lǎo老guī龟zhǔ煮bù不làn烂,,yí移huò祸yú于kū枯sāng桑
A guilty person remains unscathed while an innocent party is blamed or suffers the consequences; to shift blame to an innocent scapegoat.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
During the Three Kingdoms period, someone presented a large turtle to Sun Quan. Sun Quan ordered his chefs to cook it, but even after burning ten thousand cartloads of firewood, the turtle remained stubbornly tough and wouldn't soften.
Enraged, Sun Quan blamed the chefs for their incompetence.
Immediately, Zhuge Ke stepped forward and suggested felling the thousand-year-old mulberry tree outside the palace gates to use as fuel. Sun Quan agreed.
When the mulberry wood was used, the turtle cooked through quickly and became tender.