Qiu Duan was a very unique symbol of the Huiyao legal system, and also a huge concession the law made to the "strong," allowing them a certain right of revenge.
It was completely normal for criminals to be punished. Even powerful Awakeners were not exempt under the law—if they needed to be executed, they would be, and if they needed to be imprisoned, they would be as well. But there existed another scenario: what if the criminal's relatives or friends were strong themselves?
"A different cultural and social context would naturally breed a different social atmosphere and trends of public opinion. On Earth, very few relatives of criminals would ever engage in extreme acts of retaliation, since an individual's power was far less than the collective, and there was little difference between individuals anyway."
"But Huiyao was different. A powerful Awakener could crush ordinary people, and the strong had extraordinary survivability. In history, wrongful cases once occurred where in a fit of rage, a criminal's relative ambushed and killed everyone involved in the case—including the framing Nobility and the officials who passed judgment—and managed to escape punishment for years. Only after the Imperial Court overturned the verdict did this strong individual stop their rampage—whether it was truly a wrongful case, nobody knew."
"Although even the strongest wouldn't dare take on the military head-on, if they resorted to guerrilla warfare in a city, picking off a target a thousand miles away and vanishing within ten steps, the Imperial Court would also have a hard time dealing with them."
Moreover, such extraordinary strong individuals were not really the main problem, since there were not many of them and most were conscripted by the Imperial Court anyway. The truly troublesome group were the ordinary Awakeners across the land who practiced Combat Technique. These people highly valued martial strength; most were unyielding, hard-boned types for whom avenging friends and family was almost a matter of course.
"Yeah, sure, my dad/uncle/grandpa/bestie did something wrong, but he's dead now and I can't accept that, so I'm going to beat you to death!"
"This line of thinking could be widely accepted by the public, after all, Huiyao's Imperial Court couldn't even guarantee its own fairness and integrity. For commoners, supporting these 'righteous avengers' was equivalent to lowering the chances of the Court manufacturing wrongful cases; since everyone knew where their own interests lay, the culture of 'revenge' naturally grew ever stronger."
But it obviously wasn't feasible for Court officials to keep getting targeted for revenge, so the Imperial Court compromised, or, rather, rode the wave and played an open-handed trick: the Law of Qiu Duan.
According to the provisions of the Law of Qiu Duan, a criminal's relative could publicly challenge their "enemy" to a duel—only once, and only against one person. The "enemy" could yield, but then would have to pay compensation or apologize. Life or death in the duel did not matter, but once it was over, the grudge was considered resolved; anyone breaking this rule would be hunted as an outlaw by the Imperial Court afterwards.
"It sounded unbelievable. How could the Court ever encourage criminals' relatives to seek revenge against its own officials?"
"But legal interests were the basis for criminalization, and ethics were grounds for acquittal. In a society with the strong, naturally the rules about law and ethics would change as well."
The introduction of the Law of Qiu Duan greatly reduced the harm caused by private acts of revenge. Since revenge could only be taken against the "enemy"—one person only, no bystanders involved—it gained public approval. Acts like wiping out an entire family were no longer admired, but condemned by the masses.
Furthermore, the Law of Qiu Duan required that duels be public, turning secret revenge into open "qiu duan." No matter what happened, the authorities could quickly get a handle on the situation—instead of not even knowing who had wronged them before their family ended up dead.
More importantly, the Law of Qiu Duan shifted the conflict from between the people and the Imperial Court to between the Avenger and their enemy.
Whether the enemy was slain by the Avenger, or surrendered and paid up, it no longer involved the Court—it was simply the enemy's own shame, having nothing to do with the Court's reputation.
"In fact, the Law of Qiu Duan also completely changed the social atmosphere. After all, the Court itself encouraged righteous revenge, so if you tried any sneaky assassination, of course nobody would praise you for it anymore."
The Court also regularly promoted "positive examples," like an Avenger in that province who defeated their enemy and had the original case overturned; or another county where the Avenger lost but the enemy knelt and admitted fault—prompting the Avenger to recognize their own relative's mistakes, and the two reconciled in the end...
In short, there was every reason to seek revenge openly—with the support not just of the public, but even encouragement from the Court!
"Is someone having a qiu duan over there?"
"That person is from the Statistical Department!"
