There are some in the realm who understand affairs but fail to meet with the approbation of others, whereas there are also some who are able to gain the approbation of others but don’t understand affairs.” “What do you mean?” a disciple asked.
“In former days,” Zishi replied, “Fuchai the king of Wu failed to listen to the bluntly loyal admonitions of Wu Zi Xu, so Zi Xu’s eyes were gouged out and his body dismembered.
The prime minister [Bo] Pi and Gongsun Luo colluded with each other in improper schemes so as to support Fuchai in his desire to attack Qi, and the bodies of these two gentlemen were cast into the river and their heads thrust onto the pennant poles of Yue.16 11 The marquis of Wen Xin 文信侯: Lü Buwei 閭不韋; he became the prime minister of Qin in the first year of the reign of King Zhuangxiang 莊襄王; later he became the de facto head of state during the minority of King Zheng 政 (the future Qin Shi Huangdi).
He eventually was banished to Shu, where he committed suicide by drinking poison.