Chapter 157 No matter how beautiful it is, it is poisonous
The dancers danced to the music, their bodies slender and soft, and their barely covered parts were faintly visible under the dance. There was no shyness on their faces, but instead their eyes were charming and seductive, making people's hearts flutter.
Many men stared with their eyes wide open, while the women all blushed and lowered their heads, but could not help but look up to peek, whispering about what kind of dance this was, which was so embarrassing.
"What kind of dance is this? I've never seen it before." Finally, someone asked the question that everyone was wondering.
"You are a civil official, so naturally you have never seen this kind of dance. This is a dance unique to the border areas." The person explaining couldn't help but touch his chin with his hand, his eyes full of lust, and he glanced in Su Rui's direction.
"Unique to the border? Could it be a military slave dance? I heard that when a female military slave goes to the border, the first thing she does is dance. If any soldier likes her, she can do it right there and then..."
He didn't finish his words, but the laughter said it all.
In an instant, many eyes were focused on Su Rui, and even the female guests who were close to Su Rui stepped back, as if she was some kind of dirty thing.
Su Ye was almost crawling under the table.
Su Rui remained as still as a mountain, as if everything had nothing to do with her, but her body was tense, and she was paying attention to Prince Long's changes at all times.
"Military slave dance? There is such a thing. Didn't Concubine Su also serve as a military slave for five years, also at the border? You have also danced this dance, right?" Changning turned around and asked curiously.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Princess. I went to the border in this same severe cold weather back then. The wind and snow bit my bones, and I got frostbite all over my face. I also had a high fever and was barely breathing. The steward was afraid I would die in the tent, so he didn't let me into the camp."
Su Rui explained in a calm tone, as if she was telling someone else's story.
However, her words made everyone around her quiet down. Thinking carefully, although Su Rui's incident happened at the Spring Banquet, it was a late spring cold year that year. It was snowing in February, and the border was even colder.
If Su Rui went alone, life would be difficult if no one brought her warm clothes and took care of her on the way. She would be lucky if she could reach the border alive.
She was a noble lady in the capital. Although she had been pampered since childhood, she had never suffered any hardship. But when she went to a place like the border, she got frostbite on her face and was thrown outside like a piece of rag when she was at the point of life and death with a high fever, all the female relatives felt like crying and despair just thinking about it.
But Su Ye breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate that he was so angry with Su Rui that day that he stopped the servant Liang had sent to deliver something to Su Rui. Otherwise, Su Rui would have to perform such an embarrassing dance and would have been humiliated.
"Concubine Su is really lucky, but you can't always be sick and not do the service work, right? Is it so easy for a military slave on the border?" Chang Ning refused to let her go and asked with a sneer.
"How could it be? Everyone on the border has a job, and we won't support idlers. As long as you work honestly, no one will make things difficult for you. Military slaves are just people who made mistakes, not animals, and the soldiers will not deliberately bully them."
Su Rui said a few words and carried the border soldiers up. After all, most of the people who came to the banquet with Prince Long today had returned from the border.
They know best how bad the border is, but who would be willing to bring those dirty things back to Shengjing? It's not glorious at all.
Since Su Rui raised them, they naturally had no choice but to cooperate in maintaining the image of the border soldiers.
Chang Ning gritted his teeth in resentment, but refused to give up. He pressed on, "So, Concubine Su has maintained her virginity for five years by working diligently? Those soldiers are truly... amazing."
When Chang Ning paused, he deliberately looked Su Rui up and down, and the "powerful" he used to say naturally changed its meaning.
Su Rui has such a beautiful appearance and figure. Even if she doesn't keep warm in winter and gets frostbite and gets sick, there are still spring, summer and autumn, and she will always recover.
Faced with such a stunning beauty, even if the soldiers on the border are self-disciplined and polite, not everyone is a gentleman, especially the soldiers below. Their heads are not on the line and they may die at any time. They don't care about many things and their superiors will not care too much.
As the lowest-level military slave, how could these soldiers allow Su Rui to stay in the barracks for five years without any guilt, unless they were all not men.
"Maybe they disliked me. In my second year in the camp, I learned the craft from the second leatherworker."
When they heard the three words "Second Cobbler", the faces of several generals returning from the border changed.
The look in his eyes when he looked at Su Rui also changed from the original contempt mixed with desire to deep disgust and fear.
"Is she the one from the third battalion?"
Someone asked softly. The female guest couldn't hear it, but those who were nearby at the east table heard it clearly.
The Second Prince raised the corner of his mouth, and Prince Long's eyes changed. He stared at Su Rui, but his expression was unclear. Even Prime Minister Lin, who had been dozing off, half opened his eyes.
"Second leatherworker? What is that? How can it be used as a life-saving talisman?" Changning, like most women, had no idea that there were such craftsmen in the army.
Tang Yuli, who was sitting next to him, looked at Su Rui and explained at the right time: "Cousin, the second leatherworker in the army is responsible for dissecting and splicing the remains of corpses. He is considered to be the one who sends the soldiers to the afterlife."
Although the women did not know what the Second Cobbler was, after hearing Tang Yuli's explanation, they instantly understood why Su Rui was able to maintain his innocence and survive at the border.
It turns out that he had done such a shady thing.
In Da Zhao, the dead are the most important, and it is very important to bury the whole body so that the body can be reincarnated intact. Even eunuchs have to find someone to sew their bodies back together before burying them after their death.
But touching corpses was a shady matter, and even the coroners in the government office avoided it, not to mention the people who cleaned up the mutilated corpses on the battlefield.
Even if you don't go to the battlefield, you know that once the war breaks out, limbs and heads will fly everywhere, and even the enemy's ears and eyeballs will be taken away as trophies. Few people can get an intact body.
If he wanted to preserve the body, he had to rely on the second shoemaker to piece it together for him.
Therefore, even a soldier wants to be safe and sound after death, so he naturally dares not offend the person who collects his body.
What's more, who wouldn't be taboo about being involved in shady matters?
No matter how beautiful it is, it is poison.
Changning didn't expect that Su Rui had learned such a despicable skill, but he didn't tell her earlier and waited until today.
Could it be that you are bluffing?
As if guessing what Chang Ning was thinking, Su Rui smiled and added, "If the princess has any doubts, she can send someone to check the military records of the border areas. My name should also be recorded in the records."
Military affairs had to be reported to the imperial court, and there were people who reviewed them every year to ensure that no falsification was allowed.
So, she deliberately waited until today to speak, using her mouth to prove her innocence to everyone, and once again became her springboard!
Chang Ning was so angry that his eyes were spitting fire, but Su Rui couldn't explain anything.
But it is true that if it were not for today, she would not bother to prove her innocence.
Rumors can never be dispelled by just shouting your name. Even if you shout at the top of your lungs, others will stand on the high ground and wipe out all your efforts with a simple "You are lying, I don't believe you."
Living her life over again, she lives for herself. Apart from her life and what she wants, nothing else matters. What's the point of reputation? She has no intention of proving herself to people who don't care about her.
But today she came to win over Prince Long, and her innocence was also a card. At least, it would make it seem that Yun Ji was not so bad to marry her, and that he was not so crazy to pamper her.
"I didn't expect that Concubine Su not only worked as a military slave in the border areas, but also held such an important position. I believe Concubine Su is also familiar with the military rules." Prince Long, who had not spoken to Su Rui all this time, put down his wine glass and asked with a smile.
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