唐太宗喜愛書法，一直想得到「蘭亭序」，可是永欣寺的和尚辯才不肯承認自己擁有真跡。房玄齡便推舉蕭翼，表示他一定有辦法拿到真跡，但是不可以公開派他去，並且要借他一些二王的真跡。蕭翼便裝成窮書生，搭船到永欣寺，他故意到廟裡看壁畫，辯才看到他如此落魄，不但找他聊天還留他過夜。之後每天都找他一起飲酒論文，蕭翼便不經意提到自己有三、四幅二王真跡，辯才要他拿出來看看，一看果然是真的。這時辯才就提到自己也有一幅特別的，蕭翼趁機問：「是什麼呢？」辯才回答：「蘭亭序。」蕭翼故意說：「怎麼可能，聽說在戰亂時早就沒有了！」辯才回答：「這帖傳了七代，是先師臨終給我的，不信我明天拿給你看。」隔天蕭翼看帖時，故意指出有瑕疵，表示不是真跡，辯才便希望蕭翼將其他真跡留下讓他比對看看，於是沒將蘭亭序收起來。後來他有事出去，蕭翼便向守房的弟子表示辯才有東西忘了拿，弟子心想他和師父很熟，便開門讓他進去，蕭翼就將二王字帖及蘭亭序一併帶走。
三十六計之第十七計：拋磚引玉
用相同類似的東西去引誘對方，讓他們搞不清楚真相，並且混淆視聽，因而中計上當，也就是用小利誘得大利的計謀。
Tang Tai Zong was very fond of calligraphy and had always wanted to acquire the most famous calligraphy painting - The Lanting Preface. The painting was in the possession of Bian Cai, a monk at Yong Sin Temple. However, Bian Cai claimed that he did not own the authentic copy. So Siao Yi was given the task of visiting Bian Cai to steal the real Lanting Preface. Siao Yi went incognito and brought with him two authentic works by the famous calligrapher Er Wang as bait.
Siao Yi disguised himself as a poor scholar taking a ferry to Yong Sin Temple to study the murals in the temple. Seeing how impoverished Siao Yi is, Bian Cai invited Siao Yi to dinner and to stay at the temple for a while. In the following days, they chatted about art and literature. One day, Siao Yi casually mentioned that he had with him some authentic works by the famous calligrapher Er Wang. Bian Cai asked Siao Yi if he could see them and found that they were indeed authentic.
At this moment, Bian Cai mentioned that he, too, had a very special collection. Siao Yi seized this opportunity and asked him about it. Bian Cai told him, "I have the Lanting Preface'' Siao Yi replied deliberately, "That's impossible. I heard that the Lanting Preface was destroyed during the war."Bian Cai replied, "The Lanting Preface had been handed down through seven generations. It was given to me by my late master. I will show it to you tomorrow if you don't believe me."The next day, Bian Cai brought out the Lanting Preface, and while Siao Yi was examining the work, he deliberately pointed out a flaw and said that it could not have been the authentic copy. Bian Cai expressed the wish to see other authentic copies from Siao Yi so that he could compare them with his own. Thinking that he would need to compare it with other copies soon, he did not store it away as he should, but had it lying around on the table.
Later, Bian Cai went out to do something. And Siao Yi told the disciples who guarded the temple that Bian Cai forgot something in his room. Thinking that he is an acquaintance of their master, the disciples let him into their master's room. Siao Yi took the Lanting Preface along with the works of Er Wang that he brought with him and left.
Strategy 17: Toss Out a Brick to Attract Jade
Use something similar as bait to entrap the enemy. Confuse him with lies and illusions until he is trapped. This is the strategy of using a small bait to catch something big.
