Chapter 70: The Battle Formation Dance Begins

Lin Xuan followed her gaze.

At the very top of the display stand lay a one-to-one scale wooden replica of a Tang horizontal sword.

In a short while, Lin Xuan walked back to the red carpet carrying the sword and handed it to Xiao Sizi.

"Can you lift it?"

After taking it, Xiao Sizi hefted its weight.

"It's wood, too light."

"Not as good as the real iron in Father's tent."

As the words fell, the music on the main stage suddenly accelerated.

The drumbeats crashed down like a sudden downpour.

Xiao Sizi gripped the scabbard with her left hand, her thumb pressing against the guard.

Her right hand exerted force, and with a "Zhang!" sound.

The wooden blade rubbed against the wooden scabbard as it was drawn out.

Her left foot stomped forward fiercely, the red silk skirt hem billowing in the wind.

Her right hand held the wooden sword upside down, the blade's spine pressed against her forearm.

Her left hand formed a fist and struck heavily against her right chest.

Her chin lifted, her gaze sharp as lightning.

This was an extremely standard Tang dynasty military salute.

Unrelated to gender, it honored life and death alone.

The crowd let out a collective gasp of shock.

Then, Xiao Sizi flipped her wrist.

The wooden sword sliced through the air in a semicircle, bringing a sound of tearing wind as it struck down.

Her steps began to change.

Every step she took landed squarely on the heavy drumbeats.

Her waist exerted force, driving her shoulders, as the wooden sword swept horizontally, thrust, and spun.

The Great Tang's highest military music dance — "Qin Wang Po Zhen Yue".

This was a battle formation dance composed by the soldiers and generals with blood and swords after Li Shimin's great defeat of Liu Wuzhou.

Xiao Sizi's figure was slender.

Wearing the softest Qi Xiong Ruju, holding a non-sharpened fake sword in her hand.

Yet the momentum she wielded made people feel a chilling and majestic ferocity that raised goosebumps.

Where the blade pointed, it seemed as if thousands of cavalry were charging into battle.

That was the grimness of the cold weapon era, accumulated over thousands of years.

The photographers around retreated continuously.

Several security personnel standing close were forced to step back by that aura.

Even a trace of shock flashed in Lin Xuan's eyes.

This... is this still the sickly, weak, soft, and cute Xiao Sizi?!

The Sky Screen stretched across past and present.

The Great Tang timeline.

Taiji Hall.

All the high ministers and generals stopped their movements.

Right Wu Guard General Cheng Yaojin stared with bulging eyes, his lips trembling: "This is... Po Zhen Yue..."

He felt as if he had returned to Hulao Pass.

Outside the city were Dou Jiande's hundred thousand troops; inside the city were Li Shimin's three thousand Xuanjia Army.

War drums beat, swords and spears stood like a forest.

Blood dyed the yellow earth red.

"This is the dance we fought for with our lives back then!"

Cheng Yaojin suddenly pushed away the food table before him and knelt heavily on his knees inside the hall.

Duke of E Yuchi Jingde followed closely behind.

This old general, covered in scars, wept with tears streaming down his face.

"Your subject, bows to the Princess!" Yuchi Jingde roared loudly.

In the ranks of the generals, Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Li Ji...

All the old generals who participated in the founding wars knelt down in unison.

Standing atop the Danbi, Li Shimin felt a surge of hot blood rush straight to the crown of his head.

"Excellent! Danced well!"

"Someone!"

"Issue my decree: mobilize three thousand armored soldiers from the Shen Shu Camp into the Taiji Palace square!"

"Don heavy armor, wield Mo Dao!"

"Beat the drums for me, play 'Qin Wang Po Zhen Yue'!"

Li Shimin wanted to use the Great Tang's strongest battle formation to cross time and space and dance as accompaniment for his daughter.

He wanted the entire world to know that the backbone of the Great Tang would never perish for ten thousand generations.

The rumbling of war drums soon echoed throughout the Imperial City.

Three thousand heavy-armored infantry marched in perfect step, their spears forming a forest, their blades reflecting the blinding sunlight.

The martial spirit of the Great Tang was thoroughly ignited.

Modern times.

The Expo Center.

The ancient-style battle music in the speakers fell on its final heavy note.

