During the Warring States Period (403-222 B.C.) a minister of Ch'i named Chang Ch'ou served as a hostage in Yen. When the king tried to kill him one day he escaped but was stopped at the border by a Yen official.
Chang Ch'ou told the official, "The king wants to kill me because people say I'm hiding a precious jewel. I'm really not, but the king won't believe me. If you send me back, I'll have to tell him you took the jewel yourself and swallowed it. The king will then kill you, cut open your stomach and search your intestines for the jewel. I'll be killed sooner or later of course, but you'll die too and, what's more, get your belly chopped open inch by inch." The border official, taking fright at these words, secretly let him go.
The Chinese expression "getting in trouble by holding a jewel" describes a person who meets misfortune by keeping money or goods that arouse covetous designs in others.
(Peter Eberly)