Coup Against Lan Han
Upon hearing his father's death and Lan Han's coup, Murong Sheng resolved to immediately head to Longcheng to mourn his father, believing that Lan Han would have pity on him, after having killed his father, and would spare him based on his having married Lan Han's daughter. His judgment was correct, and with his wife Princess Lan's, and her mother Lady Yi's intercession, Murong Sheng was spared, despite repeated requests by Lan Han's brothers Lan Ti (蘭堤) and Lan Jia'nan to have Murong Sheng killed.
Lan Han also spared Murong Qi (慕容奇) the Prince of Taiyuan, whose mother was also a daughter of Lan Han. Murong Sheng and Murong Qi then conspired for Murong Qi to flee out of the city and start an uprising. Murong Sheng, meanwhile, suggested to Lan Han that Lan Ti, not himself, was behind Murong Qi's rebellion. Further, at this time, because of a severe drought, Lan Han went to pray to the Later Yan ancestral temples and Murong Bao's spirit, blaming Murong Bao's murder on Lan Jia'nan. Upon hearing these things, Lan Ti and Lan Jia'nan became angry and started a rebellion of their own. Lan Han's crown prince Lan Mu, meanwhile, suggested that Murong Sheng be killed, and Lan Han initially agreed, but Murong Sheng, upon hearing the news through Princess Lan, declined to attend an imperial meeting that Lan Han called, and Lan Han soon changed his mind.
Soon thereafter, after Lan Mu had won a victory over Lan Ti and Lan Jia'nan, Lan Han held a feast for the soldiers, at which both he and Lan Mu became extremely drunk. Murong Sheng used this opportunity to join some army officers whom he had persuaded to join his cause, and they killed Lan Han and Lan Mu, and then Lan Ti, Lan Jia'nan, and Lan Han's other sons Lan He (蘭和) the Duke of Lu and Lan Yang (蘭揚) the Duke of Chen. Murong Sheng then declared Later Yan's restoration and took the throne, but in order to show humility, did so with his present title of Prince of Changle, rather than claiming imperial title immediately.
Read more about this topic: Murong Sheng
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“men may wel often finde
A lordes sone do shame and vileinye;
And he that wol han prys of his gentrye
For he was boren of a gentil hous,”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)