According to the official historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms and the famous historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei was said to have ears that hung down to his shoulders, arms that reached past his knees, and eyes that could see his own ears—features considered the very image of an emperor.
But from the perspective of modern medicine, having arms that reach past the knees is undeniably a symptom of a medical condition.
It’s actually a sign of poor health.
The disease most similar to this description is hypogonadism-associated gigantism.
Its characteristics include an abnormally tall stature, long and disproportionate limbs, and an arm span greater than height.
When standing, the fingertips can reach past the midpoint of the thighs and even down to the knees.
To put it simply, it’s the literal definition of “arms past the knees.”
At the same time, due to hypogonadism, patients often suffer from erectile dysfunction.
In the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei is described as having a pale face and no facial hair—traits typical of a eunuch.
So, if we were to make a bold guess, could it be that Liu Bei was actually an impotent…
Ahem.
Of course, that’s impossible.
Liu Bei may have had slightly longer arms, but there’s no way they reached his knees.
Nor could he have had hypogonadism-associated gigantism.
After all, Liu Bei had seven or eight children throughout his life.
And considering how the scholars of the late Han dynasty despised eunuchs, if Liu Bei had really looked like a hairless eunuch and suffered from impotence, it would’ve been impossible for so many scholars to follow him.
The reason his appearance was described so strangely in the historical texts was likely because the historian was trying to exaggerate features to prove he had the bearing of an emperor.
A similar thing happened with Liu Bei’s ancestor, Liu Bang.
According to legend, Liu Bang had seventy-two black moles on his thigh.
That many moles on one thigh—it’s a miracle he didn’t die of skin cancer.
***
At that moment, the girl rested her chin in one hand on the table while rhythmically tapping the surface with the other.
A curious and amused look sparkled in her eyes.
“Of course it’s you. Who else would it be? You’re my little follower now, and as the boss, I naturally need to remember exactly what you look like. I didn’t get a good look at you the last time you came, so if I don’t take a close look now, I might mistake someone else for you later. That would be a hassle.”
“Oh…”
Liu Bei sighed and stood up, speechless.
The girl blinked, studying him with bright curiosity.
Compared to the long-armed ape described in the history books, the Liu Bei in front of her looked far more normal.
The fifteen-year-old boy had some fine hairs growing at the corners of his mouth—certainly not the beardless figure described in the texts.
Of course, in the Han dynasty, “facial hair” specifically referred to the beard on the chin.
So the historical claim that Liu Bei had no facial hair likely just meant he had a sparse beard.
Other than that, his arms were only slightly longer than average, reaching about the midpoint of his thighs.
His ears were a bit large, but nowhere near big enough to be seen by his own eyes.
Right now, Liu Bei stood about 165 centimeters tall.
Considering that he was only fifteen, he still had a few years of growth left.
If he had enough food and nourishment, it wouldn’t be surprising if he eventually reached 175 centimeters.
His skin was also quite fair, living up to the description of “a face like fine jade.”
His eyes were large and bright, with sharp brows—sword-shaped, even.
Overall, his features were handsome and refined.
He looked very much like a promising young hero.
Miss Mengde studied him for a while, then nodded in satisfaction.
“Not bad-looking at all.”
Taking a little brother like this out in the future would definitely be flashy and ostentatious.
But…
Mengde suddenly lowered her head, a contemplative look on her face.
“Mengde Miss?”
Seeing this, Liu Bei called out to her.
Snapped out of her thoughts, Mengde raised her head, frowned, and looked at Liu Bei.
***
“What?”
“Can I sit down now?”
Liu Bei raised both hands slightly, gesturing at his still-standing self.
“Of course.”
Mengde nodded, and Liu Bei sat down before asking her, “Miss, what were you just thinking about?”
“I was thinking about how I should arrange your schedule in the coming days.”
“Arrange… me?”
“Yeah, I’ve never had a little brother before,” Mengde replied with a troubled expression as she lowered her head. Then she looked at Liu Bei and asked, “Back when you were following Brother Benchu, what did you usually do together?”
“What did we do?”
Liu Bei furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before answering, “Uh… I guess we just wandered around Luoyang’s streets with Xu You and the others. If something interesting came up, we’d stop to check it out. Nothing much beyond that.”
“Just wandering around?”
“Yeah.”
Hearing that, Mengde’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
Just imagining herself strutting down the streets with Liu Bei and a whole crowd, swaggering like they owned the place, made her toes curl with secondhand embarrassment.
‘Yikes! Absolutely not!’
‘I am not going to become some Eastern Han delinquent girl, thank you very much!’
‘Staying quietly at home suits me way better!’
With that, Mengde cleared her throat and spoke to Liu Bei in a sincere tone.
“Beibei, there’s something you need to understand. My standards for little brothers are very different from Brother Benchu’s. Under me, every little brother has to develop in all five aspects: moral, intellectual, physical, artistic, and practical.”
“Moral, intellectual, physical, artistic, and practical?” Liu Bei looked confused.
“What do those mean?”
“Moral means virtue; intellectual is knowledge; physical is fitness; artistic refers to aesthetic ability; and practical is hands-on skills. Now that you’re my little brother, you’ll have to develop in all five areas.”
“All five areas? Can I really manage that?”
Liu Bei felt a chill run through his heart.
“Of course you can!” Mengde crossed her arms and replied confidently.
“We’ll put virtue and arts aside for now. As for knowledge, you have Editor Lu Zhi teaching you. So right now, your focus should be on physical training, martial skills, and studying military strategy. Let’s do it like this—when you come over, spend your mornings training with Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan. In the afternoons, go to Grand Commandant Zhang’s house to study military tactics.”
“Grand Commandant Zhang?” Liu Bei’s face showed clear surprise.
“You mean Zhang Huan, one of the famed ‘Three Brights of Liang Province’ from back in the day?”
“That’s right.”
Seeing Liu Bei’s astonished expression, Mengde couldn’t help but nod smugly.
As a veteran general with rich experience in warfare and years of commanding troops, Zhang Huan was more than qualified to teach the fifteen-year-old Liu Bei.
Zhang Huan and Mengde’s father, Cao Song, were two of the last remaining leaders of the Qingliu (Pure Stream) faction.
Back in the day, it was Cao Song who spent ten million coins to help Zhang Huan buy his position as Grand Commandant, so the two families had a very close relationship.
With that connection, Mengde had no trouble getting Zhang Huan to agree to mentor Liu Bei.
Mengde fully intended to train Liu Bei as one of her right-hand men.
Liu Bei was good in many ways, but his biggest flaw was that he wasn’t much of a fighter.
Early in his life, he basically lost every battle from Youzhou to Jingzhou, taking a tour of all thirteen provinces of the Han like a sightseeing general.
Mengde was not about to let her version of Liu Bei become that much of a pushover.
