He Wouldn't Be Hanging Himself, Would He?

Wang Youcheng stared at the large swelling on his ankle, his eyes bloodshot, and shouted at Wang Fugui, "Father, why haven't you seized him and taken him to the authorities? He was carrying an axe! This was premeditated murder!"

Wang Fugui shot Wang Youcheng a vicious glare. This son of his was utterly hopeless.

Under the Great Ming Code, anyone who plotted murder was subject to execution by beheading if he was the instigator-the principal offender.

The problem was, Son, you're still alive...

What had happened between Gu Zhengchen and him did not qualify as murder. At most, it was a "brawl."

According to the Code of Laws, anyone who injured another in a brawl, including by striking him with an object, was to receive forty strokes of the light bamboo.

Bruising, redness, and swelling counted as injuries.

Even if they hauled him to the county office, he would only receive forty strokes of the light bamboo. Then Wang Fugui noticed Gu Zhengchen rubbing his fingers. Damn it, why does his hand look red and swollen too? If we take this before the magistrate, Son, you won't escape those forty strokes either...

Gu Zhengchen looked at the axe in his hand and explained calmly, "I intended to go up the mountain to cut firewood later, so I brought an axe along. Perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"

Reasonable, my ass!

Wang Fugui inwardly cursed Gu Zhengchen. Everyone knew firewood was cut in the eighth month. It was only late in the fourth month now, when the woods were lush with growth. What damned firewood was he going to cut? Besides, he still had a pile at home. Why would he need to cut more?

You planned this all along!

Wang Fugui suddenly jolted, and wariness appeared in his eyes for the first time.

Everything had been part of Gu Zhengchen's calculations. He had known today's debt collection would lead to a dispute, so he had carried an axe with him. He might even have consulted the Code of Laws beforehand to learn how to injure someone while receiving the lightest possible punishment!

What terrifying cunning!

Was this really the same Gu Zhengchen who had once let the Wang Family bully him, then jumped into the lake to kill himself when he saw no other way out?

Why had his pedantry, his weakness, and his terror suddenly vanished without a trace? He seemed like an entirely different man, adaptable and unyielding, without so much as a flicker of fear in his eyes!

He seemed to be sneering at them.

What gave him the right?!

Looking at the composed Gu Zhengchen, Wang Fugui steadied himself and said sternly, "Candidate Gu, you and I agreed on seven days. If you cannot settle your debt today, you must enter my household as a tenant laborer and work it off, as agreed."

Gu Zhengchen dropped the axe and pointed at the scattered copper coins that had yet to be picked up. "Allow me to gather these coins and count them properly."

Wang Youcheng shouted angrily, "Gu Zhengchen, are you trying to stall?"

"Shut up!"

Wang Fugui rebuked him sharply.

If you hadn't acted so recklessly, none of this would have happened!

Gu Zhengchen bent down and continued picking up the copper coins. Every single one represented the care and kindness of his neighbors in Dayan Village.

"He's showing his edge without restraint!"

Yan Bin, the magistrate's adviser, silently marveled.

County Magistrate Li Yi nodded emphatically. Watching Gu Zhengchen collect the coins without haste, he offered a quiet assessment. "This man knows the court's laws. His methods are fierce, yet he knows how far to go. He handles matters calmly and steadily. He has the makings of an official."

Yan Bin nodded.

If Gu Zhengchen had lacked restraint and adopted a desperate stance of letting the fish die and the net tear, Wang Youcheng's foot would have been cut rather than struck. Once the matter reached the county office, Gu Zhengchen's punishment would no longer be forty strokes of the light bamboo, but eighty strokes of the heavy bamboo.

After eighty strokes of the heavy bamboo, even someone who escaped death or permanent disability would be bedridden for three months.

Gu Zhengchen had consciously avoided the heavier punishment in favor of the lighter one.

Outside the fence.

Zhang Shiping's expression darkened. He turned to Zhao Yaowen. "Brother Zhao, weren't you the one who told me Candidate Gu was timid by nature, weak and useless? Why does the man I see today seem like an entirely different person?"

Zhao Yaowen was quite embarrassed. As Zhao Ya'er's elder brother, he had said no shortage of disparaging things about Gu Zhengchen. Summed up in one sentence, they amounted to:

Gu Zhengchen is worthless and doesn't deserve my sister.

