"I thought you wouldn't come."
Xu Qing looked at the person in front of him, whose face was as pale as gold paper and who was so thin that it was alarming. He couldn't connect this person with the spirited Zhu Emperor of the past.
Even the person who had fished with him by the river last time didn't have such a withered appearance.
"At the moment of parting with an old friend, wishing to see an old acquaintance one last time, how could I not come?"
Zhu Huai'an wanted to laugh out loud but couldn't catch his breath, so he forced a smile and said, "You came too early. If you had come later, I might have held onto this breath for a few more days."
Xu Qing pouted and said, "Are you complaining now? Even if I did come later, I have my ways to make you speak again."
"..."
Zhu Huai'an's heart was moved, just about to ask, when Xu Qing interrupted directly:
"Don't forget how the previous dynasty perished. Perhaps there was a time when immortality existed, but in today's world, it is extremely difficult."
"Moreover, you, as the Human Monarch, are destined by the jade book and golden grid. Your fate has long simplified among the Nine Pure, just waiting for the day when heaven and earth clear and real beings descend. You'll naturally ascend to Penglang's court, so why greedily cling to life, harming your blessings?"
Xu Qing, familiar with the Demon Exorcism True Monarch, Protector Marshal, and other immortals and deities, had picked up many secrets concerning the Three Realms and Six Paths.
One of these secrets is that emperors of all ages are manifestations of ultimate destiny. As long as these emperors adhere to their true selves and avoid deeds of a guilty conscience, they might end up with positions in the Underworld or the Upper Realms after death, or at least become city gods protecting a region's living beings.
Of course, those tyrannical and cruel like Longping and Jingxing certainly have no posthumous virtue to use!
Zhu Huai'an's pale face flushed with a tinge of color.
His father, Changting King, died at the hands of Emperor Longping. Yet now, he, like that despotic ruler, harbors thoughts of clinging to life. How could this not bring him shame and anger?
"What are you saying, Brother Xu? When have I, Zhu Huai'an, ever feared death? I merely wanted to speak some heartfelt words with you."
Zhu Huai'an, being emperor for most of his life, had not learned much else, but his stubbornness was perfected to an art.
"Those ministers and officials never converse openly with me. Even Zhiyuan and Wencai are not as candid with me as they used to be."
Zhu Huai'an sighed softly and said, "Now that I think about it, only Brother Xu can freely converse with me."
Xu Qing curiously asked, "Why aren't Zhiyuan and Wencai frank with you? What did you ask them?"
"I asked them if I've governed well. But both only spoke pleasantries, as if I were truly a ruler of the ages and have never made a mistake."
"..."
Xu Qing shook his head and said, "There's a distinction between ruler and subject. If they truly didn't treat you as Emperor, you'd be displeased."
"You seem a bit foolish. An emperor of your age still reminisces about those frivolous friendships?"
"If you truly wish to experience the uninhibited nature of friendship, I must mention your antics at the Prince's mansion, feigning madness and indulging in earthly pleasures..."
"We're reminiscing as old friends now, no need to bring up the past!" Seeing Xu Qing touch upon sensitive subjects, the illness-ridden Zhu Huai'an straightened up, fearing Xu Qing might utter more rebellious words!
"You say that, but I didn't stop you from recounting my old stories."
Zhu Huai'an pondered deeply and did remember something.
"If that's the case, I recall a time when Wencai, Zhiyuan, and I spent the night at a pleasure house, tirelessly enjoying, yet Brother Xu alone remained untempted... No wonder you let Wang Family's little sister wait into old age."
Zhu Huai'an spoke openly, "The Wang Family's girl is gentle and dignified, without fault in her looks. I considered finding her a good husband, but she gently refused every time."
"If not for Wang Liang confiding in me, I wouldn't have known you were so self-disciplined. Are you aiming to become an Immortal, or perhaps a eunuch?"
"..."
This took Xu Qing aback. We're just chatting, how did this turn into insults?
"For a cultivator, one's constitution and destiny are vital. Wang Family's Little Sister lacked the fate for cultivation, how could she become my Dao partner?"
Xu Qing said, "If I disregarded her, she'd feel troubled for a lifetime. But if I fulfilled her wishes, and she passed away one day, wouldn't I be restless for countless lifetimes?"
"So you raised an ageless cat?"
"..."
Xu Qing's efforts in promoting new grains for Cat Immortal Hall were not hidden from Zhu Huai'an, but are these two matters equivalent!
"Do you have any serious matters or not? If not, I'm leaving?"
Zhu Huai'an saw Xu Qing's change in demeanor and quickly said, "Why rush? I'm not rushing. I was thinking of having you preside over my funeral..."
