Chen Xia was somewhat surprised.
He did not expect that this emperor would be so flexible.
He casually cracked a joke, and the emperor actually went along with it.
The civil and military officials in the court kept silent, looking at the somewhat absurd scene before them, yet they could not bring themselves to laugh.
In the face of unmatched power, the imperial authority seemed a bit too laughable.
Song Wei respectfully said again, "Father, please take a seat up there, and let's hold the morning court together."
After speaking, Song Wei reached out his hand to indicate that Chen Xia should go first.
Chen Xia also walked ahead very naturally, slowly heading towards the highest chair in the hall.
The civil and military officials watched anxiously. If the immortal directly sat in the central imperial throne, what should they do?
Wouldn't that make the Emperor stand aside?!
How could this be...how could this be?
The civil and military officials were each calculating in their hearts.
Chen Xia arrived at the highest spot, but did not sit on the dragon throne. Instead, he tilted his head and casually said,
"Bring a chair over, otherwise where would I sit?"
Song Wei hurriedly called out to the palace maid waiting next to the dragon throne, "What are you all staring blankly for? Quickly go get a chair for Father!"
The palace maids hurriedly retreated to the back. In less than a moment, nearly a dozen eunuchs carried over a huge gilded heavy chair and placed it behind Chen Xia.
After moving the chair, the dozen or so eunuchs stood neatly in a row behind him. Even though they were sweating profusely, they still did not dare make any panting sounds, afraid of disturbing the Young Master's father.
Moreover, they did not dare leave at this time. According to the rules of the palace, after finishing a task, the servants could not casually leave until the Young Master dismissed them. They had to wait for the Young Master to comment before leaving.
Chen Xia did not sit down. He turned his head and looked at the dozen or so eunuchs standing respectfully. The corners of his mouth curved up in a faint smile as he praised,
"Thank you for the trouble."
He was very polite.
The dozen or so eunuchs hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, "Serving the Young Master is our honor. Even if we have to jump into boiling water or scorching fire, we servants will not shy away!"
"Mm." Chen Xia casually replied and then sat down, propping his head with one hand, lost in thought.
Seeing that Chen Xia was satisfied, Song Wei was also overjoyed. He walked to the side of the dragon throne and said to the dozen or so eunuchs,
"You performed well. Go to the Imperial Household Department and collect a box of gold."
"Thank you for your generosity, my Lord!" The eunuchs kowtowed again and shouted before leaving one after another.
Next was the time for morning court.
"Long live His Majesty! Long live! Long live!"
After the civil and military officials shouted this, looking at Chen Xia sitting quietly next to the Emperor, and vaguely at a slightly higher position than the Emperor, they felt something was not right.
The Emperor stared hard and signaled the civil and military officials with his eyes.
Fortunately, the Prime Minister promptly understood the Emperor's meaning and took the lead to kneel down and pay respects again,
"Long live the Imperial Tutor! Long live! Long long live!"
The civil and military officials hurriedly followed suit.
Chen Xia frowned slightly and discussed, "There's no need to wish me long live. Just wishing me invincible is good enough."
Wishing him long live was not good news for Chen Xia.
It was like going to a centenarian's birthday celebration, and then wishing the elder a long life of a hundred years.
That would not be a blessing, but mourning.
"We wish the Imperial Tutor invincibility throughout the world!"
The Prime Minister quickly changed his words, and the civil and military officials echoed along.
The rest of the morning court was somewhat boring, all dealing with matters in various regions.
Chen Xia did not understand and could not leave halfway, so he just propped his head and spaced out.
But Song Wei would ask him from time to time,
"Father, what do you think?"
What could Chen Xia think?
Just staring blankly with his eyes.
At first, he still casually replied with "Not bad," "Mm," "Good" to brush Song Wei off a couple times. Annoyed by the questions later on, he simply replied directly,
"Just do as you usually do, don't mind me. Pretend I don't exist."
"Alright, alright." Song Wei hurriedly nodded.
The entire morning court passed by with Chen Xia spacing out. It was quite boring for him.
Then it was time to withdraw. No one dared to leave first, all eyes fixed on the dazed Chen Xia.
Chen Xia returned to his senses, curiously asking, "Why is everyone looking at me?"
Song Wei quickly explained, "Father, according to the rules, when withdrawing from court, the person of the highest status in court should leave first."
Who was the person of the highest status in court?
Without a doubt, it was Chen Xia, Father of the Emperor and Imperial Tutor of Great Song.
Since he could leave, Chen Xia did not want to drag it out either. He directly stood up and walked out of the great hall.
Song Wei hurriedly called out, "Father, where are you going? The imperial withdrawal is inside the hall!"
"It's fine, I'm just strolling around." Chen Xia casually yelled back. He had already reached the stairs.
Song Wei could not do anything about it either. He could only instruct the top masters of the Patrol Bureau,
"Follow Father and be sure to keep Father happy. If he is displeased in the slightest, go punish yourselves in the Judicial Bureau!"
"Yes!"
The top masters of the Patrol Bureau followed far behind Chen Xia, not daring to get close, only able to watch from afar.
Chen Xia was aware of it too, but he ignored them because there was something even more shocking ahead.
A one hundred meter tall statue of him...no wait...sculpture.
It was carved completely based on the portrait, so it did not look much like Chen Xia.
Because the portrait did not look much like him either.
But some of the details were carved very well, like Chen Xia's casual and lazy temperament, squinting as if about to fall asleep at any moment.
But the age of the statue was slightly older, looking about thirty-five or six years old, appearing somewhat mature.
Chen Xia's actual appearance looked like he was just in his twenties.
He stopped in front of the statue, with the civil and military officials piled up behind him.
As long as Chen Xia did not walk forward, the civil and military officials did not dare to overtake him either, only able to wait.
