a bench, pinned Wang Youcheng down, and began to strike. Wang Youcheng desperately wanted to plead for a fine, but Gu Zhengchen’s final kick had been so brutal that his head was buzzing and his jaw was useless—he couldn't utter a word.

For some reason—perhaps because the Wang family had a poor reputation and were known for bullying—the bailiffs laid into him with all their might. While the rattan sticks wouldn't break bones, they were excruciatingly painful on the flesh.

Gu Cheng looked at Gu Zhengchen, who was walking ahead, his eyes filled with awe. The master he served was a man of unusual methods.

Gu Zhengchen remained silent throughout the journey. By the time they reached home, it was nearly dusk.

Chen was busy cooking, and his mother, Madam Gu, was in the courtyard laughing with Gu Qingqing. Seeing Gu Zhengchen return, she stood up, ready to speak, but her heart trembled when she saw the two bailiffs carrying the door panel behind him.

"Mother, Father’s remains have been found."

With tears in his eyes, Gu Zhengchen handed over the wooden tablet he had been clutching the entire way. Madam Gu took the tablet and held it against her chest.

The bailiffs set the door panel down. Gu Cheng gave them a few coins of gratitude and saw them off. Madam Gu knelt down slowly. Gu Zhengchen watched as his mother carefully pulled back the white cloth, shielding Gu Qingqing behind her.

"Husband..." Madam Gu looked at the skeleton and burst into bitter tears.

Three days later, the remains were placed in a coffin. With the help of the villagers of Dayan, they opened the cenotaph and reburied him.

Madam Gu tied Gu Pei’s wooden tablet to her own and kept it close to her heart. By day, she went about her work—threshing wheat, winnowing, and drying it—as if nothing had happened. But every night after dinner, she would return to her room and extinguish the candle early.

Hidden in the darkness, she spoke to the dark.

Her voice was very soft.

Only a soul could hear it.