Being nearly 2000 years old, he was comparable to the God of Longevity, perhaps in appearance as well...
Ning Xuemo started speculating what the Ancestor looked like.
...
When the palace gates opened, Ning Xuemo followed the welcoming party out of the gates and finally got to lay her eyes on the Ancestor's... carriage.
It was that same sedan he sat in the last time she saw him, with the same young girls carrying it. There were also the same pretty little boys clearing the road and following behind the sedan, were those tall youths with straight backs, walking like models on a catwalk.
Other than the Ancestor's procession retinue, everyone else solemnly prostrated themselves towards his sedan, not even daring to breathe loudly.
With a wave of Emperor Le Xuan's hand, the officials behind him knelt. Naturally, Ning Xuemo could not just attract attention by remaining standing, so she knelt as well.
Emperor Le Xuan performed a ceremonial greeting while speaking, "Welcome, Ancestor."
"Exempt greetings..." From within the carriage, its occupant, who seemed to treasure words like gold, finally spoke.
Ning Xuemo's heart moved; she finally heard the Ancestor's voice.
This voice did not sound like it belonged to an old man or a young man. Rather, it sounded ethereal and light like a mountain wind gently drifting into people's ears.
Emperor Le Xuan continued speaking, something along the lines of how the Ancestor's visit was an honor and other conventional flattery. Although he did not kneel down like everyone else, Emperor Le Xuan's greetings did contain worship and respect.
Ning Xuemo's knees began hurting as she kept kneeling. She cursed in her mind. This Emperor was even more long-winded than people giving reports!
'But you have to acknowledge that the Emperor's ability to improvise is really quite remarkable. At least he does not sound like he read off a script like a news reporter…'
She heard that this Ancestor loved peace and silence, disliking people who were long-winded. So why was there an exception this time?
Could this just be another method to build his image?
She could not resist raising her head slightly to stare at the sedan. 'The Emperor has spoken for a while already, just make a sound please…'
But, the procession just remained silent; not even a cough could be heard. The person sitting in the sedan did not utter half a word either.
Allowing Emperor Le Xuan to continue his one-sided conversation, the Ancestor did not seem to have the slightest inclination to get off his sedan.
Emperor Le Xuan faced the situation of placing a hot face against a cold butt {1} when he did not receive a reply despite showing his good intentions for so long. The Emperor felt somewhat awkward, but a child suddenly stepped forward and spoke, "Your Majesty, the Ancestor says that he is only planning on taking a break for 3 days; hence, you only need to prepare a clean residence and need not make any elaborate preparations."
Emperor Le Xuan's old face reddened. Because the Ancestor's arrival was rather sudden, the servants in the palace had yet to prepare a clean residence for the Ancestor to rest in. Therefore, Emperor Le Xuan was being loquacious in order to buy enough time for the servants to finish the preparations...
Unexpectedly, his intentions had been easily seen through with a glance!
He could only give a bow and did not dare to drag on anymore. "Ancestor, please enter!"
At last, the Ancestor's procession entered.
Then, Ning Xuemo finally saw the Ancestor's ostentatiousness.
The children in front scattered snow-white flower blankets with random waves of their hands, causing the road to seem as if a layer of clouds settled on top of it. Once the Ancestor's sedan passed by, the children behind the procession picked them back up...
Their steps were light, making it look like they were truly walking on clouds. It was splendid and magnificent as if they were looking at the scene of the Sun God patrolling high into the sky.
Ning Xuemo felt admiration from the bottom of her heart. When comparing the Old Freak of Xingxiu, Ding Chunqiu {2}, who made his disciples yell out something like "A peerless talent, unifying Jianghu" every time he left the sect, to the Ancestor, that Old Freak's prestige was really too weak! 'Now this is what we called the peak of the Dao of showing off!'
'A glimpse of nobility in acting low-profile.'
'He truly deserved having lived nearly 2,000 years of being worshipped. This aura of grandeur seemed completely natural! Even if you didn't want to, you couldn't help but admire him!'
Dictwionarwie
{1} - Flattering someone but response was cold or completely ignored former
{2} - A fictional character from the novel Demi-gods and Semi-devils written by Jin Yong. Ding Chunqui was nicknamed Old Freak of Xingxiu and the founder of Xingxiu Sect, a poison-based martial arts sect.