"What do you think, Governor Ning?"

Ning Qiuze hated Song Qianning so much that he wanted to kill her. How could he possibly agree to this? Unless he was completely out of his mind.

Seeing Chang Qing's face, Ning Qiuze took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, so he said with difficulty: "Guard Chang Qing, it's not that I don't want to, but it doesn't make sense."

"Since ancient times, shops and restaurants have had to pay taxes. There are so many shops, and everyone else pays taxes according to the rules, but she's the only one not paying. If this gets out, wouldn't it be considered partiality and abuse of power? I can't explain it to the other merchants either."

Hearing this, Chang Qing sneered and looked at Ning Qiuze without any emotion. "Bending the law for personal gain? I'd like to ask, as a prefect, why was Ning Fuyin so careless in his judgment, nearly killing a person?"

"This... this is all a misunderstanding. I haven't had the chance to punish him yet. Thirty lashes of the cane wouldn't kill him, so how could it have killed someone?" Ning Qiuze wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his face almost frozen with laughter.

Interrupting Ning Qiuze, Chang Qing said calmly, "It is customary to compensate the victim when doing something wrong. As a local official, Ning Fuyin should set an example."

"Or is it that only Ning Fuyin's words are the rules?"

"Of course not." Under Chang Qing's continuous pressure, Ning Qiuze's shoulders drooped lower and lower.

He hated her so much, but he didn't dare to go against Chang Qing.

Finally, under Chang Qing's cold gaze, Ning Qiuze had no choice but to agree with resentment: "...Then I will do as Chang Qing's guards said and exempt Song Qianning Restaurant from taxes for a year as compensation."

He almost said this with gritted teeth.

Unlike the furious Ning Qiuze, Song Qianning's face was filled with joy, and she looked at him as if he were a benefactor: "Thank you, Lord Prefect. You are such a kind person."

What a good person! Ning Qiuze used all his strength to control himself from cursing out loud on the spot.

While secretly cursing Chang Qing and Song Qianning, Ning Qiuze also felt a little confused.

He had clearly given orders before to have his men destroy the account books, so what about those account books that Song Qianning finally found?

He saw clearly before coming in that Song Qianning didn't bring anything with her, and there was no place on her body where she could hold anything.

That only means that the account book was found in the room, and when Song Qianning was looking for the account book, he watched the whole process and did not see her make any small movements.

Could it be that... there is a traitor among me?

Thinking of this, Ning Qiuze's eyes sharpened. Yes, how else to explain why the damaged account book would appear again?

The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed. Ning Qiuze no longer cared about scolding Song Qianning. He tried hard to recall the people around him and the possible traitors in his mind.

Not only did he avoid the trap set by Ning Qiuze and others, but with the help of Chang Qing, he also successfully cheated him and exempted himself from a year's tax. In a happy mood, Song Qianning smiled with great joy.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Pan Ruoruo standing there stupidly, and the smile in her eyes became a little more pronounced.

Ever since Song Qianning brought the wet account book with intact handwriting and found the original and the copied account book, Pan Ruoruo was dumbfounded.

Because of her relationship with Pan Fushen, she also knew a little about certain things, and she never thought that Ning Qiuze would leave such a big "handle" for Song Qianning.

She was prepared for Song Qianning to be punished and had even thought of some mocking words, but in the end, nothing happened to her.

Why is Song Qianning so lucky!

"Now that the account book issue is settled, the silk issue remains. I wonder if Miss Pan has any plans in mind?"

Coming back to his senses, seeing Song Qianning's smile, Pan Ruoruo's face darkened and he shouted angrily: "Song Qianning, you must give me that one thousand taels of silver!"

"Miss Pan, if you don't remember what I just said, I don't mind repeating it to you." Song Qianning smiled kindly, "The one who mixed up the silk was the cloth shop owner. It has nothing to do with me. I'm not so kind as to pay for a stranger's mistake."

"The silk has been worn by your child. You must compensate for it!"

Seeing Pan Ruoruo repeating the same thing, Song Qianning shook her head, her expression light and cheerful without a trace of gloom. She pointed at the lady boss next to her and waved her finger at her: "I'm sorry, Miss Pan, the person you should claim compensation from is the lady boss. It has nothing to do with me, emotionally or logically."

"Oh yes, this piece of silk is definitely nothing to Miss Pan. Miss Pan can also choose to give up the claim."

Pan Ruoruo was shaking with anger, and her eyes looked at Song Qianning with anger.

Pan Ruoruo was furious but could do nothing about it.

Even Ning Qiuze couldn't do anything to Song Qianning, let alone her?

Knowing that it was hopeless for her to seek compensation from Song Qianning today, Pan Ruoruo, who was filled with anger, immediately turned her attention to the proprietress.

Since he couldn't deal with Song Qianning, he could only find someone else to vent his anger on.

Pan Ruoruo walked quickly to the proprietress. Her face turned dark and her eyes looked like she wanted to kill someone.

Frightened by her gaze, the proprietress shrank her neck, gave her a trembling smile, and said flatteringly, "Ms. Pan, you also know that I don't have much money left. I can't afford to compensate for the silk. How about this matter..."

"Bah." Pan Ruoruo interrupted her without any hesitation, cursing sharply, "My piece of silk is worth one thousand taels of silver. How can you just say you don't want to compensate me?"

"No matter what you say today, you have to give me one thousand taels of silver, otherwise I will never let you go!"

Completely unexpectedly, Pan Ruoruo would turn the blame on herself. The proprietress's eyes widened, and she became annoyed: "Pan Ruoruo, are you really going to turn your back on me?"

"You were the one who found me first and asked me to work with you to frame Song Qianning. You were the one who deliberately mixed up the silk. What does it have to do with me?"

In her rage, the lady boss forgot about the other people around her: "You want to blackmail me for nothing? You're just dreaming!"

While the two were arguing, Song Qianning's eyes wandered between them with a somewhat sarcastic expression.

While the two were arguing fiercely, she deliberately fanned the flames: "Pan Ruoruo, I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. It's obvious that the two of you worked together to frame me, and yet you want the boss lady to compensate you. I'm afraid you think the boss lady is easy to deceive, so you deliberately calculated her and wanted to get something for nothing."

"The Pan family is wealthy and your father is a wealthy man. What does a piece of silk mean to you?"

The proprietress, who was already on the verge of a rage, heard this, her eyes became bloodshot, and she rushed towards Pan Ruoruo.

"Okay, you little bitch, don't think I can't see that you're just trying to cheat me out of my money!"

"You dare to hit me?!"

Pan Ruoruo doesn't have a good temper, so how could she tolerate others treating her like this?

He rushed towards the lady boss, grabbed her hair with one hand and scratched her face with the other, cursing as he scratched, surprisingly not losing the upper hand at all.