"What, someone's finally challenging someone from the Statistical Department to a qiu duan?"
The teaching square bustled with activity that morning. Merchants hawked wares and children gathered for lectures. As soon as rumors of a qiu duan broke out, word spread like wildfire—within moments, the whole square was in a clamor.
The Patrol Execution Guard pushed through the crowd and their expressions changed when they saw Le Yu. Although Qian Yuliu wasn't wearing his vest, those steel-toed boots couldn't be faked, and moreover, they recognized Le Yu—lately, word had spread about a team leader in the Statistical Department who liked to play Battle Card while catching suspects. They'd heard a little about him.
"What are you all doing here? Move along, move along," barked the Patrol Execution Guard, "Are you planning to incite a riot!?"
Inciting a riot was a serious crime—the next step above was "starting a rebellion," but Lin Xue didn't buy any of it. Her voice carried a slight boost of Spirit, ringing clear through the square, "We seek to engage in a qiu duan with Qian Yuliu, and ask the Patrol Execution Guard to witness."
"We ask the Patrol Execution Guard to witness!" The nearby crowd spoke in unison, voices booming like thunder.
The Patrol Execution Guard looked conflicted, glancing at Le Yu, as if their eyes said, "We've done all we can."
Le Yu looked up at the Yao Bell Tower and said, "There are seventeen minutes left."
He paused, "It's seventeen minutes until the Statistical Department's workday begins, and it will take me three minutes to walk there. Taking my pay means fulfilling my duty to the Emperor. I don't wish to break a promise to anyone—nor see anyone else break theirs—so let's finish this in the next fourteen minutes."
"It remains to be seen what kind of skills Lin sir's prized student has," Le Yu said breezily, "Are you all coming at me at once, or will it be a wheel battle?"
The Law of Qiu Duan had a nasty loophole: though it limited the target of revenge to only one enemy, it placed no limit on the number of Avengers—that's right, group beatdowns were allowed!
Still, if the enemy saw they were outmanned, they could always surrender; worst-case scenario, they'd apologize and pay damages. But that would cost the Avenger their one shot at righteous revenge.
So really, the Law of Qiu Duan was a gentleman's code: it only meant anything if both sides cared for honor—one good fight and the grudge would be settled.
"But if neither side had shame, the law became meaningless—you want to gang up on me, I'll just drop to my knees and beg for mercy."
"I might lose face, but you're the one who lost a father/grandfather/friend!"
"I wish it could be me alone who washes away my father's disgrace," Lin Xue took a deep breath and said, "But Qian Yuliu, you may be talented, but you lack virtue. I dare not claim I can defeat you alone. Therefore, please allow me, Gao Jin, and Xia Lingguo to fight you in succession—to settle our grievance once and for all!"
At that, Lin Xue's face flushed with both shame and hatred—shamed at proposing a wheel battle, hating Qian Yuliu, but most of all, hating her own weakness!
"If she could defeat Qian Yuliu alone, why would she have to ask for three-on-one? But to fulfill her father's dying wish, this was the only shameless path she could take!"
"As for what price Qian Yuliu would pay if they won, Lin Xue didn't mention it—if they won, they'd have all the time in the world to scold Qian Yuliu; if they lost, the more fiercely she demanded recompense now, the harder she'd be humiliated later."
Le Yu swept his gaze over the three people in front of him.
Lin Xue—no need for introductions—the only daughter of Lin Jinyao. Back in school, Qian Yuliu considered Lin Xue a little sister, but as it turned out, anyone he treated like a sister would inevitably become his enemy.
Gao Jin was an old acquaintance too—loudmouth and master of trash talk, but looked impressively presentable and came off like an energetic, sunny youth. In the military academy, he seemed to be student council president, and Lin Jinyao often praised him to Qian Yuliu.
Xia Lingguo was someone Le Yu only noticed now. The night Lin Jinyao died, Xia Lingguo had also been in the compound and was taken away with the others by the Statistical Department, but he had always been quiet and rarely spoken. Even when about to duel Le Yu, he'd made no statements, only gazed at him in silence. On the surface, he looked like a well-behaved kid, but Le Yu could sense a hidden threat.
Lin Xue, Gao Jin, Xia Lingguo...
"They really did come to challenge me to a qiu duan."
"So, the traitor in White Night must be among these three!"