Meng Cheng sat upright in the room, carefully reading those words that could rouse the deaf and awaken the benighted. "I have never heard of a ruler being murdered. I have only heard of the execution of a solitary tyrant, Zhou."
He sighed softly. "Kings are the greatest scourge under heaven."
Had outsiders heard these words, they would certainly have been horrified beyond measure. Even the most idealistic members of the Mohist School had scarcely ever said anything like this.
But Meng Cheng had earned the Luo Clan's regard precisely because he was no ordinary man.
"Bang!"
The door was kicked open with a heavy blow. Savage soldiers burst in, but Meng Cheng's expression did not change. Then he saw with his own eyes that among those who had come to arrest him were disciples of the Confucian Order!
This shocked and enraged him. "You..."
These men covered their faces, seemingly too ashamed to face him, but eventually stammered, "Sir, only by preserving yourself can you work toward great things.
"The Confucian School flourished because of Luo State, and now it is declining because Luo State has fallen.
"The First Emperor has established the Great Qin Academy in Xianyang and appointed dozens of erudites. If the Confucian School cannot take part, I fear its extinction is close at hand."
At this, Meng Cheng shouted, "You people are utterly foolish! The Confucian School originated with the Luo Sage. Could Qin State possibly tolerate its existence?"
Then he noticed their uneasy expressions and understood at once. Still more shocked and furious, he roared, "Are you going to rewrite history?
"Though the Spring and Autumn Annals style conveys praise or censure through a single word, the facts cannot be changed. Have you utterly abandoned the teachings of the Two Sages Luo and Kong?"