"Hmm?"
Xu Qing immediately became interested and decisively said, "Why didn't you mention this earlier? I'm good at handling funerals! Whatever coffin you want, how many concubines to arrange, I can organize everything for you..."
Zhu Huai'an looked at Xu Qing, who had taken out paper and pen, his eyes shining, and remained silent for a long time.
"For an imperial funeral, at least 128 people are needed to carry the bier. Our Jin Sect Funeral House, with its eighteen branches, can arrange for 256 people! Most others burn paper cranes, paper horses, and paper effigies of maids and servants, but you are the Emperor, it certainly cannot be the same!"
"Why not make a model of the Three Palaces and Six Courts, and, emulating the First Emperor, craft some terracotta warriors to burn with you? Even if we go to the Underworld, we must maintain our prestige, no?"
"..."
Originally, Zhu Huai'an was unwilling to pay attention to Xu Qing, but after the other party listed dozens of funeral plans, he involuntarily got involved, choosing his own funeral style.
After ruling out dozens of schemes incompatible with Dayan's rituals, such as Pharaoh Style, Western Regions Style, and Tibetan Style, Zhu Huai'an finally settled on the most economical and earth-friendly native paper-crafted imperial funeral package, without undermining royal dignity.
Even for the burial items, such as gold, silver, and jade artifacts, Zhu Huai'an chose to let Xu Qing use methods like 'Stone to Gold' and paper crafting as substitutes.
"Dayan is indeed in need of money now; I cannot squander the national treasury's silver coins for my own funeral rites. This is not the way of a wise monarch!"
In the past, royal funerals were jointly organized by the Ministry of Rites and the Clan Office, and ordinarily, unless the Emperor inquired personally, no one dared to approach and ask how the Emperor wished to arrange his own affairs posthumously.
Xu Qing was indeed the first in history to do so.
Zhu Huai'an mustered his strength and immediately summoned the imperial edict envoys into the hall, drafting a new edict, meaning all funeral affairs should be simplified, with the Clan Office and Ministry of Rites following the lead of Xu's Funeral House to fully manage the funeral proceedings.
Having done all this, Zhu Huai'an seemed to have lost all his strength. He used his last bit of spirit to again ask, "Brother Xu, how do you think I have governed this realm?"
Xu Qing nodded with approval, "Better than some."
"..."
Zhu Huai'an suddenly turned his head, "Brother Xu, are you implying that I am not better than most?"
Xu Qing did not give a clear answer.
"Then tell me, can my Dayan continue forever?"
"A new dynasty inevitably becomes an old one; there has never been a dynasty lasting a thousand years in this world."
"Is there truly none?"
Xu Qing pondered for a moment and nodded,
"Perhaps there might be in the future."
"Then why can it not be mine?"
"Because you are about to die!"
"..."
Zhu Huai'an was visibly startled upon hearing this.
He turned his head, his gaze towards the canopy, and his mouth murmured something.
Xu Qing leaned closer to listen, only to hear the old man say, "For my son's succession, his pet name is Li Nu... I owe Brother Xu much, which I cannot repay in this life. If there is a next life..."
Xu Qing leaned in even closer, but the old man on the pallet had fallen silent.
...
Royal funerals are unlike any other, let alone for the founding monarch.
After Emperor Zhu passed, the nine gates of the Capital City were sealed, and the bell tolled eighty-one times in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
All officials mourned in mourning attire; the royal family officials, the Three Palaces and Six Courts, everyone removed their caps and ornaments, let their hair down, and changed into plain clothes, collectively kneeling and weeping outside the palace gates.
Xu Qing, responsible for all funeral matters, was methodically arranging the emperor's casket, while ordering the officials of the Court of Ceremonies to invite all princes, lords, and high officials to witness.
The Clan Office and Court of Ceremonies did not know Xu Qing, but his management of the imperial funeral matters was more adept than theirs, as if he had previously arranged an emperor's funeral.
Yet what they did not know was that while Xu Qing had never managed an emperor's funeral, he had offered salvation ceremonies for officials from the previous and current Ministry of Rites and had conducted final rites for the Chief Eunuch of the Internal Affairs Office.
It can be said that among the living, no one understood royal funerals better than he did!
The funeral was held in July, and the whole city donned mourning clothes.
Xu Qing personally escorted Zhu Huai'an's coffin into the Imperial Mausoleum of Dayan.
He had lost an old friend, while the Sutra of Salvation gained a new page.
The life of a Human Monarch, how glorious it is, but in terms of rank, it remains only a superior grade of 'Human'.
Xu Qing obtained five portions of Emperor's Purple Qi and some 'skills' in governance and nation-building, yet these held no value for him.