At that time, the Han Dynasty continued to crusade against the Huns, and the two sides detained many envoys. In the first year of the Tianhan Dynasty, and Dan Hou Shanyu had just ascended the throne, afraid of the Han Dynasty attack, so he said: "The emperor of the Han Dynasty is my elder." All the detained Han Dynasty envoy Lu Chongguo and others were released. In order to repay the goodwill of the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Su Wu, his deputy, Zhang Sheng and his attache Chang Hui, as an envoy to the Xiongnu. When Su Wu arrived at the Xiongnu, he sent back the detained envoys and gave gifts. Shan Yu was about to send an envoy to escort Su Wu and the others back, but something unexpected happened.
Before Su Wu arrived at the Huns, there was a Huns who grew up in the Han dynasty, named Wei Lu, who surrendered to the Huns after he was an envoy to the Huns. Shan Yu especially reused him and named him king. Wei Lu had a subordinate called Yu Chang, who was very dissatisfied with Wei Lu. He and Su Wu's deputy Zhang Sheng were friends, so he secretly discussed with Zhang Sheng that he wanted to kill Wei Lu. Zhang Sheng expressed sympathy, but he didn't expect Yu Chang's plan to fail. Shan Yu was furious and asked Wei Lu to interrogate Yu Chang, and also to interrogate the accomplices.
Yu often suffered various punishments, but desperately refused to admit that he had conspired with him. Wei Lu reported to Shanyu. Shan Yu was furious and wanted to kill Su Wu, but was dissuaded by the minister, and Shan Yu asked Wei Lu to force Su Wu to surrender. Su Wu said: "I am a messenger from the Han Dynasty. If I violate my mission and lose my integrity, I will still have a face to see others when I live." He drew a knife and wiped it off his neck. Wei Lu hugged him in a hurry, Su Wu's neck was seriously injured and he passed out. Shan Yu admired his integrity, sent someone to inquire about his condition sooner or later, and arrested Zhang Sheng.
Su Wu's injury is getting better day by day, Shan Yu sent envoys to persuade him to surrender, and jointly tried Yu Chang. After Wei Lu killed Yu Chang with a sword, he raised his sword to kill Zhang Sheng, and Zhang Sheng asked for surrender. Wei Lu said to Su Wu: "The deputy is guilty, you should sit with him." Su Wu said: "I didn't participate in the plot, and I am not his relatives. Why should I sit with him?" Wei Lu used a sword to stab Su Wu. , Su Wu did not waver.
Wei Lu once again persuaded Su Wu to surrender with glory and wealth. Su Wu reprimanded Wei Lu and said: "As a subject of the Han Dynasty, you have betrayed the emperor and relatives, and surrendered to the barbarians, regardless of kindness and shame. The state will attack and defeat the Huns, and the disaster will begin to kill me."
Seeing that persuasion was useless, the Huns decided to use torture. It was a severe winter, and Shan Yu ordered people to shut Su Wu into an open-air crypt and cut off the provision of food and water, hoping that this would change Su Wu's beliefs. Su Wu was tortured in the cellar. When he was thirsty, he ate a handful of snow, and when he was hungry, he chewed on the sheepskin jacket he was wearing. After several days, Shan Yu Jian, who was on the verge of death, still did not give in, so he had to release Su Wu.
Shan Yu became more respectful of Su Wu's integrity, couldn't bear to kill Su Wu, and didn't want him to return to his country, so he decided to exile Su Wu. Before leaving, Shan Yu summoned Su Wu and said, "Since you do not surrender, then I will let you herd the sheep. When the ram gives birth to lambs, I will let you go back to the Central Plains."
After separated from his companion, Su Wu was exiled to the inaccessible lake Baikal. Here, one's ability alone cannot escape anyway. The only companions with Su Wu are the talisman representing the Han Dynasty and a small herd of sheep. In this way, day after day, year after year, all the decorations on the talisman festival fell off, and Su Wu's hair and beard turned white.
Nineteen years later, Shan Yu, the Huns who had been ordered to imprison him, has passed away. Even Emperor Wu of the Han has also passed away, and his son, Emperor Han Zhao, ascended the throne. At this time, Xindanyu implemented the policy of reconciliation with the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty demanded the release of Su Wu and others, and the Xiongnu deceived that Su Wu was dead. Later, the envoy of the Han Dynasty arrived in the Xiongnu area and finally learned that Su Wu was still alive. So he threatened that the emperor of the Han Dynasty shot a wild goose in Shanglin Garden. In the swamps of the north. Shan Yu had to return Su Wu and the nine others.
