Chapter 540: Chapter 540: Settled Publicly or Privately

With these thoughts in mind, the next day, Zhang Family went to Qiao Xiaomai’s house.

Qiao Changshun was out in the fields, while Qiao Xiaomai and Qiao Dami were playing at home, listening to her assurances with a casual attitude.

The adamant refusal from Qiao Xiaomai remained unchanged, insisting that although Tong Sanlang was a good person, she did not want to marry him, regardless of anything Zhang Family tried to persuade her with.

Furthermore, while they were speaking, people from the County Government Office arrived. Sun Junyan had lodged a complaint against Qiao Xiaomai, and the bailiff had come to take her away.

With a regretful face, Qiao Xiaomai looked at Zhang Family.

What could Zhang Family say at this moment? All she could do was to take her cloth bundle and return home.

As for the bailiff recall, she was rather relaxed about it. With Yang Ye involved, would Qiao Xiaomai suffer any harm from Sun Junyan?

Definitely not.

At this time, what she should worry about was how to get Qiao Xiaomai to agree to the proposal. With a powerful competitor like Yang Ye, she should act as soon as possible!

After some thoughts, Zhang Family went home to find Tong Tiehu.

Qiao Xiaomai held an opinion of her, so she had to ask Tong Tiehu to step in. Tong Tiehu had helped Qiao Xiaomai so many times before, and Qiao Xiaomai would at least treat him with a better attitude even if she didn’t agree.

Zhang Family went home to try to persuade Tong Tiehu while Qiao Xiaomai followed the bailiff to the County Town.

On the way passing through Bailu Town, she met Yang Ye, who had been waiting there, and he took her to the County Government Office in his carriage.

In the office, Cen Hong and Sun Junyan already knew about Yang Ye’s arrival. They expected Yang Ye to stand up for Qiao Xiaomai and had prepared countermeasures. They insisted that Qiao Xiaomai had set fire to important documents and that Hua Xiaofeng had assaulted Sun Family maliciously. These two had to be punished by law.

Yang Ye sat at the side and listened in the courtroom.

After hearing Sun Junyan’s accusations, he asked directly before the county magistrate could speak, “County Mayor Dai, does the ‘Daqi Law’ prescribe punishment for commoners who destroy classified military documents?”

Knowing this case would not be easy, Mayor Dai had placed a copy of ‘Daqi Law’ close at hand. After hearing Yang Ye’s question, he pretended to flip through the book, then shook his head, “To answer your Highness, there are no regulations regarding this matter.”

“Perfectly, the emperor has asked me to revise the ‘Daqi Law.’ Once I finish revising the ‘Daqi Law’, we’ll deal with it according to the law.”

Upon hearing this, Mayor Dai quickly responded, “Your Highness speaks truly.”

Hearing this, Cen Hong immediately became angry, “Mayor Dai, that was military classified information!”

“Cen Hong, there is no regulation about it in the ‘Daqi Law’, how do you expect Mayor Dai to judge? Aren’t you deliberately making things difficult?” As Yang Ye spoke, he scoffed, “Moreover, the main responsibility lies with you. You intentionally exposed military secrets to Sun Junyan a commoner. This constitutes a breach of confidentiality, which ‘Daqi Law’ does dictate.”

Upon hearing these words, Cen Hong was stunned, and then his face turned pale.

From this perspective, it did seem so.

Sun Junyan was only assisting him and did not hold any official title. This indeed constituted a leak of confidential information.

Seeing the expression on Cen Hong’s face, Yang Ye snorted, “Sun Junyan was negligent in supervision, and he bears a significant responsibility in this matter. The mistakes made by both of you are more severe. Qiao Xiaomai’s mistake was made unintentionally, she is not guilty if she did not know.”

Yang Ye said, unfurling the fan in his hand and shaking it leisurely. His handsome face wore a smirk, “Cen Hong, do you think this situation should be resolved publicly or privately?”

Cen Hong “…”

He involuntarily clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth.