regarding the royalty

Stuff in my brain as I'm walking from class to class...

[万岁，万岁，万万岁] "your empire forever!"
literally: 10000-year-old, 10000-year-old, 10000-10000-year-old
intermediate meaning: you will live for a long time, so that you can rule for a long time
cultural association: "live long (and prosper)", but it's a Star Trek reference, feels weird...
target audience: the emperor, or someone who tries to be the emperor, or someone you mock as the emperor, but no one else
related terms: 万岁 or 万岁爷 (addresses the emperor in second person or third person, 爷 suffix is similar to 爷 in 老爷, or "master of the household")
modern re-use: 万岁 (wan4 sui4) ~ "hooray!" ("sui" and "ray" rhymes, easier for lip synching)

[千岁] or [千岁爷] "lord"
literally: 1000-year-old
intermediate meaning: you will live for a long time (but not as long as the emperor)
target audience: generally male siblings of the emperor, or uncles, etc.
comment: I have never heard of 千岁，千岁，千千岁 being uttered, so I think it's probably banned due to its competitive nature with "the flattery for the emperor"

(more later...)