types of sounds. He crowed like a rooster, and this woke up the rest of the roosters. Not knowing that Lord Mengchang was being hunted, the guards at the pass then allowed Lord Mengchang and his entourage to enter Qi territory to safety. Chancellor of Qi Out of guilt, the King of Qi appointed Lord Mengchang as the Chancellor of Qi after his return. Due to his experience in Qin, the new chancellor was gathering allies and asking neighbouring countries like Wei and Han to return past favours and prepare for war against Qin. His adviser warned him of growing power of Qi's neighbouring lands, which would eventually be dangerous for Qi if Qin were not in the equation. Instead, the adviser told the chancellor that it was in the interest of Qi to allow Qin to grow in power. This would maintain the balance of power against Han and Wei so they would still rely heavily on Qi, the most powerful of the three states. The chancellor agreed and proceeded as planned. As his adviser predicted, King Zhaoxiang gave Qi the land and not a single drop of blood was shed among the four states. (However, King Huai was not allowed to return home to Chu. He died in Qin.) A crafty hare has three burrows One of the well-known Chinese four-character proverbs is 狡兔三窟 (pinyin: jiǎo tù sān kū), or "a crafty rabbit has three burrows." It means that a smart rabbit should always have several ways to escape a predator; that is, people should have more than one plan to fall back on. This chengyu came directly from Lord Mengchang. A member of his entourage, Feng Xuan (simplified Chinese: 冯谖; traditional Chinese: 馮諼; pinyin Féng Xuān), had been destitute when he became Mengchang's retainer. One day, Lord Mengchang asked Feng Xuan to go to the local county to collect overdue taxes. Before he left, Lord Mengchang also asked Feng Xuan to buy and bring back some things needed for the lord's large household. In the county, Feng Xuan made all the wealthy people pay the overdue taxes, but burned all the I.O.U.s for the poor peasants. He told the peasants that Lord Mengchang cared for them and hoped that they would prosper in the coming years. Upon his return, Feng Xuan told Lord Mengchang that he had “bought” benevolence and righteousness (simplified Chinese: 仁义; traditional Chinese: 仁義;