The king asked,How do you know that
I had
intended to flee to the Yan State after committing a crime when Lin stopped me
and asked how I could have known the Yan king would take me in. I told him I had
ever gone with Your Majesty meeting the Yan king at the border where he had
shaken my hands in secret and shown his willingness to make friends with me. That
was why I had meant to take refuge there. In Lins opinion, the Yan king had
longed to associate with me just because at the time the Zhao was more powerful
than his country and I was in high favor with Your Majesty. Once I sought shelter
in the country as an escaped criminal, instead giving me protection, the Yan
would tie me up and repatriate me out of fear. He advised me to strip to my
waist and bend under an axe asking for punishment. Only in this way, he
predicted, could I have been pardoned. I took his advice and Your Majesty
excused me luckily. I think him both brave and resourceful, the best man to fill
the vacancy.
