In the first year of Duke Zhao of Lu's reign, senior officials from eleven states, including Jin, Chu, Qi, Lu, Cai, and Zheng, gathered at Guo for a major diplomatic alliance.
The ministers of Lu, Zheng, and Cai arrived first and gathered beneath the covenant altar, chatting idly. As they spoke, a rumbling of chariot wheels rose from the south, kicking up clouds of dust. Through the haze emerged a banner bearing the character "Chu," followed by a four-horse chariot adorned with white jade and gold, its wheel hubs painted in five colors beneath a crimson canopy. A deputy leaped from the side of the chariot and extended his hand to help his master descend. The Chu envoy, wearing a xiezhi-shaped law crown, his court robes studded with pearls and jade, and clutching a ceremonial jade scepter, slowly stepped down.
As the Chu envoy steadied himself, two towering warriors bearing golden halberds emerged from beside the chariot, shouting a command to clear the path ahead.
Lu Qing Shusun Bao said, "This is the Chu prime minister, Xiong Qian, a son of King Gong of Chu." Then with some emotion he added, "Chu is a great state, and its envoy carries himself with considerable grandeur. Yet all this fuss exceeds the rank of a minister—it's as if the ruler himself had come to the alliance."
Zheng official Han Hu said, "Beyond the Chu envoy's attire, what shocked me most was: entering the alliance altar, he had two spear-wielding guards clear the way ahead."
The Cai state envoy Gongsun Guisheng said, "Chu is a wealthy and powerful state. Prince Xiong Qian, as the prime minister, holds the military and political power of the state. When he comes to the alliance, having armed guards as his vanguard should be permissible. The ceremonial standards for a great state's envoy are allowed to exceed the ordinary."
Shusun Bao countered, 'That is not how it should be said. When the Son of Heaven goes on a tour, he is accompanied by a hundred "Tiger Guards" who rush about on all sides as escorts. When a feudal lord goes out, he has "Travel Guards" bearing spears and shields, standing by his chariot. When a high minister travels, he is assigned one "Deputy Chariot" assistant to help manage affairs. At the lowest rank, a scholar-official only has a single "Attendant" whose task is to "announce and run," merely shuttling between host and guest to relay messages. Now Xiong Qian, holding the position of Prime Minister, has naturally considered everything thoroughly. In my view, an envoy of the minister level who puts on the display of a ruler harbors ill intentions! If he only wanted to show off among the allied envoys, has he forgotten that upon returning home, the King of Chu would charge him with the crime of overstepping his rank? Xiong Qian is a man of ambition—this behavior shows he has made up his mind!'
After the alliance meeting, Xiong Qian returned to the state of Chu and strangled the crown prince of King Kang of Chu, who was gravely ill and about to ascend the throne, thereby seizing power to become King Ling of Chu.
Later generations borrowed Shusun Bao's phrase "reporting while running" from *Guoyu* to form "running to spread the news," meaning people rush to tell each other important information.
Source: *Guoyu*, Chapter "Discourses of Lu II"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "奔走相告" came to describe people rush to tell each other important information.