Minister Pang Gong was appointed by the King of Wei to accompany the crown prince to Handan as a hostage.
Before departure, he asked the king, "If someone told you there was a tiger in the marketplace, would Your Majesty believe it?"
The king replied, "No, I would not."
Pang Gong then asked, "What if a second person told Your Majesty the same thing?"
The king again said no.
Pang Gong pressed further, "What if a third person told Your Majesty this again?"
The king said, "Since everybody said so, it must be true."
Pang Gong concluded, "There is no tiger in the marketplace at all. Yet, because three people claimed there was, it became believable. This shows the power of rumor. Handan is much farther from here than the marketplace, and there will be far more than three people speaking ill of me. I beg Your Majesty to judge carefully before believing what they might say about me."
When Pang Gong eventually returned from Handan, the King of Wei refused to see him anymore.