I made extra double sure that I had this chapter up today because I'm busy all weekend. Flying for the first time tomorrow, any tips?
Empresses had always had precarious positions as leaders of Xing. Much of the systems and traditions that had held the nation together for centuries now were based on a patriarchal system. Indeed, less than ten percent of the rulers of Xing had ever been female. Because of the odds stacked against them, most Empress's rules were fraught with problems and difficulties that had bred a natural prejudice against female rules.
Even though he knew all of that, and logically he couldn't blame a great number of the Xingeses citizens for that sort of mindset, he had never recognized it quite so keenly as those first few days after finally clearing the air between him and Mei.
First, there was the matter of heirs. An Emperor could sire 50 children practically as fast as he pleased, and traditionally, the sooner he had, the more secure his position was (though Mei had laughed out loud when he read that passage from one of the books he had picked up from the library to her – more heirs meant more competition and the increased likelihood that you'll find yourself dead one day).
For all of Al's exasperation and amusement when he found out Winry was pregnant weeks after giving birth to her first son, that would be the only way that an Empress could get by producing half of the heirs she was supposed to. There was physically no possible way she could bare 50 children, and after the first five or six, they would become so weak and feeble, Xing would almost be better off without them. Even then, tradition was for the Emperor to take the eldest daughter of each of the clan leaders. But the eldest sons were almost always destined to take over the leadership of the clan from their fathers, which meant that the Empress either had to take the younger sons, if existent, which was by nature the weaker blood, take the clan's future leader away from the clan, or allow the men the power of being both her husband and clan leader and their children the split position of being both heir to the throne and clan.
Very few Empress had been able to navigate that one task. Some attempted to have the heirs regardless. Several had simply ruled heirless and allowed one of their brothers to take the throne after their death. One Empress about three centuries previously had married the required men, choosing the eldest son, and instead had her various husbands impregnate her most trusted handmaidens, then claimed the children as her own. Upon her death, however, all of the children were denied the throne on account of them lacking the Royal Blood required to rule, and one of her brother's took the throne.
On that regard, Mei's take was positively genius. By allowing her brothers and sisters to have their own heirs, and claim them as hers, she was avoiding taking clear partial to any one clan by choosing one husband before another or baring one's child before another's. She ensured that each of the heirs would have a direct and legitimate connection to the Emperor's bloodline, and at the same time kept herself free from having to bare any children.
"I would love to have children someday, myself," she had told him, "but with the situation as it is… I don't know if that will ever happen."
"Won't the Chang clan need an heir though?"
"But who could be the father? My only male cousin is already married with his own children. Choosing a husband from any of the other clan's children would cause a riot and disrupt the balance between the clans. And I can't choose a commoner because that would be polluting the nobility of the bloodline."
That was perhaps the part that galled Al the most right now.
There was a long history in Xing of… less than virtuous Emperors. Affairs, concubines, consorts, and mistresses were a common and accepted part of almost every Emperor's reign since the first Emperor Xing. The Xingese populace was practically littered with bastards and their decedents. And it didn't matter who the Emperor's eyes happened to land on, whether they be Princesses, commoners, foreigners, or in a couple of stories that had Al red to the roots of his hair, the same gender. As long as he was producing a healthy number of legitimate heirs, the number of extra-marital relationships he had didn't matter.
If an Empress were to have a relationship with any of the above, though, well… Empress Su Hwa had been a breath of fresh air for Xing after a string of incompetent rulers, but after a slew of reforms that cut back the power of both the Emperor and Elders and having six heirs, she had been caught having an affair with one of her guards. The guard was executed, all of her heirs had been illegitimized on the grounds that they could not even be the clan's true heirs, Su Hwa had been stripped of her privilege to regulate anything in the palace, guards or her new husbands, and placed under a regulatory guard instead of protective. A prisoner in her own palace, and politically alienated from all of her previous allies, she had to watch as all of her reforms were repealed until she was assassinated and replaced by an elder brother.
If Mei were to be caught have any sort of relationship with an Amestrian Ambassador?
Her position was already precarious enough. Her reign had started with one of the biggest wars known to human history after all. Things hadn't gotten much better ever since with the subsequent surrender and then the debt. For being the Daughter of the Morning, she couldn't actually control the weather, which seemed to be doing all it could to spite her. Despite the fact that her reign had brought unparalleled growth and industrialization, and the standard of living was improving across the country, much to her frustration, riots and uprising had not calmed.
In fact they were worse.
The protests that had kept Al from traveling to Xing for several months were only a symptom of far greater problems in the heart of the country. The entire Xingese court was struggling to keep the problems under wraps and not allow word of it out to other countries, especially not ones to whom they owed debt. If Al hadn't been close friends with Mei and almost as concerned about Xing's welfare as her, he would have been completely in the dark as well.
