When these words were spoken, the proprietress was stunned.
When he realized the meaning of Song Qianning's words, he immediately became anxious.
The price of silk is not comparable to that of ordinary cloth, especially the one thousand taels that Pan Ruoruo wants.
That was a full one thousand taels, not just ten or twenty taels. Thinking of so much silver, the proprietress became very panicked and naturally did not want to compensate.
"No, why should I pay for it?" She glared at Song Qianning: "I don't agree. I didn't mix up the fabrics on purpose. You can't blame me for replacing the silk quilt with ordinary fabric."
In her anxiety, she became more and more rude to Song Qianning, her voice sharp and anxious: "Song Qianning, you run such a big restaurant, making much more money than my small cloth shop, you should pay the compensation."
"My family is large, and it's already difficult to support a large family with the money earned from a cloth shop. Miss Pan's piece of silk is worth 1,000 taels of silver. Even if I sell it, I can't afford the compensation. Then our whole family will starve. But you are different."
"Everyone knows that your restaurant is huge, and it's full of customers every day. You're the only one in your family with two children, so you must have a lot of extra money. It's only right that you compensate me."
She rolled her eyes and continued, "Could it be that you really have the heart to leave our entire family to starve?"
Facing the boss lady's moral kidnapping, Song Qianning sneered: "Why shouldn't I have the heart to do that?"
Unexpectedly, the proprietress was stunned and screamed, "Song Qianning, you're a girl with two children at home, why can't you be more understanding and considerate of me? How can you be so cruel?"
Song Qianning scoffed at the boss lady's accusation and looked at her calmly: "We are not related at all, why should I be considerate of you?"
"Because you make a lot of money. Besides, the clothes are worn by your child, not me. You should pay the compensation."
Some mortals are really thick-skinned.
Song Qianning complained in her heart, but she didn't hesitate at all: "The clothes are worn by my child because of your mistake. You mixed up the fabrics. I blame you if I want to. Besides, it's my own business that I make a lot of money. It has nothing to do with you. You mixed up the fabrics yourself. How can you have the nerve to ask me to compensate you?"
Blushing with anger at her sarcasm, the lady boss still forcefully retorted, "Because you're richer than me, you have to pay for me."
"I make more money than you, but it's all my own money. I'm using it for my two children, not to pay for the mistakes of an outsider like you."
The proprietress's family had run the cloth shop for so long, they must have quite a bit of spare money. It's not like they couldn't afford to pay for even a piece of silk. It was obvious that they didn't want to pay and wanted her to be the one who got sucked in.
Besides, even if the boss lady really couldn’t afford to compensate for the silk, it had nothing to do with her.
Sizing up the proprietress, Song Qianning scoffed, "Even a child knows they have to pay for their own mistakes. You're not a child anymore, and in a few years you'll have one foot in the grave. Yet you still have the nerve to let an outsider pay for your compensation. You're incredibly shameless."
"You, you, you!" The proprietress's face turned purple, she was so angry that her mouth was wide open and she couldn't think of any words to refute.
Seeing this, Pan Ruoruo, who was standing nearby, immediately chimed in, mocking Song Qianning: "Song Qianning, you're really cruel. The cloth shop owner's family has so many people, and you know how difficult her situation is. Yet you're so cruel that you want to force her to pay compensation."
"If you had no money, that would be fine. But you're so rich, earning tons of money every day. You can only save that money, so why don't you use it to help those in need?"
The more she spoke, the more disgusted she became. Pan Ruoruo pouted and said, "If you cling to money like this, you won't be able to take it into your coffin in the future. Aren't you afraid of becoming a miser?"
Hearing Pan Ruoruo's words, Song Qianning rolled her eyes without any hesitation, and looked at her with a look full of sarcasm, as if she were a fool.
"Miss Pan, since you know she has had a hard time, why not just give up the claim? The Pan family is wealthy and powerful, and as the eldest daughter of the Pan family, a piece of silk is like a drizzle to you."
"They say saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If Miss Pan waives the compensation, she will save the lives of the boss lady and her entire family. Using one thousand taels of silver to save several lives is a great deed."
Completely unaware that Song Qianning would say this, Pan Ruoruo retorted without a second thought, "No, that's my silk. Why should I give up the claim? You must pay me the one thousand taels of silver today!"
Hearing this, Song Qianning's expression became even more sarcastic: "Miss Pan herself is unwilling to claim compensation, so why is she asking me to pay a thousand taels of silver on her behalf?"
"I see." Song Qianning clapped her hands suddenly, and suddenly realized, "What do you call Miss Pan's double standards?"
"Song Qianning, who are you calling hypocritical?!"
"Of course, Miss Pan."
Song Qianning looked at her with a smile, her words not polite at all: "Some people are just talking without any hesitation, saying one thing and doing another. They ask others to help them for free, but they themselves are unwilling to do so, and they still say some sarcastic words. What else can they do if not double standards?"
While satirizing Pan Ruoruo, Song Qianning did not forget Ning Qiuze in the hall.
"Demanding a confession without any evidence, and even wanting to imprison him, without even investigating the facts, is exactly like the corrupt officials in the stories and operas."
She deliberately looked at Ning Qiuze: "Of course, I was talking about someone else, definitely not the prefect. After all, the prefect is a well-known good official. He would definitely not be like the corrupt officials in those storybooks who handle cases arbitrarily without any evidence."
Having said that, the implication and sarcasm in her tone were obvious, and anyone with ears could tell who she was referring to, and Ning Qiuze was no exception.
Because of Song Qianning's words, Ning Qiuze's already bad complexion became even uglier and gloomy.
He suppressed the urge to get angry and cursed Song Qianning in his heart.
Seeing this, the lawyer next to him hurried forward and whispered a few words to Ning Qiuze.
I don’t know what the master said, but Ning Qiuze’s eyes lit up and a hint of joy flashed across his face.
He immediately slammed the gavel: "Song Qianning, do you plead guilty or not?!"
Without giving Song Qianning a chance to speak, he asked first, "You run such a big restaurant, but the taxes you pay are far from enough. Do you admit it or not?"
Amidst Ning Qiuze's questioning, Song Qianning narrowed her eyes and asked in return, "I don't understand what the prefect means. How could I not know that my tax payment would be insufficient?"
"Hmph!" Ning Qiuze snorted coldly, his attitude high and mighty, his face full of righteousness: "The tax is insufficient, of course it's because you didn't pay enough taxes."
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