Chapter 207: A Dance Is Hard to Meet
Political Commissar Ming’s sharp defense of Sheng Wanyan left the room in a stunned silence. When Chief of Staff Liang heard the capital official’s rebuke, his face instantly darkened into a thundercloud, and he glared fiercely at his youngest daughter, Liang Qian, who was still standing on the stage.
Sheng Wanyan kept her composure, her voice clear and level as she addressed the crowd. “Every profession has its own expertise. I am not a trained talent in this area, so I will not go up and make a fool of myself.”
“Comrade Sheng Wanyan, I just wanted to liven things up for everyone,” Liang Qian pressed on relentlessly, completely ignoring the underlying warning in Wanyan’s words as she sought to humiliate her in public. “It really doesn’t matter if you don’t dance well.”
Seeing her continue to push so stubbornly, Sheng Wanyan realized there was no longer any need to be polite.
“Since Comrade Liang Qian is so enthusiastic, I suppose I’ll come up and show off my lack of skill,” Wanyan said smoothly.
She rose from her seat, glided up the steps onto the stage, and casually picked up the large fan Liang Qian had just been using.
“Alright! Show them, Sister-in-law!” “Sister-in-law, dance!” “Let’s go, Sister-in-law!”
The thunderous cheers of the soldiers below the stage brought a genuine, graceful smile to Sheng Wanyan’s face. Since they wanted to liven up the atmosphere, she would give them a performance they wouldn’t forget.
When Liang Qian saw Wanyan take the fan, her face stiffened for a fraction of a second. But by the next moment, she assumed a smug, watchful posture, waiting for the disaster to unfold.
As Wanyan approached the center of the stage, Liang Qian got a close-up look at her face, and a sudden, sharp wave of intense jealousy flooded her heart. When Wanyan had been sitting in the audience, Liang Qian could only tell she was a beautiful woman with a refined temperament. But up close, the flawless perfection of Wanyan’s features made Liang Qian feel a sudden, deep sense of insecurity.
The realization only fueled the hatred bubbling in her chest. She stole my man, Liang Qian thought bitterly, silently cursing Wanyan as a vixen who used cheap seduction to bewitch an officer.
She couldn’t wait to watch the impending embarrassment. A classical fan dance required immense control; if someone without professional training attempted it, their movements would look incredibly awkward and bizarre. It had taken Liang Qian more than two months of rigorous, daily practice to master her routine. An amateur like Sheng Wanyan would undoubtedly turn into a laughingstock.
Once she humiliated herself on stage, it wouldn’t matter how much the base commanders favored her. Captain Gu would finally open his eyes, realize how exceptionally talented and superior Liang Qian was, and regret his poor judgment. He would come begging for her forgiveness.
Liang Qian even began mentally rehearsing how she would comfort Gu Tingxiao for his temporary lapse in taste, telling him not to feel too guilty about his mistake so they could move forward into a bright future together. In her twisted daydream, she entirely ignored the reality that Gu Tingxiao was a legally married man, completely blind to the legal and professional severity of attempting to destroy a military marriage.
Sheng Wanyan tested the weight of the fan, flicking it open with a casual, mesmerizing fluidity. Liang Qian blinked, her breath catching as a sudden wave of elegance rolled off the young woman. For a second, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
“Excuse me, everyone,” Wanyan said softly.
Liang Qian retreated to the edge of the stage, her arms crossed as she waited to see what kind of clumsy display would follow.
Sheng Wanyan extended her body, and with a sudden, sharp movement, she began to wave the fan. The inherent power in her arms translated into an incredibly graceful, sweeping motion. Her posture was flawless. Leaning back against the momentum, she executed a flawless, rapid spin through the air, the fan cutting through the space with a crisp, whipping sound that carried the striking resonance of a sword.
This was a far cry from Liang Qian’s performative, dainty routine. Every single movement Sheng Wanyan executed carried a profound, commanding momentum that immediately set the audience’s blood on fire. One second, her silhouette was a picture of flowing, classical beauty; the next, she transformed the fan into a lethal weapon.
With a sharp flick of her wrist, she snapped the fan shut. What followed was a breathtaking, hybrid display of classical martial arts and traditional dance.
Sheng Wanyan launched into a soaring, mid-air split. As her body suspended in space, her arms swept outward in a motion that perfectly mirrored a master drawing a blade, snapping the fan wide open with a loud, echoing crack.
The next second, she dropped cleanly back to the stage, the fan snapping shut instantly. Moving with blinding speed, she extended her arm, pointing the rigid, closed edge of the fan directly at Liang Qian’s face.
