Chinese Emperor Gao, the founder of the Han Dynasty, was a notoriously ruthless leader. When an enemy of Gao captured his father and threatened to boil him alive if he did not surrender, how did he reply?
Answer: Gao nonchalantly asked that if they boiled his father, that they ‘be good enough to send me a cup of the soup.’
Source: The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China by Grant Hardy