Hearing this, Song Qianning was stunned for a moment and began to recall the details of paying taxes in the past.
Knowing that opening a shop or restaurant in the world requires paying taxes, Song Qianning has paid taxes conscientiously for both the previous shop and the current restaurant.
Moreover, every time I paid taxes, I was never late, never shortchanged myself, and there was no such thing as insufficient tax payment.
Song Qianning carefully recalled the details of every tax payment since she opened the shop and restaurant.
After recalling all the details, she was sure and certain that she had paid taxes on time every time and had never evaded taxes.
But Ning Qiuze said she didn't pay enough taxes...
Coming back from her thoughts, Song Qianning looked at Ning Qiuze in the hall and refuted on the spot: "Sir, you can't talk nonsense about things that have not been concluded."
"Ever since I opened my shop, I've always paid my taxes on time, and every time, I've paid the full amount. I've never paid less than a penny. How can I say I didn't pay enough?"
Looking straight at Ning Qiuze, Song Qianning said calmly, "Please, Lord Prefect, conduct a thorough investigation and clear my name."
"Alas." Ning Qiuze in the hall shook his head and looked at Song Qianning with pity: "Song Qianning, it has come to this, and you still want to deny it? I said you underpaid taxes, and you paid less taxes. Do you think I will frame you?"
Hiding the sarcasm in her eyes, Song Qianning continued, "The prefect is a fatherly official and would certainly not frame me, but I have never underpaid my taxes."
Ning Qiuze sighed again, and a hint of disappointment appeared in his eyes when he looked at Song Qianning. He shook his head and said, "Song Qianning, I'm so sorry for how much I cared about you before. I didn't expect that not only did you underpay the tax, but you don't even want to admit it when the time comes."
"Never mind, never mind. I see you won't cry until you see the coffin. Fortunately, I anticipated that you wouldn't admit it, so I prepared evidence of your underpayment of taxes in advance."
The next second, Ning Qiuze shouted, "Come here, go get me the tax registration booklet."
"yes."
Not long after, a yamen runner who had just left hurried back with a registration book and respectfully reported, "Your Excellency, the registration book is here."
"Go and show it to Song Qianning."
After ordering the yamen runner to hand the registration book to her, Ning Qiuze snorted coldly: "Song Qianning, open your eyes and take a good look at what is written in the registration book."
Song Qianning opened the registration book handed to her by the yamen runner and flipped through it very carefully, not missing anything.
When she saw the amount of tax she had to pay, her fingers paused as she turned the page and her eyes narrowed slightly.
There was no other reason. The amount of tax she had paid in the past on the register was completely wrong compared to the actual amount she paid. It was at least half less.
Song Qianning looked suspicious until she had looked through all the taxes she had paid in the register.
Her memory is much better than that of ordinary people. She remembers the details of paying taxes clearly, including every little detail, and of course she will not forget the amount.
But all the taxes she paid according to the register were much less than the actual amount.
Thinking of something, Song Qianning became even more suspicious.
They were clearly discussing the issue of the boss lady compensating Pan Ruoruo for the silk, but Ning Qiuze suddenly changed the subject to taxes and said that she did not pay enough taxes.
No matter how she thought about it, it didn't seem right. Song Qianning intuitively felt that the registration matter was related to Ning Qiuze.
If her guess was correct, Ning Qiuze might have done something and deliberately used the insufficient tax amount to frame her.
Since there was no evidence, Song Qianning couldn't just say this based on her intuition, and her disgust towards Ning Qiuze and others deepened.
In order to frame her, Ning Qiuze really did everything he could and tried every trick.
Seeing Song Qianning finish reading the register, Ning Qiuze snorted coldly, his eyes unable to control the smugness that flashed through his eyes, his face a false seriousness: "Song Qianning, the register records everything clearly. Every time you pay taxes, you almost always miss a lot. It's far from the actual amount of tax you should pay."
"You are truly audacious. You actually underpaid such a large amount of tax and still refuse to admit it. There are so many shops and stores on this street, and every one of them pays taxes honestly. Yet you tampered with this matter and deliberately underpaid the tax. This crime is truly heinous."
"If I hadn't carefully read the register, I'm afraid you would have fooled me."
Ning Qiuze used his own words to convict Song Qianning, and said confidently: "According to the rules, you should be fined five times the tax and given thirty strokes of the cane."
As Ning Qiuze spoke, Pan Ruoruo next to him became more and more proud, and the look in her eyes when she looked at Song Qianning revealed a sense of superiority.
No matter how capable Song Qianning is, he can only plead guilty this time.
Feeling proud, Pan Ruoruo couldn't help but said sarcastically, "Hey, Song Qianning, it turns out you underpaid the tax."
"Your restaurant is so big, and you make a lot of money every day. Compared to the money you make, the tax is a drop in the bucket. Yet you evade taxes out of greed."
"Tax evasion is a serious crime. You underpaid so much, yet the prefect only fined you thirty strokes of the cane and five times the tax amount. That's really too little."
"If you ask me, based on the things you've done, it's no exaggeration to say that beheading you is the right thing to do."
Everything he said seemed to be saying that Song Qianning had gotten a great deal on the clothes.
Staring at Song Qianning, Pan Ruoruo's eyes became even more proud, and her sarcasm became more and more impolite: "Song Qianning, why don't you say anything? Could it be that because the prefect has exposed your crimes, you dare not speak out of guilt?"
Humph, after today, Song Qianning will have to shed a lot of skin.
Without paying any attention to Pan Ruoruo's intention, Song Qianning raised her head and looked at the court. Her expression remained calm, without any sign of guilt.
In Pan Ruoruo's eyes, Song Qianning was pretending to be calm and curled her lips in disdain.
With the registration book in place, no matter how powerful Song Qianning was, she had to lie on the ground obediently and wait to be beaten.
"Song Qianning, do you accept or reject my judgment?"
"No."
Looking at Ning Qiuze calmly, Song Qianning said coldly, "Why would you admit to something you didn't do?"
"The matter has not yet been concluded. Or is it that the prefect is simply relying on his own one-sided statement and convicting me without any evidence?"
"Then tell me, what evidence do you have to prove your innocence?!"
As if she hadn't noticed Ning Qiuze's dark face, she continued, "When paying taxes, besides the government, merchants also have their own tax books, and these books also have official seals."
"I would like the prefect to send someone to go back with me and get the booklet to prove my innocence."
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