Confucius went right back to Wei state when he left Pu county (a county that betrayed Wei state, now Changyuan city of Henan Province). Duke Ling of Wei state was very glad and went to the suburb to welcome Confucius. As soon as they met, he asked Confucius, "Is it possible for us to attack the rebellious Pu county?" Confucius replied, "Yes, of course." Duke Ling then said, "But my ministers opposed it. They said that Pu county is the frontier of our state to against the two great powers of Jin state and Chu state. If we attack it, people of Pu county will take refuge in Jin and Chu, who will have the excuse to invade our state." Confucius said, "Gongshu Xu is unpopular among Pu people, and they all want to get rid of him. So if you attack Pu county, your opponents are only Gongshu Xu and a few of his cronies!" Duke Ling was very happy and said, "That's good!" When Gongshu Xu heard that Duke Ling might come to attack Pu county, he gave up the county and fled to Lu state to go to Lord Ji for shelter.