Three Immortals

The Prince of Wei, Prince Kuai Li, took Kong Ji and Hun Liangfu as his partners, took the great official, Kong Yu, over to him, expelled his son, the Duke of Wei, and made himself the ruler of the state, the Duke of Wei Zhuang. The Duke of Wei made his second son, Qi, the crown prince, and elevated Hun Liangfu to the position of superior minister, who managed the court together with Kong Yu.

At this time, when Confucius heard that there was civil unrest in the state of Wei, he said to his disciples, "Gao Chai [Zi Lan] and Zhongyu [Zi Lu] must be in great trouble in Wei. Gao Chai may come back, but Zhongyu is dead for sure!" The disciples asked Confucius what the reason for this was. He said, "Gao Cai knows that things should be considered in the larger sense, and he will be able to save his own life. But Zhongyu is not afraid of death and cannot distinguish the importance of the matter, so he will die 80% of the time." The words were not yet finished, and indeed Zilan ran back. When the teacher and student met, they were both fond and uncomfortable. Islam said that Zilu would probably not come back. In a few days, Duke Wei Zhuangli sent someone to see Confucius, saying, "The new ruler, who has assumed the throne, quite admires you and your disciples, and has sent me especially to send you a little something that tastes quite good." Confucius thanked him and took the jar. He opened the lid and saw that it was a jar of meat sauce. He hastily put the lid on it and said to the visitor, "I guess that's my student Zhongyu, right?" When the visitor heard it, he was surprised and said, "Isn't it? How did you know that?" Confucius said, "How could the king of Wei send me anything else?" Confucius told his disciples to bury the meat sauce. They all shed tears, and Confucius cried even more. He said, "I was afraid that Zhongyu would die a bad death, but I didn't know that he would die so badly!" From this point on, Confucius' health was deteriorating day by day. In the following year (479 BC, 41 years after King Jing of Zhou and 16 years after Duke Ai of Lu), he died at the age of 73.

Duke Wei Zhuang Li chopped Zi Lu into meat paste and sent him to Confucius to show his opponents. He also wanted to eliminate all the other ministers who were against him. He always thought that Confucius was a member of Duke Wei's party. When the time came, he would blow him out. Then the power of the state of Wei would be in the hands of Hun Liangfu.

The Duke of Wei saw that the treasury was empty. How can this be? He wanted to hear the opinion of Hun Liangfu. Hun Liangfu said, "Although Duke Yi [Duke Wei] is not good, he is still the son of the lord. If the lord can call him back, then the treasure of Wei will come back." Someone spread the word to the ears of Prince Qi. Fearing that his brother would come back to take his place, Prince Cai secretly put some military officers and a mouthful of pigs to tie up his old man, Kuai Yi, and force him to promise two things: first, forbid the Duke to come back; second, kill Hun Liangfu. Wei Zhuang Duke Kuai Yi was at a loss, but he could not refuse, so he said to his son, "The first thing is easy to do. But the second thing is that I promised to spare Hun Liangfu's life three times, what should I do? Prince Cai said, "If we allow him to commit the fourth death sentence, we can kill him." The Duke of Wei felt that his two sons were not to be trifled with, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he should keep his mouth shut. Prince Cai slaughtered the pig and the two sons took a "blood oath".

A few days later, Duke Wei Zhuangli invited the ministers to dinner. At the banquet, Hun Liangfu, wearing a fox fur coat and carrying a sword, sat with Duke Wei Zhuang and ate and drank together. When the prince saw him, he thought he had a chance and asked his warriors to drag him out. Hun Liangfu shouted, "What crime have I committed?" The prince said, "When a minister meets the king, he must wear a gown, but you are not wearing one. This is the first deadly sin. When a minister accompanies the king to a banquet, he should not bring his weapon, but you are wearing a sword. This is the second mortal sin. You wore a leather jacket in front of the king, and you were uncaring. This is the third mortal sin." Hunting Fu said, "I will not argue with you. Even if I have committed three mortal sins, I am not going to die! The Lord had promised to spare me three deaths!" The prince said, "A duke is a treacherous fellow, and you want to call him back. Isn't this the fourth death sentence?" Hun Liangfu still wanted to argue, but he was just "yawning at death" - his mouth was open in vain.