Xiao Sizi stepped back with her right foot, her figure coming to a sudden halt.

The wooden horizontal sword spun a crisp flourish in mid-air.

With a soft "click," the wooden sword sheathed itself.

She lowered her chin slightly, her cold gaze sweeping across the entire venue.

That was not a curtain call after a performance.

That was a Great Tang commander inspecting the territory he had conquered.

Around the entire red carpet, a silence as dead as death prevailed.

"Holy crap!"

In the crowd, someone let out a distorted roar.

Immediately, the dam burst.

The entire exhibition hall erupted with cheers and screams that threatened to lift the roof.

"Too awesome, this aura is absolutely incredible!"

"This is true national style, this is true heritage; what divine footwork was that just now?"

The applause rolled like thunder.

Countless people held up their Mobile Phones, trying to squeeze to the very front.

At the edge of the exhibition area, the internet celebrity named Mengmeng turned deathly pale.

She listened to the deafening cheers surrounding her.

She looked at that little girl standing under the spotlight, who seemed like a deity descending.

A strong wave of shame and inferiority surged in her heart.

True orthodox Huaxia culture does not need to show thighs, nor does it need to push cleavage.

A single starting stance was enough to nail such vulgar borderline behavior to the pillar of shame.

"Sister Meng... the live stream... the live stream has exploded," the assistant said, holding a Mobile Phone, her hands trembling.

But the bullet comments were no longer filled with special effects for gifts; instead, the entire screen was filled with mockery.

【This is what Hanfu looks like! That borderline streamer should get lost!】

【Don't insult the Great Tang! That little girl just made a move, and you aren't even fit to carry her shoes!】

The internet celebrity Mengmeng gritted her teeth.

She ripped off the fake hair bun on her head, covered her face, pushed past the assistant, squeezed out of the crowd without looking back, and fled in panic.

Lin Xuan paid no attention to that fleeing clown.

He stepped forward, took the wooden sword from Xiao Sizi's hand, and held her hand.

He stepped forward, took the wooden sword from Xiao Sizi's hand, and held her hand.

"Are you tired?" Lin Xuan asked in a low voice.

Xiao Sizi shook her head, a fine layer of sweat beading on her forehead.

Yet her eyes were startlingly bright.

Lin Xuan held Xiao Sizi's hand, trying to squeeze out of the crowd.

Security personnel formed a human wall, blocking the lenses of those crazily pushing forward.

"Wait a moment! Sir in the front, please wait a moment!"

A hoarse but powerful voice came from behind the crowd.

Several security guards wearing high-level work badges forcefully pushed through the crowd.

An old man with a full head of silver hair, wearing a gray front-opening Tang suit, quickly squeezed onto the red carpet.

He panted heavily, wearing thick-rimmed reading glasses on the bridge of his nose.

The old man strode up to Lin Xuan and Xiao Sizi, placed both hands on his knees, and steadied his breathing twice.

Lin Xuan stopped, pulled Xiao Sizi closer to his leg, and looked on with caution.

"Don't misunderstand," the old man straightened up, took an ID card from his chest pocket, and handed it to Lin Xuan.

"I am the cultural consultant for this national-style exhibition and also a member of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Review Committee."

"My name is Zhou Mingyuan."

Lin Xuan glanced at the ID card.

It bore the national emblem seal, and the position was Professor of History at a top domestic university and Director of the Tang Dynasty Etiquette Research Institute.

Zhou Mingyuan did not look at Lin Xuan for long; his gaze fixed on Xiao Sizi, burning with intensity.

"Little girl," Zhou Mingyuan softened his voice, afraid to startle anything, "who taught you the starting stance of that salute just now, and the footwork of that sword dance?"

Hearing this, Xiao Sizi instinctively turned her head to look at Lin Xuan.

Lin Xuan squeezed her palm: "A deceased elder of the family."

Zhou Mingyuan sighed, his eyes full of regret: "Pity, that elder was absolutely a hidden master of folk customs within the country."

"The spirit and charm of this demeanor cannot be cultivated without decades of hard work."

His tone shifted, and the gaze behind his thick-lensed glasses grew severe.

"However..."

Zhou Mingyuan extended a finger, pointing at Xiao Sizi's toes. "Little girl, there is a fatal flaw in your etiquette."