Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 142: Borrowing Strength
Ming He said calmly: "That's fine, but please ask the Minister's wife to sign a new agreement with me. If your master comes to visit, I will have to give him an explanation."

"He dares!" the minister's wife said angrily, "Write the document and I'll sign it. Let's see if he dares to come!"

Ming He and Fang Tong looked at each other, smiled and went behind the counter, wrote a receipt, and took it to the sedan chair for the minister's wife to sign and seal.

Fang Tong stood by the sedan chair and reminded softly, "Madam, when it comes to cheating, men either never do it, or they do it three times. You only know that the Minister ordered clothes for people at Tianyixuan, but how do you know that he hasn't ordered other clothes elsewhere? Is this the only one he has an affair with, or are there more than one? If you want peace in your family, you must investigate carefully and don't let him be led astray by outsiders."

The assistant minister's wife was silent for a while: "Don't worry, my family doesn't have anything else, but we have a lot of money. I don't believe that we can't find out what kind of sluts he hooked up with outside."

Ming He took the signed receipt and said with a smile, "The Minister's wife is so generous, we are willing to do our part, but I wonder how much money the Minister's wife is willing to pay?"

The assistant minister's wife said coldly in the sedan chair: "If you have any clues, each clue will be 300 coins. If you can find the bitch who seduced the master, you will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver."

As soon as these words were spoken, the people watching the excitement around them started discussing heatedly.

Fang Tong smiled when he saw this: "Did you hear that? The Minister's wife is willing to pay a reward. If you know where his master likes to go and who he associates with, you might as well provide clues to the Minister's wife. It can be considered as helping others and making good friends."

"Of course." An onlooker said, "As long as Madam keeps her word, we will keep an eye on your master wherever he goes in the future and make sure he is not seduced away by a vixen."

There was a burst of laughter in the crowd, and many people were rubbing their hands, eager to try it out.

Fang Tong looked at the expressions on everyone's faces calmly, feeling extremely satisfied.

After the Minister's wife left, she followed Ming He back to the elegant room. Ming He asked, "Just now I saw you intentionally reminding the Minister's wife to track down her husband's whereabouts. I wonder what your intention is?"

Fang Tong smiled and pointed at the cloth with a bird-and-branch pattern on the hanger and asked, "Who have you sold clothes made of this material to?"

"Not much." Ming He opened the account book and took a look. "This is the new material our store bought. We have only made one outer garment, a round-necked robe and a lapel robe. The boy bought the lapel robe yesterday."

"That's basically right." Fang Tong said, "I saw someone last night, wearing a crimson-colored lapel robe with a flower-branch-and-bird pattern."

"You mean, you met the Minister of Rites last night?"

"That's right." Fang Tong nodded. "I want to check who he has met recently, but if I do it in a big way, it will inevitably arouse suspicion. Now that we have the pretext of the Minister's wife catching him cheating, it's a good opportunity for Your Highness to place someone in place."

Three hundred wen is not too much, not too little either, and is enough for an ordinary family's expenses for half a month. For those idle men who can feed the whole family with one person, it is a pie in the sky. They stroll around the capital every day, and as long as they are willing, they will always have the chance to keep an eye on the Minister of Rites.

Now that Hong Xiao is dead, if we want to find out the whereabouts of Qingluan and others, the Minister of Rites is a shortcut. Since Fang Tong already knows the other party's identity, there is no reason to let him go easily.

"So it was for His Highness." Ming He understood. "Since you knew that person was wearing clothes from my shop, why didn't you ask me directly when you came this morning?"

Fang Tong smiled and said, "I told His Highness about this last night. He will send you a message today at the latest. Since he asked, I don't need to ask any more questions."

Ming He is Feng Twelve's subordinate, not hers. If she asks her questions about the same thing, should Ming He report to her or to Feng Twelve?
If Ming He hadn't discovered that she had intentionally instigated the Minister's wife to track down the Minister's whereabouts, she wouldn't even have mentioned it.

After listening to her explanation, Ming He immediately understood her concerns.

She smiled and said, "Miss Fang, you don't have to be so reserved with me."

She paused subtly, then added: "I'm sure Your Highness won't mind."

"That being said, you have your own rules for doing things. I don't understand them very well, so it's better for me to not interfere." Fang Tong smiled at her. Ming He smiled and shook his head: "Miss Fang is young, you don't need to be too sensible."

Fang Tong raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Ming He picked up the teacup in front of her, poured out the remaining tea, brewed a new cup of hot tea and handed it to her: "When I was Miss Fang's age, I was notoriously spoiled and arrogant. The neighbors said that I would never get married."

Fang Tong chuckled: "Businessmen have to be a bit aggressive."

"That's right." Ming He put the teapot back on the fire. "I like Miss Fang's personality very much. I think the people around you are the same."

Fang Tong was slightly startled, but saw Ming He as if nothing had happened, picked up the round fan and waved it, then continued: "Miss Fang, if you have free time in the future, you may as well come to the store often. I am bound to be bored looking after these shops every day, and it is pleasant to chat with Miss Fang."

"Okay." Fang Tong responded readily, "I'll also ask Shopkeeper Ming for advice on business management. If you don't mind, I'll come often."

Ming He covered half of his face with a round fan, smiling: "I am also waiting for Miss Fang to provide me with more ways to make money."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

Fang Tong looked at the dripping water in the corner of the room and said goodbye to Ming He: "I have an appointment, so I have to leave first."

"Who did you meet? Do you want my carriage to take you there?"

"No need," Fang Tong paused for a moment, "Xiao Nian will come to pick me up in a while."

Before going out this morning, Feng Twelve made an appointment with her to go to the Prince's Mansion. The Prince's Mansion was inside the palace and had strict access control. Fang Tong could only enter by taking the carriage of Prince Rui's Mansion.

Ming He of course knew who Xiao Nian was, and guessed that this matter was related to Feng Twelve, so he did not try to keep her and sent her out of the elegant room.

Before the two of them went out, they saw a carriage parked outside the door.

Xiaonian was leaning against the car. When he saw the two of them, he smiled and greeted Minghe. Then he said to Fangtong, "Miss Fang, please get in the car."

Fang Tong said goodbye to Ming He and stepped on the footstool to get into the carriage.

She reached out to lift the car curtain and was about to go in when she suddenly stopped.

Feng Twelve was sitting in the back of the carriage, looking up at her.

Fang Tong suppressed his surprise and got into the carriage: "Why are you here?"

There was doubt in her words, as well as a hint of barely perceptible excitement and joy.

Feng Twelve carefully distinguished it and said, "I'm here to pick you up."

Fang Tong couldn't help laughing: "I mean, didn't we agree that after you go to the palace to see His Majesty, you will go directly to the Prince's Mansion to wait for me?"

The emperor and the crown prince were both in the palace, so there was really no need for Feng Twelve to make a special trip out.

"I'm afraid you can't get in." Feng Twelve said.