During the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Huan of Wey, the thirteenth ruler of the state, had two brothers: Prince Jin and Prince Zhouyu. Zhouyu, skilled in martial arts and fond of warfare, saw his elder brother as a simpleton and secretly plotted to seize the throne.
In 719 BC, Duke Huan of Wei set off for Luoyang to attend the funeral of King Ping of Zhou. Zhou Yu prepared a farewell feast outside the West Gate. Raising a cup of wine, he said to the duke, "Today, as my elder brother departs, I, your younger brother, offer you this toast."
"Wei Huangong said, 'I will return soon, brother, you have gone to too much trouble!'"
Then Duke Huan of Wei also poured a cup of wine to toast in return. Taking advantage of the duke's unpreparedness, Zhou Yu suddenly drew a dagger and assassinated Duke Huan of Wei.
After killing Duke Huan of Wey and seizing the throne, Zhou Yu feared his people's opposition. To divert their attention, he allied with the states of Chen, Song, and Cai to attack Zheng. But Zheng's defenses held firm, and the campaign ended in failure.
After hearing of these events, Duke Yin of Lu asked his minister Zhong Zhong, "Can Zhou Yu's actions last long?"
Zhong Zhong replied, "Zhou Xu only knows how to rely on military force and stir up trouble everywhere; the common people will not support him. He is extremely cruel, killing the innocent—who would dare to get close to him? With the people opposing him and his trusted followers gradually leaving him, how could his rule last long?"
Zhong Zhong continued, "War is like fire. To keep waging war without restraint will inevitably lead to self-destruction. In my view, defeat awaits him!"
Sure enough, within a year, the veteran minister Shi Que of the State of Wei, with the help of the State of Chen, had Zhou Xu killed.
Later, the idiom "Rebellion of the Masses and Estrangement of Kin" came to describe an extremely isolated situation.
Source: *Zuo Zhuan*, Chapter "Duke Yin, Year Four"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "众叛亲离" came to describe an extremely isolated situation.