During the Spring and Autumn period, the state of Shen was conquered by Chu, and its ruler, Lord Shen, was kept in Chu as a grand master. Lord Shen was greedy and skilled at flattery, which earned him great favor from King Wen of Chu.
King Wen of Chu, on his deathbed, worried that his successors would not tolerate Shen Hou, so he advised him to leave and avoid disaster, saying, "Only I understand you. You are insatiably greedy for profit, taking whatever you want, yet I have never faulted you for it."
The phrase means, "I alone truly understand you—you are insatiably greedy and never satisfied. You take from me, you ask of me, and I never criticize your faults. But others will not be so forgiving."
Aware of his own reputation, Shen Hou accepted the white jade and treasures bestowed by King Wen and traveled to the State of Zheng. With his silver tongue, he quickly became a high minister and earned the deep trust of Duke Li of Zheng.
Soon after, King Cheng of Chu, who had succeeded King Wen, set his sights on challenging the state of Qi for supremacy, making the state of Zheng, caught between the two powers, a prime target for contention.
When the state of Chu attacked Zheng, Qi gathered six states including Chen and Song to strike Chu's ally, Cai. King Cheng of Chu, seeing the situation turn against him, sent an envoy to Duke Huan of Qi to sue for peace. Duke Huan agreed, and both sides began to withdraw their forces.
During the retreat, Shen Hou outwardly complied but secretly schemed. He first consulted with Yuan Taotu, a high minister of Chen, suggesting, "Let's persuade Duke Huan of Qi to take the eastern coastal route back." Then, turning to Duke Huan himself, Shen Hou said, "If you march through Chen and Zheng, it will greatly reduce your expenses." Duke Huan, pleased that Shen Hou seemed to consider Qi's interests, rewarded him with Hulao, a key military fortress that Qi had seized from Zheng.
Two years later, Duke Wen of Zheng offended Duke Huan of Qi. Duke Huan of Qi launched an attack on Zheng, and Duke Wen of Zheng was terrified and at a loss. Shen Hou then volunteered to go to Chu, where with his silver tongue he persuaded King Cheng to send troops and lift the siege on Zheng. He was full of hope for a promotion and a higher rank. However, Duke Wen of Zheng, feeling that granting the land of Hulao earlier had already been excessive, gave no further rewards. Shen Hou was deeply dissatisfied with this.
The following year, Duke Huan of Qi led his army to attack Zheng again. Yuan Taotu, seeking revenge against Shen Hou, wrote a letter to the Zheng official Kong Shu, accusing Shen Hou of having previously sacrificed Zheng's interests to curry favor with Qi, thereby receiving the reward of Hulao, and now flattering Chu, bringing repeated military disasters upon Zheng. He insisted that only by killing Shen Hou could the Qi army be driven back.
Duke Wen of Zheng, seeing this as a viable plan, executed Shen Hou and sent Kong Shu to carry his severed head to the Qi camp as a gesture of peace.
When news of Shen Hou's execution reached Chu, Prime Minister Ziwen sighed, "The ancients said, 'No one knows a minister better than his lord.' The late king had long seen that Shen Hou was insatiably greedy, taking and demanding without end, and would eventually bring disaster upon himself. How true that was!"
Later, people used the idiom "yu qu yu qiu" to refer to arbitrary demands.
Source: *Zuo Zhuan*, "Duke Xi's Seventh Year"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "予取予求" came to describe arbitrary demands.