"Losing a wife and then losing more soldiers" literally means not only losing one's wife but also suffering additional losses of soldiers. It is a metaphor for trying to take advantage of a situation but ending up suffering a double loss. This idiom originates from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which Zhou Yu devised a plan to use Sun Quan's sister Sun Shangxiang as bait to lure Liu Bei to Eastern Wu for marriage, attempting to detain him in order to demand the return of Jingzhou. As it turned out, under Zhuge Liang's ingenious stratagems, Liu Bei successfully married Lady Sun and returned safely, while Zhou Yu's pursuing troops were badly defeated. Hence the saying, "Zhou Yu's brilliant plan would pacify the realm, but he lost a wife and then lost more soldiers." It is often used to describe a situation in which someone intends to scheme against others but ends up suffering a great loss instead, carrying a tone of irony and schadenfreude. In terms of cultural background, it reflects the traditional Chinese wisdom of "trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it," warning people not to covet small gains and instead suffer harm. Its emotional coloring is generally derogatory, and it is often used to tease or criticize those who think themselves clever but only end up making things worse.
📝 Example
1. He had hoped to make a quick profit by short-term trading, but ended up suffering a double loss—not only losing all his principal but also falling into debt. (A metaphor for trying to gain an advantage but suffering a double loss.)
2. This company tried to copy a competitor's product, but instead was sued for infringement—truly suffering a double loss. (A metaphor for a scheme that backfires and results in a double loss.)