As a famous upright official in history, why did he dare to call the emperor an old man?

Ji Xiaolan was not scolding Qianlong at that time, but said it out of desperation. Ji Xiaolan has always been very easy-going in history. At the same time, he is very smart and has a mentality of fighting against injustice, so he will do the opposite of He Shen. Emperor Qianlong was fond of Ji Xiaolan, but he didn't care that much, just like he did to his ministers. As for historical records, we cannot actually believe them all.

Qianlong wanted to joke with Ji Xiaolan after Ji Xiaolan was afraid of the heat. One day Ji Xiaolan was not dressed very neatly because of the hot weather in summer, and Qianlong suddenly came. But Ji Xiaolan felt that she couldn't face the saint like this, so she got under the seat and couldn't move. The emperor knew the truth, and at the same time he had nothing to do, so he waited there for a long time without saying a word. Ji Xiaolan thought that it had been a long time, and she had never heard Qianlong say a word, so she thought it would be fine, so she asked the people next to her: "Is the old man gone?" Of course, he was discovered, which caused many people to laugh.

Qianlong then said to Ji Xiaolan: "You are really rude. You need to give me an explanation, otherwise you will need to die." In fact, the emperor was not really angry. This was a joke. But after all, he is the emperor, and as a minister, he must obey. Ji Xiaolan didn't wear his clothes well at that time, so he asked the emperor to let him tidy them up. Qianlong agreed to the matter and later asked him what the "old man" wanted to express.

Ji Xiaolan was not afraid and kowtowed to the emperor and said: "The word '老' means longevity; the word 'head' means standing upright; the word '子' means emperor." In this way, the meaning of "old man" was separated. , flattering the emperor seriously. Qianlong actually wanted to kill him at first, but he was just joking and spared him under Ji Xiaolan's perfect explanation.