Chinese Idiom：口蜜腹剑 (kǒu mì fù jiàn)

Li Lin-fu was a prime minister of China during the T'ang dynasty (táng cháo 唐朝, 618—907AD). He was good at both calligraphy and painting, but had a crafty and sinister personality which made him disliked by everyone. Li Lin-fu would bribe the palace eunuchs and concubines to tell him what the emperor liked, and then would immediately go prepare that thing for the emperor. The emperor was therefore very fond of Li Lin-fu, and trusted him unduly.

One time, the minister Li Shr-jr offended Li Lin-fu. Li Lin-fu pretended not to care, and was in fact especially nice to the minister. Then on e day, he told Li Shr-jr about some gold that was hidden over in Hua Mountain, and encouraged him to suggest mining this gold to the emperor. Li Shr-jr being of an honest and upright disposition, believed that it was true, and immediately went and told the emperor. But when the emperor began to discuss this with Li Lin-fu, Li Lin-fu acted very frightened and said,

"Hua Mountain in the place wher all of Your Majesty's auspicious aurora are gathered. If we were to mine that area, it could be very dangerous for you. Who is it that wants to harm you?

Today we can describe someone who is two-faced-who is always nice on the outside and yet is mean to people behind their backs-as having "Honey in the Mouth and Swords in the Stomach."

 

李林甫，唐玄宗时官居“兵部尚书”兼“中书令”这是宰相的职位。

此人若论才艺倒也不错，能书善画。但若论品德，那是坏透了。他忌才害人，凡才能比他强、声望比他高、权势地位和他差不多的人，他都不择手段地排斥打击。对 唐玄宗，他有一套馅媚奉承的本领。他竭力迁就玄宗，并且采用种种手法，讨好玄宗宠信的嫔妃以及心腹太监，取得他们的欢心和支持，以便保住自己的地位。

李林甫和人接触时，外貌上总是露出一副和蔼可亲的样子，嘴里尽说些动听的「善意」话，但实际上，他的性格非常明险狡猾，常常暗中害人。例如有一次，他装做 诚恳的样子对同僚李适之说：“华山出产大量黄金，如果能够开采出来，就可大大增加国家的财富。可惜皇上还不知道。”李适之以为这是真话，连忙跑去建议玄宗 快点开采，玄宗一听很高兴，立刻把李林甫找来商议，李林甫却说：“这件事我早知道了，华山是帝王‘风水集中的地方，怎么可以随便开采呢？别人劝您开采，恐 怕是不怀好意；我几次想把这件事告诉您，只是不敢开口。”

玄宗被他这番话所打动，认为他真是一位忠君爱国的臣子，反而对适之大不满意，逐渐将他疏远了。就这样，李林甫凭借这套特殊“本领”，他一直做了十九年宰相。

后来，司马光在编《资治通鉴》时评价李林甫，指出他是个口蜜腹剑的人，这是很符合实际的。

后来用于比喻口头上说话好听，像蜜一样甜，肚子里却怀着暗害人的阴谋。

口蜜腹剑 (kǒu mì fù jiàn)
【翻译】Honey in the Mouth and Swords in the Stomach.
【释义】嘴上说的很甜美，凡里却怀着害人的主意。形容两面派的狡猾阴险。
【例句】这个人你要小心点，看起来很好的样子，但其实是口蜜腹剑。
【近义词】甜言蜜语、佛口蛇心
【反义词】心直口快、心口如一