John Gill Commentary Nehemiah 2:3

"And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers` sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?" — Nehemiah 2:3 (ASV)

And I said to the king, let the king live for ever
Which some think he said to take off the king's suspicion of his having a design upon his life, though it seems to be a common salutation of the kings in those times, see (Daniel 6:6Daniel 6:21) ,

why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my
fathers' sepulchres, [lies] waste, and the gates thereof are
consumed with fire ?
a man's native place, and where his ancestors lie interred, being always reckoned near and dear, the king and his nobles could not object to his being concerned for the desolations thereof.