Instead, when the news came that two nobles were dead, he was one of the first people on his feet and trying to help figure out the situation.
The messenger was one of the many servants employed at the palace, a boy probably about fourteen, who looked like he had run all the way from the palace doors to the throne room as fast as his feet could possibly carry him. He handed the note to a pale Mei who accepted it. The seal had already been broken when the guards inspected it, so she only had to unfold the frail paper and read out loud in a voice almost as frail to the courtiers gathered around the base of her throne and the ones that remained in their seats.
"On the 27th, a Clan Capital in the eastern area was stormed by a group of approximately 100 citizens, all armed. After several hours of fighting with the guards and inhabitants, the palace fell into unfriendly hands. Two…" her voice faltered, and Mei had to stop and take a breath before being able to continue. "Two nobles residing in the palace were murdered outside the front gates of the palace."
There was an immediate shocked silence, followed by an outburst of whispering. Al put a hand over his open mouth.
"Does it say how?" someone, Al couldn't tell who, asked.
Mei cleared her throat again, and continued reading. "Both were forced on their knees and shot in the back of the head. The group of insurgents proceeded to threaten the rest of the inhabitants while setting fire to the palace. A small force of soldiers who were posted nearby were alerted and were able to respond about an hour afterwards. The palace was recaptured. Several nobles are injured, but no further casualties."
Her hand was shaking as she slowly lowered the note and looked at the gathered crowd, all of whom were staring at her, most looking terrified. Al couldn't blame them, this was the first time that any of their kind had been hurt outside of an assassination attempt in probably longer than most of them had been alive. Certainly no noble blood was split fighting in the war, that was for the commoners to do. And though some riots and protests had gotten dangerous at points, they had always been safe.
"You're all dismissed."
Al struggled to make his way through the small crowd up to her throne, he wanted to talk to her about this, but she was already turning away, descending from her throne to meet with the Elders off to the side. He tried to push his way through to catch her before she started discussing the issue with them, but an arm caught him around the middle.
"Not right now, Al," Ling whispered, pushing him back. "Give her a moment. Besides, I have something I need to share with you."
"Ling?"
"Come on," he said gently, turning Al around and leading him out of the hall with an arm over his shoulder. The familiarity of it honestly surprised Al. It wasn't that Ling had ever denied the fact that they were friends, in fact he was usually quite open about talking to him, in Amestrian no less, in loud tones about his wife and children, Fu and the newest addition, 6 month old Quyi.
But this much physical contact in such a public place, plus the tone of voice he seemed to be using around him…
"Ling, what is it? What's wrong?" he asked in an undertone, just in case it was something that no one else was supposed to know about. There wasn't something wrong with Lan Fan or the kids was there?
"… Let's get somewhere a bit more private," he said in the same gentle voice, directing Al away from the clusters of intensely whispering nobles and courtiers. This didn't do anything to calm Al's worries, and a deep sense of foreboding slipped into his heart.
"Ling, what is it?"
Ling didn't answer, instead picking up the pace of his confident strides down the hall of the Palace, his lips pressed together in a straight line.
He opened a door that Al didn't recognize, pulling Al in the room after him.
"Sorry for that, Alphonse," he said, then turned around. His face was grim. "I wanted to get you away from everyone else."
"Why? What is it? What's wrong?"
Ling pursed his lips together again, then exhaled sharply through his nose. "I wanted you to hear it from a friendly source."
"Hear what?!"
"Your friend is dead."
Al froze.
"… what?"
"Your friend. Fei Qing." Al stared at Ling, unable to breathe it seemed like. "The Revolt they just got word of in Court. It was the Bao clan. Your friend was there when it happened. He was one of the two nobles that were shot, him and the Bao Prince."
"… no…"
"I'm sorry, Al. I didn't want you to have to hear it from someone else."
"How do you know?" He had to be wrong, if not even Mei knew that information, how would Ling know? Especially if only just happened.
"I thought there was going to be trouble in the area, so I had a man there to report information on what was going on. He called me right after they set the palace on fire."
"… well he could be wrong, couldn't he?"
"He said he recognized both of them immediately, and I trust him. I'm sorry."
Al stared at Ling, then shook his head. That wasn't possible… "No."
"I'm sorry," Ling repeated, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If you want I can leave you alone…" Al didn't respond, still too lost in the news to really register Ling's words. He only dimly recognized Ling letting go of his shoulder before raising a hand to the back of his neck.
There was a click as Ling closed the door behind him.
He opened his bedroom door when someone knocked on it a few hours later.
Mei took one look at his red eyes and dropped her head. "You already know then."
He nodded and that was when she pulled him into a hug.