The emperor of Xing is the father of both Ling Yao and May Chang as well as forty-one other royal scions. As Emperor, he is sent a concubine from each of the fifty families that make up the nation in order to bear a child. He is rumored to be of failing health, prompting both Ling and May to venture to Amestris in order to find the secret to immortality so as to raise the standing of their respective clans. By 1917, the current emperor seems to have either died or retired, leaving the imperial throne to his 12th son Ling, presumably due to Ling's acquisition of a Philosopher's Stone.