Zhao Yaowen's Adam's apple bobbed. "He certainly was timid before. Otherwise, he wouldn't have jumped into the lake to kill himself. Even if he has changed somewhat, he still cannot possibly repay his debt. Once he enters the Wang Family's household as a tenant laborer, he'll have no chance of accomplishing anything."

Zhang Shiping nodded slightly.

That much was true. The Hongwu Emperor was deeply dissatisfied with the candidates selected through the imperial examinations, so he would naturally not choose any more officials from among those who had passed in the fifth year of Hongwu.

For such candidates, the only route into officialdom was a recommendation from an education official or a county magistrate.

But making a recommendation was no trifling matter. Under the court's regulations, if selection was dishonest, wicked men remained in office, powerful households sought favors, brutal officials were given free rein, and the common people suffered resentment with nowhere to voice their grievances, the responsible authorities were to report the offenses clearly to the throne, and the recommenders were to be punished as well.

This was the principle of "recommending an unworthy man brings punishment upon his sponsor." In other words, those who recommended candidates had to answer for them. Such rules had been established as early as the Han dynasty.

Some incompetent, greedy officials cared little about that responsibility, since their gains outweighed the risks. But Teng County's magistrate, Li Yi, and its education official, Xu Wenfeng, were upright, incorruptible, and cautious. They would never vouch for someone who had no particular ability and acted rashly.

After gathering all the copper coins and counting them, Gu Zhengchen looked at Wang Fugui. "There is one string, one tenth, and fifteen copper coins here."

Wang Fugui's face was gloomy. "I'm afraid that isn't enough."

Wang Youcheng rested his hands on the shoulders of two servants, keeping his left foot raised, afraid to let it touch the ground. He shouted resentfully, "What, is that all you have?"

Gu Zhengchen lowered his head without speaking.

Wang Youcheng urged the servants forward and hopped up to Gu Zhengchen. In a low voice, he said, "Gu Zhengchen, once you enter my household as a tenant laborer, just see how I deal with you!"

Gu Zhengchen raised his head, looked at the smug Wang Youcheng, and reached behind his waist as though taking something out.

At the sight, Wang Youcheng hopped backward in terror, shouting, "Stop him! Stop him!"

Looking at Wang Youcheng, who had become a bird that startled at the twang of a bowstring, Gu Zhengchen shook his head and told Wang Fugui, "Wait while I fetch the money from my room."

Wang Fugui narrowed his eyes.

Fetch the money?

Where would you get any money?

Even if we tore this wretched house of yours apart, it wouldn't be worth that much!

"Father, he's definitely putting on an act to stall! Gu Zhengchen, however long you drag this out, you won't be able to produce the money. Accept your fate and enter our household as a tenant laborer!"

Wang Youcheng kept squawking.

Gu Zhengchen and Wang Fugui held each other's gaze.

Wang Fugui gave a cold chuckle. "Very well, then. I'll wait right here and see how Candidate Gu produces the money."

Gu Zhengchen smiled faintly, turned, and entered his room.

Bang.

The door shut, and no further sound came from inside.

The onlookers whispered among themselves.

Yan Sanjing was deeply worried. The men and women of Dayan Village, old and young alike, watched with anxious faces.

Seeing Zhao Ya'er fuming, Aunt Zhang whispered, "He must be unable to produce the money and is deliberately stalling. Perhaps he knows there's no way out and is getting ready to hang himself right now. Listen, miss-isn't that the sound of a stool being kicked over... Huh?!"

Wang Fugui heard the noise and hurriedly ordered his men to break down the door. Two servants took a running start, but just as they were about to hit the door, it suddenly opened. Unable to stop, they hurtled straight into the room and slammed heavily onto the floor, howling in pain.

Gu Zhengchen emerged from behind the door, carefully stepped over the two men on the floor, and walked toward Wang Fugui with a bundle in his hand. "Here are four strings, eight tenths, and eighty-five copper coins. Together with the one string, one tenth, and fifteen coins here, that makes six strings in total."

Wang Youcheng stared at the bundle in Gu Zhengchen's hand and sneered. "Are you sure that's copper money in there, not stones?"

At those words, the Wang Family members burst into laughter.

Without so much as glancing at Wang Youcheng, Gu Zhengchen stopped before Wang Fugui and held out the bundle. "From this moment on, the Gu Family-Wang Family debt is settled in full!"