In the town of Jiuquan lived a woman named E Qin, the daughter of Zhao Jun'an of Fulu County. When a local bully named Li Shou murdered her father, E Qin's three younger brothers vowed revenge—but a plague struck them down before they could act. Overjoyed, Li Shou threw a feast for his clan, boasting, "All the strong men of the Zhao family are dead! Only a weak girl remains—nothing to fear now!"
When E Qin's son Chong Yu heard this, he returned home and told his mother. E Qin, who had long harbored a desire for revenge, was deeply provoked by Li Shou's words. Weeping and gnashing her teeth, she declared, "Li Shou, do not rejoice—I will not let you live! How do you know I cannot kill you?" She secretly purchased a sharp blade, kept it hidden on her person day and night, and resolved to slay Li Shou.
Li Shou was already notoriously vicious. When he heard E Qin's threats, he deliberately rode his horse through the streets with a sword, intimidating the villagers. A neighbor, Mrs. Xu, worried that E Qin would be killed, urged caution to avoid disaster. E Qin replied without fear, "A parent's enemy cannot live under the same sky. If Li Shou lives, what meaning is there in my life? Though my brother is dead, I, E Qin, am still here—how can I entrust revenge to another?" She was determined to kill the enemy herself. The neighbors laughed at her overconfidence. E Qin gripped her blade and declared, "You mock me for being a weak woman, but I swear I will make Li Shou's blood stain this sword!"
One day, she finally encountered Li Shou at a pavilion outside the city. E'qin immediately grabbed the reins of Li Shou's horse, loudly cursing him. Startled, Li Shou tried to turn his horse and flee, but E'qin swung her blade, wounding the horse and throwing Li Shou into a roadside ditch. After a fierce struggle, E'qin killed Li Shou, avenging her father.
Later, the idiom "By Another's Hand" came to describe using others to accomplish one's own tasks.
Source: *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, "Book of Wei" - Pei Songzhi's citation of Huangfu Mi's *Biographies of Exemplary Women*
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "假手于人" came to describe using others to accomplish one's own tasks.