76. A conversation between brothers
"Do you know why your brother wishes to speak to us, my dear?" Su asked, while she laid a sleeping Mei Ling in her crib. Yan answered that he didn't. Su turned to Yan and observed him closely: "You don't like not knowing why you are summoned to the emperor." Yan simply looked at her and then turned to walk to the table which he used as a desk. Su saw him grab the Tiger Tally from it and saw how he absentmindedly rubbed the Tally. Wise to her husbands moods Su kept silent and prepared herself to go and meet her brother-in-law.
The emperor at that same moment was staring out of one of the windows of the room where he is staying in the Generals mansion. In his hand was the grand imperial seal. The bottom intricately carved so as to leave the imprint of the seal on all official documents. The wood of the handle smooth and warm, the emperor always thought of all the emperors before him who had used and handled the seal. And then as he let his fingers glide over the top of the seal he felt the odd indentation. A hollow space carved with the same care as the seal itself. As his fingers dipped into the hollow space Yi saw the object that belonged there as clear as day in his mind. He remembered the day his uncle had give him this seal and told him he was now emperor and that he, his uncle, would help him at every turn.
Yi's thoughts were interrupted by Fei Yuan who announced the Prince and Princess consort Qi, who promptly stepped into the room. Yi dismissed Fei Yuan and waited for him to close the door. Before Yan and Su could bow, Yi already told them not to stand on ceremony.
Without preamble Yi placed the imperial seal in the middle of the empty desk. "The seal has been incomplete for far too long. The two parts should be reunited and the seal returned to it's rightful owner." The two brother looked at each other, both remained silent. Then Yan took the Tiger Tally and placed it in the hollow of the handle. "The seal and tally have been reunited." Yi nodded in acceptance, took the seal in his hands and then, as he extended his hand holding the seal towards Yan, said: "Now I return it to the rightful owner."
"Brother, you are the rightful owner. Father gave you the seal, which is the true power of the emperor." Yan protested when his brother held out the seat to him. But Yi shook his head: "Father never gave it to me. The disgraced rebel gave it to me after father's passing. He said father intended for me to have it and he intended to make me his heir. But I knew the words to be false, because two days before he died I spoke with father. He told me he suspected someone was poisoning him. But he wasn't sure who it was. He then told me he had given the Tiger Tally to you, my elder brother. He wished to give you the imperial seal as we all knew he wanted to. You are his first born son and father was always clear on this, even when he elevated my mother to empress. But father feared someone would cross his plans and therefore he did what he could for you. He separated the Tally from the seal, so the holder of the seal could not claim the full power over Liang. He even wrote the last edict, proclaiming you his successor and gave it to me for safe keeping. It's still in my study and should be proclaimed upon arrival back in the capital."
"Brother, you have shown yourself a worthy successor of our father and a fair emperor. You should remain our emperor." But Yi raised his hand to stop Yan's words.
"Brother at the hands of the rebel Yun you have been humiliated so many years. Your birth right was take from you. It is time to restore the rightful emperor to his throne and thereby make amends for what was done to you." A silence followed, but just as Yan started to protest again Yi continued: "Yan, Xin has unfinished business here and I wish to accompany her here. And I know she dreads becoming the empress. Brother I wish to marry her and I doubt court would accept her as my empress. I want to be with her as I am, not as the emperor. Therefore I gladly fulfill fathers last wish and hand the seal and the empire to you." And with that Yi placed the seal, now complete, in Yan's hand.
When they had returned to their room Su watched Yan carefully. He, for his part, held the seal in his hand, then walked to Mei Ling's crib and caressed her head. Su came to stand beside him: "How long have you suspected this?"
"Father had already explained the secret of the seal and Tiger Tally. So when he gave me the Tiger Tally I knew his intention. He had never been secretive on who his heir was."
"Are you disappointed your brother waited this long?" Yan shook his head: "In fact after the death of the disgraced prince Yun we both agreed we needed Pei Zhou to finish the last loose ends. So no, I'm not disappointed." Su knew it was pointless to ask him whether he would decline. This was his destiny and somehow she had also known for a long time this was who he was meant to be. She looked down on her sleeping daughter. Her destiny had also changed. After her birth there had been moments in which Su had privately and only to herself lamented that Mei Ling hadn't been born in Qi Mansion, but now Su understood this to have been fate: Mei Ling had been born where she was supposed to have been born: in the imperial palace in the rooms of the empress. The place where her father had also been born. Yan turned to her and took her hands and while he looked in her eyes he said: "Our lives will change, but I promise you I will not change. Nor will my love for you. You and I will remain as we are."
"We will." Su assured him and then added: "You are still not allowed to have any concubines." At which Yan laughed and hugged her to him. In a few days' time they would travel back and start their new lives and face the challenges that life would pose to them together.