Chen Xia naturally sensed it too. He turned his head to look at the crowd, smiling as he repeated, "You can go first. Don't mind me, I have a slow temperament!"
The Prime Minister hurriedly spoke, "The Imperial Tutor is truly considerate, simply with the heart of a Bodhisattva. This old minister is deeply moved and has no words of gratitude. I can only serve the Imperial Tutor wholeheartedly until death!"
The remaining civil and military officials also spoke up, expressing their loyalty.
After a morning court, they had completely seen clearly that in today's world, the Emperor was second, and this Imperial Tutor was first.
Pleasing the Emperor was not as good as directly pleasing the Imperial Tutor.
Chen Xia's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He felt this entire Great Song dynasty from top to bottom seemed a bit too much of a bootlicker?
But it also seemed there was nothing wrong with it.
He nodded slightly and repeated, "You can go first."
The civil and military officials did not dare to be negligent and gradually walked towards the front. As they passed Chen Xia, they would bow their heads respectfully and greet him, hoping to gain some familiarity with Chen Xia.
Now the civil and military officials were lining up to pass by Chen Xia.
It took a full half an hour before they finished walking past.
Chen Xia did not recognize a single familiar face.
After all, sycophants all looked the same.
He clasped his hands behind his back, shook his head slightly, still not used to this kind of days where everyone flattered and fawned over him. It was quite comfortable but meaningless.
Chen Xia glanced sideways. With a stomp of his foot, he instantly disappeared from the spot, reappearing three hundred meters away at the palace wall.
"Hello."
He greeted. In front of him was an elder with white hair, dressed in a black robe.
The elder was shocked inwardly but his expression remained calm. He bowed with clasped fists to Chen Xia, "This old slave is Jiu Qian Sui. I happened to see the Imperial Tutor's noble visage on the city wall just now. Please forgive my offense. I hope the Imperial Tutor can be magnanimous."
Jiu Qian Sui?
Chen Xia's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He had heard this title decades ago in Weixi Town. After carefully thinking for a while, he realized,
"You are one of the top ten masters in the world?"
Jiu Qian Sui shook his head and smiled wryly, "In front of the Imperial Tutor, where is there any top ten masters in the world? There is only that other immortal."
"Mm." Chen Xia nodded.
This was the truth.
But there was one thing he was very curious about, so he asked, "Regarding that immortal in seclusion within the immortals' sect, do you know anything about him?"
Jiu Qian Sui nodded. His expression became solemn as he replied in a slightly sharp voice,
"He is a sword cultivator, said to be an immortal reincarnated from the Upper Realm. He has existed since the founding of Great Song. With one sword, he opened the national gate and hung his sword over the first emperor's head, forcibly taking fifty li of land to establish the immortals' sect."
"Only taking fifty li is not much." Chen Xia nodded in approval. After all, his sword was hanging over the emperor's head, yet he only took fifty li. That really wasn't much.
Jiu Qian Sui nodded in agreement with Chen Xia's words and continued, "My first encounter with this immortal was two hundred years ago."
"At that time, he was already unmatched in the world. After returning from traveling overseas in search of immortals, he calmed the chaotic jianghu of Great Song at the time with one sword. He rode his sword alone into the imperial city. That was my first meeting with him."
"At that time, I, as the top expert in jianghu, took two sword strikes from him, and knelt half-dead in the imperial city."
"Afterwards I found out, he raised his sword and sat on the dragon throne, kicked over the imperial jade seal, and when he left on his sword, he left behind mocking loud laughter and a sentence."
Jiu Qian Sui shook his head, somewhat unwilling to say this sentence, but still spoke,
"He said, the Emperor is the first person under heaven, but he is heaven."
It highlighted an arrogance.
But he did have the arrogance.
"I heard you killed his disciple?" Jiu Qian Sui asked again.
"Mm, killed him with a flick of my finger. It was very boring." Chen Xia honestly admitted it and gave a brief review of how he felt.
Jiu Qian Sui was silent for a moment and smiled wryly,
"If I'm not mistaken, he is someone who bears grudges and protects his own. A hundred years ago, it was also his disciples who lost face at the Old Dragon Temple."
"He forcibly sliced off the peak of Old Dragon Temple, killed the abbot at the time, so the Old Dragon Temple today is newly rebuilt, no longer as glorious as before."
"Hope you remembered wrong." Chen Xia replied indifferently.
Jiu Qian Sui chuckled dryly, not knowing how to respond. After pondering for a moment, he added,
"Now he is deep in secluded cultivation and has not appeared for a hundred years. But if we speak of seclusion, his strength may become stronger and stronger. I'm afraid when he finally emerges..."
Jiu Qian Sui paused for a moment, glanced at Chen Xia's indifferent expression, and continued,
"He will truly be unmatched in the world!"
Jiu Qian Sui deliberately emphasized the words "truly unmatched".
"It's fine, I can also go into deep seclusion." Chen Xia's reply remained indifferent.
And if he really closed himself off, his strength would not just grow stronger, it would absolutely soar.
Jiu Qian Sui's expression was a little anxious as he frowned and explained, "But he's currently in the vulnerable state of being closed off. If we seize the opportunity, we might be able to send him into reincarnation."
A faint smile finally appeared on Chen Xia's perpetually impassive face. He patted Jiu Qian Sui on the shoulder and shook his head.
"You're not qualified to be a fisherman yet."
Chen Xia then pointed at himself and evaluated, "You're shrimp, he's a little fish, and I'm..."
Chen Xia deliberately paused for a moment.
Jiu Qian Sui broke out in a nervous sweat and lowered his head, quickly continuing the metaphor, "A big fish?"
"No." Chen Xia shook his head and identified his own position.
"I'm a battlecruiser."