Chapter Sixty: Jealousy and Secrets

Early the next morning, Liu Tan, clad in white, stood in the courtyard with his spear in hand. Suddenly, he let out a loud shout, “Watch as my spear moves like a dragon!”

“And again, my spear moves like a dragon!”

...

These past few days, as he began to grasp the basics, Liu Tan could not help but practice the thrusting technique of spearplay repeatedly.

When his right hand tired, he switched to his left!

Through constant practice and working his breathing, not only did he feel his arm strength steadily increasing, but his control over the long spear also grew ever stronger.

According to Zhao Yun, the highest realm of spear technique was to become one with the weapon, wielding the spear as naturally as one’s own arm.

Liu Tan resolutely strove toward this ideal.

During these days, he completely rearranged his training hours, rising an hour earlier and staying up an hour later.

After his martial practice, he returned to the front courtyard. The Empress had already departed, likely to fetch her younger sister.

“Your Majesty, do you have something on your mind?” Lady Li asked, scooping medicinal water from a wooden bucket and pouring it over the Emperor’s shoulders.

She had noticed the Emperor’s brow remained furrowed all day, his eyes half-closed in thought, making it impossible to read his true feelings.

Liu Tan shook his head. Indeed, he was preoccupied.

For one, he wondered what the former Liu Shan had done to his young sister-in-law. Was it innocent affection, or something more depraved?

He considered himself a normal man—he liked mature women, yes, but if his own woman were touched by another, he would be deeply unsettled.

This question seemed important.

At this moment, he felt anew the helplessness of being a traveler from another world.

Another issue: before he arrived, how many secrets did the previous owner of this body hold—things unknown to him and to others?

Just as he did not know Liu Shan’s attitude toward his sister-in-law.

Even an emperor, no matter how weak, would have confidants or hidden affairs.

He, too, wished to change his situation, though for now he knew nothing—perhaps because he had not been here long.

He answered Lady Li perfunctorily, changed clothes, ate breakfast, and after a while heard the voice of a young girl outside.

“Your Majesty, brother-in-law, I’ve come to see you!”

The voice was clear as a golden oriole.

Soon, Liu Tan saw a girl in light purple Han robes enter the courtyard, holding up her long sleeves, swinging her hair, and rushing toward the hall where he sat.

“Si Rou, slow down! Watch the steps!” The Empress followed close behind, her face full of concern as she called out.

Seeing this, Liu Tan rose to greet them, but he was too late—the little girl had already entered the hall.

“Uh!”

In the next moment, the girl was like a plush bear, hanging from his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist.

His expression turned gloomy.

In contrast, the girl’s enthusiasm was boundless.

She wept softly by Liu Tan’s ear, “It’s been so long since you came to see me, Your Majesty brother. I missed you so much!”

Liu Tan took a deep breath, inwardly furious, “Wretched Liu Shan! No wonder you met such an end—how could you bear to touch such a young girl!”

Though he felt sorry, his anger at Liu Shan was stronger.

He, Liu Tan, would never lay a hand on a child so young—that would be monstrous!

But in the next moment, the girl hopped off him, shyly saying, “I forgot—Your Majesty brother said I’ve grown up, so I can’t be so close to you anymore!”

“Huh?” Liu Tan’s mouth opened wide. Perhaps he had misunderstood Liu Shan.

But he could not be sure—he needed to probe further.

“My dear little sister, I missed you too!” He bent down and scrutinized his sister-in-law.

Indeed, Liu Tan found himself at a loss for words to describe her.

If he had to choose, perhaps: “Exquisitely carved, a budding beauty!”

He sighed inwardly—his young sister-in-law would surely grow into a woman of unmatched beauty.

No wonder Liu Shan, after her elder sister’s death, made her Empress.

His sister-in-law was only ten, yet already capable of stirring forbidden desires—what of her future?

Liu Tan guessed that even the legendary beauty Diao Chan, in her youth, was no more striking.

Diao Chan became famous perhaps only because she was Lü Bu’s woman, and together they disrupted the late Han era.

If Liu Shan had achieved renown, perhaps posterity would discuss his Empress Zhang with interest.

Alas, Liu Shan left only the phrase, “So happy here, I forget Shu,” and so historians have little interest in him, let alone his Empress. If he could search online now, he imagined even the biographies of his two Empresses would be vague.

“Empress, please invite the palace seamstresses to measure my little sister. Look—this purple robe is already too small!” Liu Tan instructed, gazing at his sister-in-law.

“Yes, yes!” The Empress replied, though her heart was sour.

Once again, her own charm paled before her younger sister’s.

“Yes, Your Majesty brother! This is the best-fitting dress you ever gave me—the others are all too small!” The little girl pouted, “You haven’t come to play with me for so long!”

“Your Majesty, I’ll go to the kitchens myself and order some dishes. I suppose you wish to dine with your little sister today,” Lady Li said.

Rather than wait for the Emperor’s command, she acted sensibly. She sighed—his favor for Zhang Si Rou remained undiminished.

Liu Tan, however, thought only of an opportunity to be alone with his sister-in-law.

Don’t misunderstand—he merely wished to ask her some questions, ones that could only be answered in private.

When the room was empty, Liu Tan unabashedly stared at his rosy-cheeked sister-in-law, unconsciously rubbing his hands together.

“Damn!” he cursed inwardly, “Why am I rubbing my hands?”

“Your Majesty brother, why are you scaring me again? You promised not to frighten me anymore!”

The girl blinked her wide, innocent eyes.

Liu Tan scratched his head, coughed twice, cleared his mind, took her hand, and seated her on a corner chair, kneeling down beside her.

“My dear little sister, you don’t know—recently I hit my head and can’t remember the past. Tell me, do we have any secrets between us?”

“Secrets?” The girl licked her lips, thinking.

Heavens, this was agonizing.

Liu Tan swallowed, nodded solemnly, “Yes, secrets—do we have any?”

At this moment, Liu Tan was like a big gray wolf coaxing a little white rabbit.

“Little bunny, open the door for me!”

The girl quickly nodded, “Of course Your Majesty brother and I have secrets—big secrets!”

“Damn!” Liu Tan leapt up in shock, his face changing, “There really are secrets?”

In his previous life, after some scoundrels threatened little girls, they would give them gifts and say, “Don’t tell anyone—this is our biggest secret!”

The ignorant girls would not know they had suffered.

In the modern world, such things happened often—how much more in ancient times.

Perhaps Liu Tan himself didn’t realize—he was jealous.

A faint, elusive fragrance drifted from his sister-in-law, not soap nor flowers, indescribable, yet it made his jealousy burn hotter.

Suppressing his discomfort, Liu Tan asked, “Then, little sister, can you tell me—what secrets do we have between us?”