He was already thinking about how he would celebrate after winning this case. Maybe he could go to the city’s brothel for some fun, mocking Henry's stupidity and overconfidence to the women nestled at his side...

A mere lowly shiwu dares to sue an official? Ridiculous!

By this time, the merchant Baker had finished his testimony.

After writing down the key testimony, Jack looked at Henry and his companion: “Do you two have anything else to say?”

This was their last chance to defend themselves; otherwise, their fate would rest entirely on Jack's judgment.

But Edward had no other options. He mumbled about his innocence, but his head drooped lower and lower...

At this moment, Henry stepped forward and asked Jack, “Sir, may I ask the merchant Baker and the others a question?”

Jack was slightly surprised that Henry could remain so calm in such a desperate situation, but nodded, “Go ahead.”

Henry walked over to the merchant Baker: “You say you saw me throw a punch at the chief of Huyang Pavilion with your own eyes?”

Baker straightened up as best he could. “I saw it.”

“How many punches?”

“O-one punch.”

Not wanting his testimony to be too far from the truth, he only dared to claim that Henry hit the chief once before being stopped by the crowd.

“Then let me ask you, did you see clearly which hand I used to hit him?”

Henry raised both hands. His family had farmed for generations—these were hands hardened by years of labor, with calluses on the palms and strong, muscular arms. It seemed as if, with a slight movement, he could strangle the shifty-eyed merchant Baker...

Baker nervously took half a step back, his beady eyes darting around, unable to decide. In the end, he could only rely on his own assumptions and said firmly, “It must have been the right hand! Yes, the right hand!”

Henry smiled without replying, then turned to the others from Huyang Pavilion. “You all also claim to have seen me throw a punch. Which hand did I use?”

The thieves and pavilion guards looked at each other, then all chose to echo the merchant Baker's answer: “The right hand.”

Finally, Henry stood before the chief of Huyang Pavilion, Grace. The two were about the same height, and as their eyes met, they already saw each other as mortal enemies—today, it was either you or me!

Henry sneered, “Chief, you wouldn’t have forgotten which hand hit you, would you?”

The chief sensed there might be a trick, but at this point, if he gave a different answer, it would surely arouse the jailer’s suspicion, which would be bad for him. So, impatiently, he pointed at Henry's right hand: “It was the right hand that hit me, right in the stomach...”

As he spoke, he lifted his shirt, revealing a shallow bruise on his abdomen—this was actually inflicted by one of his own guards at his instruction.

Before he finished speaking, a burst of hearty laughter suddenly erupted from a corner of the courtroom!

“Hahaha, ridiculous, truly ridiculous!”

Everyone looked over and saw that it was the bearded thief in shackles, “Clark,” who was laughing so hard his whole body shook.

“Defendant, why are you laughing?” Jack stopped the jailers who were about to punish Clark.

Clark raised his head and said, “I laugh at the stupidity of this chief and the merchant. I remember very clearly, Henry drew his sword with his left hand, and kept holding it in his left hand, which is why we couldn’t predict his moves and got outsmarted.”

“When he fought me barehanded, his left hand was also stronger. Whenever he punched me, it was always the left hand first, and it hurt like hell. The chief and the merchant didn’t know this and falsely accused him of using his right hand—how laughable is that?”

As soon as he finished, the merchant Baker, the chief of Huyang Pavilion, and the others were all dumbfounded, while the scribes in the hall could be heard quickly recording the testimony.

“That’s right, how could I possibly have used my right hand?”

Henry also rolled up his right sleeve and held it out to the bailiff Mark, revealing a scabbed wound on his right elbow. “Sir, please see for yourself. My right hand was injured while catching the thief and is still not fully functional. How could I have hurt anyone with it?”

“Sir, that is indeed the case.” After a careful examination, Mark reported back.

Jack looked surprised, Dawn listened to Henry's statement with interest, while the chief of Huyang Pavilion and the merchant were already ashen-faced.

Henry slowly walked to the center of the hall. At this moment, he had become the undisputed protagonist of this trial.

“What’s more, just as Clark testified, even if I weren’t injured, whenever I fight, I always throw the first punch with my left hand. As for why...”

Henry grinned, showing a row of big white teeth, then raised his left hand high above his head, like an athlete announcing victory at the end of a match:

“Because I am left-handed!”

...

PS: The mutual questioning between plaintiff and defendant is based on the “Case of False Accusation in the Theft of Cattle” recorded in the Zhangjiashan Han bamboo slips, which took place in the first year of King Zheng of Qin.

Chapter 0011: Reaping What You Sow

Left-handed people were called “left-handed” in ancient times. In the West, it was considered unlucky, while in China, although the right hand was seen as the “proper hand,” left-handedness was not excessively discriminated against.

Now, the fact that Henry is left-handed has rendered the testimonies of the chief of Huyang Pavilion and the merchant Baker self-defeating.

The presiding officer Jack certainly did not believe it so easily. He even had Henry come forward and write his name on a wooden tablet.