Wild Crimson Rose: Beloved Handyman Prince's Courtesan Wife Chapter 116

The power an Empress had was connected to their husbands and their willingness to look the other way . If your husband doesn't love you, that Empress position was useless, you would just be a figurehead . Perhaps everyone overestimated themselves and thought they could keep the Emperor's love their whole lives, but honestly , how many have been able to do that, even within nobility, much less with the most powerful man . It was really just another form of self-torture . Then again, what else could they do? For men, even if they were disowned by their family, they could still find work and scrape by a living because people are willing to hire them . Women? At best, you could be an entertainer, at worse, you'd have to sell your body, and no matter how you are treated at a whorehouse, it would always be a shame on your name since a woman's chastity was one of the most important things for them .

Everyone just pretended to ignore the situation, not saying anything, but they all glanced at the Imperial platform from time to time . 'Hm, is that why they are making alliances? If we add in the Empress's family, she really is pitiful, they're probably blaming her and calling her useless behind her back . ' Shen Tianyu looked on with an outsider's indifference . The Crown Prince had went to mingle with the Officials, with Luo Yenmu falling close behind . Now, there was only Shen Tianyu, Rong Jian, and Wen Ya at the competitor's table .

"Say, why aren't you mingling with the officials since you have such high alcohol tolerance?" Shen Tianyu asked the other woman .

"Why would I?" She whipped her head around and shot back at her . "Hmph, I could drink all of those weaklings under the table . It wouldn't be fun at all . "

"Well, aren't you worried about your position?" Shen Tianyu tried again as she leaned over the table, her forefinger tracing the rim of her teacup .

"What position? I'm the most talented person in this kingdom, why would I worry about my position?" Wen Ya replied, turning her head away .

Shen Tianyu's lips curved into a smile and she said, in a low voice that only the three of them could hear . "Stop pretending . I know you're not that arrogant and stupid as people make you out to be . "

Wen Ya's head whipped back around so fast, she was worried it'd snap off . In her eyes flashed a trace of fear and anxiety before they returned to the heir usual haughtiness . "I don't know what you're talking about . " She responded with an undertone of threat .

"Your swordsmanship is way too easy to see through . " Shen Tianyu continued . 'You can't threaten me and I have no intention to tell anyone . ' After all, whether she told or not, it wouldn't be of benefit to her, besides the direct royal line probably already knew .

Wen Ya's breathe hitched and her hand gripped her wine goblet tighter . Something akin to hope and uncertainty flashed, replacing the cautious fear from earlier . She leaned forward more, trying to reduce their distance so less people as possible would hear them . "You, what do you mean by that?"

"Simple . I am willing to extend a helping hand as long as you can do me a favor . Though, I would need to know more about the situation to determine how far I want to go . " Shen Tianyu stared straight at her, unblinking . Her forefinger was still tracing her teacup, her other arm on the table as leverage for her body that was leaned over it . Rong Jian just sat on the side in silence, as if he didn't know what was going on, eating some of the dishes on the table from time to time that were passed out before the Noble Consort came .

"You are only a Foundation Establishment nobody, what can you do?" Wen Ya asked skeptically .

"Junzhu, not everything is always as it seems . " Shen Tianyu advises with a smile that didn't reach her eyes . "Also, even if I was a nobody, wouldn't that also be useful? There are some things a person of your position can not do on a whim, no matter how willful you are known to be . "

Wen Ya bit on her lower lip and chewed on it for a while under Shen Tianyu's calm gaze, before she opened it again . "Let me think about it . "

"Alright . Let me know once you have reached a decision . " Shen Tianyu nodded and sat back down in a more comfortable position, pulling away from Wen Ya . 'One can't expect someone to just trust you out of nowhere, especially when you were being publicly hostile to each other before . It would be even more suspicious if they did . ' She proceeded to pick up the general use silver chopsticks and pick up some food to put on her plate . No one wants to eat food that has been dipped into by another person's salivdrenched chopsticks so at gatherings, and especially at banquets like these, a set of general chopsticks wold be prepared for everyone at the table to pick food and put it onto their plates, where they would then use their own set of chopsticks, also prepared by the host, to eat from their plate .

"Wifey, these are really good . " Rong Jian piped up and picked up a piece of pork belly on his plate to show her .

"Oh? The stewed pork belly? How does it taste?" Shen Tianyu asked and the couple started to chat idly about the food . As expected of a royal banquet, all the food was tasty . They both tried a bit of all the dishes on the table and became full in no time . As they rested and waited for the banquet to end, Shen Tianyu sipped on her tea that would always be refilled by the servant assigned to their table and Rong Jian just sat there's in a daze, sometimes sneaking glances at Shen Tianyu . She didn't say anything, though he was sure she already noticed . As for the servant assigned to their table, they stood far enough away that they couldn't hear what they talked about and only came forward when beckoned by someone from that table . Every table was assigned a servant with another batch of servants being in charge of more general stuff like bringing out the food and such .

Chapter end