The Shadow of Great Britain

Yang said grimly, ”What good does harboring resentment do? The Civil Court has already ruled. After he went bankrupt, my full ownership of the Sun is legitimate and compliant. Besides, the three-month appeal period has long passed, what else can Patrick be dissatisfied with?”

Ledley shrugged, ”Indeed, you know the law well. If you consider the procedures of common law, once three months pass, the court no longer accepts appeal applications. However... I’ve heard that Mr. Grant seems to be preparing to petition to the Equity Court, asking to annul the ruling on the grounds of unfairness and breach of integrity. Moreover, several members of parliament are currently considering helping him initiate a petition to the Equity Court.”

”Equity Court...” Yang’s face turned ashen, his lips almost uncontrollably twitching.

If Yang truly acted with integrity, then Grant’s petition wouldn’t be a big deal.

The problem is, during the process of pushing Grant out of the Sun, there were indeed violations, and his victory was due to him spending money to pull strings.

Ledley noticed the change in Yang’s expression and internally laughed at this Scotland old man finally showing vulnerability.

”Mr. Yang, I’m not trying to scare you. You know those Equity Court judges don’t follow procedures, they speak of conscience, especially valuing honesty issues. If there were indeed unclear places in the Sun’s accounts or equity that make them feel there’s dishonesty, it might overturn the case, and the civil ruling wouldn’t hold.”

Yang raised his head, his forehead already beaded with sweat, his lips moved, yet he couldn’t push out a single explanation.

Ledley, confident internally, continued, ”Of course, you needn’t worry too much. That guy Grant has been dirt poor for a long time, even if he wrote a petition, he can’t afford a lawyer. If it really boils down to the Equity Court, it mostly relies on a few parliament members’ instigation. Honestly, personally, I feel making such a big fuss isn’t really meaningful.”

He paused, as if handing a ladder to someone, ”Ultimately, although the Sun did make mistakes, it doesn’t deserve to die. In our trade, who hasn’t made a blunder? Personally, I always advocate turning big issues into small ones, and small issues into nothing.”

Yang squinted his eyes, staring at him intently, probing, ”Are you speaking as a Representative of White Hall, or as an individual?”

Ledley smiled, spreading his hands, ”Of course, as an individual. Opinions from White Hall are still brewing, but I’m one to think news industry in London should be kept alive. After all, if Fleet Street dies, us managers will also go down.”

”Then you...”

”The matter is actually very simple.” Ledley said with a smile, ”Bring out your agency’s recent editorial schedule and the original drafts of those few reader letters, preferably with the date of receipt and sending address attached. If you can prove these manuscripts truly weren’t internally fabricated by the Sun, I can write an investigation memo for you, stating the issue was due to oversight in edits, not deliberate fraud.”

He paused again, softening his tone, ”Moreover... the Treasury needs to save some face. You understand. White Hall is not trying to ban the Sun, but there must be a statement. So, I suggest you publish a small statement in tomorrow’s issue, it doesn’t need to be long, a few lines would suffice. You could say: ’Due to unverified facts, several reader letters published recently in our paper resulted in misunderstanding by relevant departments, hereby corrected and apologized.’ I can assure you, once your statement is published, this matter will be over. The gentlemen from the Treasury will also turn a blind eye. As for Grant... once the Equity Court sees your apology, I’m sure their perception of an ’honest editor’ will improve.”