功过相抵 罪不至死
“offsetting her sin. She doesn't deserve to die.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
裴愈虽有涉案 但以一药方救数百人
“Pei Yu made mistakes, but she saved hundreds of people,”
功过相抵 罪不至死
“offsetting her sin. She doesn't deserve to die.”
案件卷宗 朕已经看过了
“I've read the case file.”
Direct spoken expression in this communicative setting.
Imperial Chinese jurisprudence allowed distinguished service and exceptional public contributions to mitigate severe penal sentences.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
merits offset demerits / achievements cancel out mistakes
A formal idiom used in evaluation, legal judgment, or bureaucratic performance assessment.
the crime does not warrant the death penalty
Used to argue that someone's wrongdoing, while real, is not severe enough to merit the ultimate punishment.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“her merits cancel out her faults.”
“is never as simple as offsetting one with the other.”
“has been offset by this merit.”
“You can make up for your mistakes”
“You have to pay for your mistakes.”
“his merits far outweigh his faults.”