"Your Majesty."
The Black-robed Monk said respectfully, "This humble monk has a request."
"What is it?"
Emperor Longqing flicked his whisk. "Speak freely."
"Amitabha."
The Black-robed Monk said faintly, "I have long heard that His Majesty, the Emperor of Great Sheng, yearns wholeheartedly for the Dao, a renunciant with a tranquil heart. Now that I have seen you today, it is indeed so. But..."
His tone shifted. "One cannot have both the fish and the bear's paw.
"Since Your Majesty is the sovereign of a nation, you should place The Nation and its Altars above all else. That is your duty.
"The pursuit of immortality and the Dao is something only mountain-dwelling men like this humble monk ought to undertake.
"If Your Majesty remains so fixated upon it...
"Why not yield the throne, so that you may focus on secluded cultivation? Perhaps you may instead achieve even greater breakthroughs upon the path to immortality."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
A former minister from the previous dynasty, over a hundred years old, his skin like withered tree bark, finally managed to kneel with several people supporting him.
This man.
Was the Emperor's teacher, the former Grand Tutor. He had been granted the rank of Duke for his literary merits and possessed immense prestige at court.
"Your Majesty!"
His voice had become difficult to make out from sheer age. "Looking across all of antiquity, Your Majesty has already reigned longer than any emperor. You are certain to leave your name in history. If you further carry out the abdication of the Three Ancient Emperors, you shall become the true emperor of the ages."
"Grand Tutor Xu, I granted you the privilege of not kneeling in court long ago. Why trouble yourself with such ceremony?"
Emperor Longqing actually gave an order directly to those who