"Why must you be so overbearing, envoy?" Beyond his embarrassment, Murong Ke clearly wanted to avoid the subject, making it seem as though he were the victim.
Yet he had already admitted it.
"What an absurd thing to say, General Who Assists the State. Ever since your honored ancestor Mohubui Ba, before he even adopted the name Murong, helped Prince Xuan of Sima pacify Liaodong, the court and the King of Yan's line have maintained their formal relationship for over a hundred and twenty years, across seven generations... Indeed, when the histories are compiled, the deeds of your honored ancestor and King Xuan will belong in the Wei Spring and Autumn Annals, not the Jin Spring and Autumn Annals. Is that not so?" Liu Cheng set down his wine cup, his tone calm. "Perhaps you do not know, General, but the two conspicuously outstanding historians in the South today, Sun Sheng, Sun Anguo, and Xi Zaochi, Xi Yanwei, are both colleagues and good friends of mine. Those two have long had their historical disputes, but both have already begun writing their own works.
"But that is not what we are discussing today. What we are discussing is this: over those hundred and twenty years of relations, the court has done no particular wrong to the Murong Clan, has it? Now that the Murong Clan wishes to establish itself as ruler of all under heaven, why do you instead accuse the court of being overbearing, General?"
Not only Murong Ke but the other men surnamed Murong were startled and uneasy. For one thing, this was the first they had heard of their ancestor's affairs. They truly had not known that the relationship ran so deep, and some might not even have known who Mohuba was. Muyugen had even thought that the