Staring down the sharp point of the fan, Liang Qian instinctively stumbled two steps back. Her face flushed a chaotic mixture of deep crimson and stark white, completely stripped of her previous confidence.
Sheng Wanyan’s performance lacked absolutely nothing. It possessed raw strength, breathtaking beauty, ethereal elegance, and a level of technical mastery that defied belief.
Backstage, the other female performers from the cultural troupe watched with wide eyes, completely spellbound by the display. Standing near the curtains, the director of the troupe felt her chest tighten as her eyes blazed with sudden excitement.
This wasn’t just a talented dancer—this was a once-in-a-century prodigy. Wanyan’s carriage, her physical execution, and the sheer narrative creativity of her choreography surpassed anyone the director had ever encountered. She could guarantee that if Sheng Wanyan ever set foot in the cultural troupe, Liang Qian’s coveted center position would belong to her in a heartbeat.
The director’s mind raced as she plotted how to recruit this extraordinary woman. Even though Sheng Wanyan was already twenty-one years old—past the age where classical dancers typically began their stage careers—her flexibility was phenomenal. It was blindingly obvious she possessed a rigorous foundation that could be polished into perfection. Combined with her stunning looks and her innovative artistic vision, she could easily become the new cornerstone of the entire art troupe! The director’s eyes practically shone with greed as she stared at Wanyan.
Standing frozen in her corner, Liang Qian glanced toward the backstage area. The moment she caught the look of rapt, absolute adoration on her troupe leader’s face, her heart skipped a violent beat, and the last of the color drained from her skin. A cold, suffocating wave of dread washed over her as she stared back at the dancing woman.
“Incredible!” “Sister-in-law is magnificent!”
Down in the audience, the soldiers erupted into loud cheers. The martial energy woven into the dance perfectly resonated with their military spirits, triggering their innate sense of discipline and strength. The men were practically vibrating with adrenaline, looking ready to march straight out onto the training fields.
Political Commissar Ming and the senior commanders from the capital exchanged looks of profound amazement. Sheng Wanyan’s routine hadn’t just entertained the room; it had actively galvanized the morale of the entire base. Past troupe performances had merely served as a soft relaxation tool for the men, but this dance had ignited a fierce, collective pride.
The leadership didn’t even need to discuss the matter to know who had delivered the superior piece.
“Goodness gracious! Wanyan is absolutely magnificent!” Aunt Xie gasped, her eyes locked onto the stage, completely unable to blink. She swallowed hard, leaning toward her neighbor. “If I were a young man, I would have sprinted across the country to marry a brilliant woman like her before anyone else could catch a glimpse.” She glanced sideways at the captain. There was absolutely no way Gu Tingxiao’s gaze would ever wander.
Gu Tingxiao sat entirely transfixed. His eyes never strayed from his wife for a single second, his expression melting into a gaze so incredibly tender and proud that tears threatened to well in his eyes. His chest swelled with an overwhelming sense of pride—this extraordinary, radiant woman belongs to me.
Over in their row, Grandma Sheng and the rest of the family sat with their mouths wide open. Was this truly the same granddaughter who spent her afternoons lazily lounging around the courtyard?
Watching Wanyan’s movements, Pan Yue’s eyes filled with deep, artistic admiration as her mind began to turn. Before her pregnancy, Pan Yue had been the undisputed lead of the cultural troupe, and she had expected to transition into training the new generation. She knew that after giving birth, she would be tied to the household for at least two or three years to care for the children. By the time she returned to active duty, she intended to step away from the stage permanently to focus on behind-the-scenes production and creative management. At her age, performing was no longer a long-term option; creative direction held a far greater appeal. Seeing Wanyan, she saw the perfect center stage star.
Meanwhile, Liang Qian stood with her fists clenched so tightly her fingernails bit into her palms, her entire body trembling violently.
How… how can Sheng Wanyan dance like this?!
Wanyan’s physical flexibility and technical control weren’t just competitive—they were leagues ahead of anything Liang Qian could ever hope to achieve. The harsh reality shattered her composure entirely, and her carefully practiced, gentle mask warped into a hideous expression of raw malice.
Fortunately, the entire auditorium remained utterly consumed by Sheng Wanyan’s performance, leaving no one to witness her breakdown in the shadows.
The singular exception was Chief of Staff Liang. Watching his daughter’s twisted, ugly expression from the VIP section, a profound wave of disappointment settled deep in his chest. She was his only daughter, and he had spent her entire life shielding her and spoiling her rotten. In an era where families heavily favored sons, Chief of Staff Liang had raised four boys, making Liang Qian a rare, precious jewel within the household. Naturally, she had been granted whatever her heart desired. But looking at her now, he realized his indulgence had bred something toxic.
