Article 20

Han Ming starts his temporary tenure at the city prosecutor's office, already grappling with headaches and mounting pressures. He tries to navigate a demanding new workload while balancing family life. The strain between duty and personal concerns sets the stage for the story ahead.

He frequently chats and travels with Lu Lingling, a former college girlfriend, and these closenesses blur boundaries. The growing familiarity appears to slow progress on several cases. Colleagues notice, and the pattern begins to threaten the efficiency of his work.

In parallel with the cases, his wife Li Maojuan grows suspicious of his closeness to Lu Lingling, interpreting it as possible cheating. The marital strain widens as work stress seeps into home life. The couple's trust fractures further as the dispute intensifies.

Zhang Guisheng, a former bus driver, was fired years earlier for defending a woman against hooligans. He decides to appeal the case in Beijing to seek justice against the dismissal. His plan brings the broader legal tensions into Han Ming's orbit.

Guisheng sets out toward Beijing to push his appeal, driven by a sense of fairness and the memory of the incident that led to his firing. His journey highlights the distances ordinary people travel to seek justice. The trip foreshadows a tragic turn in the ongoing legal saga.

On the way to the train station, Guisheng is struck by a high-speed truck and dies. The sudden death casts a pall over the case and compounds the lives of those involved. The accident becomes a focal point that intensifies the emotional stakes for Han Ming and others.

Han Ming begins the investigation into Hao Xiuping, a deaf woman whose rape case is complicated by intimidation from the rapist's accomplices. The case is further strained when her husband is jailed for stabbing the rapist, leaving Xiuping fearful for her safety. Harassment from the attackers intensifies as she fights to protect herself and her family.

Facing mounting pressure and threats, Hao Xiuping impulsively jumps from a construction site to escape harassment and fear. The drastic action underscores the vulnerability she faces and the urgency of protection for victims. The event escalates the human stakes of the investigation.

Yuchen witnesses the principal's son beating a classmate and steps in, breaking the other boy's nose. In response, the principal sues Yuchen's parents, escalating the conflict beyond a schoolyard incident. Yuchen refuses to apologize or fully explain what happened, deepening the dispute.

Outraged by the escalating clash at the school, Han Ming's wife Li Maojuan attacks the principal, triggering her own arrest. The incident widens the personal stakes of the larger legal battles surrounding Han Ming. The couple's home life reaches a breaking point as consequences ripple outward.

Amid the mounting turmoil, Han Ming resolves to risk everything to pursue fairness and justice on his own terms. He believes that the law must be applied with conscience, not just procedure. This decision marks a turning point in his approach to the cases around him.

In a climactic courtroom moment, Han Ming calls for charges to be dropped against all defendants, arguing that the cases constitute valid self-defense under Article 20 of the Chinese criminal law. His passionate speech earns the applause of the audience and witnesses the beginning of a turning tide. The court begins to entertain his interpretation of the incidents as self-defense.

Following Han Ming's argument, the defendants are freed, and the courtroom erupts in applause. The ruling aligns with his call for a broader sense of justice balancing emotion and legality. The cases conclude with a resolution that emphasizes self-defense and fairness as the guiding principles.