Su Wu
Li Ling was dispatched twice by the Chanyu to persuade the detained Han ambassador Su Wu to surrender, as Li and Su used to be co-workers and good friends. Initially Li Ling was too ashamed to visit Su Wu, as he defected merely the year after Su's exile to Lake Baikal. On his first visit, Li Ling mentioned how everyone in Su Wu's family back in China had either died or remarried, hoping to sever Su's patriotic bond. Li then said that Emperor Wu had grown old and emotionally labile, and how he himself used to suffer over the guilt of treason but had overcome that eventually. However, Su Wu emphasized how much he valued the honor and responsibility the motherland had given him, and told Li Ling that it's either honor or death. Moved by Su Wu's unshakable valor, Li Ling tearfully exclaimed, "Aye! Such an honorable man! I and Wei Lü have sins that dwarf the sky!" The second time Li Ling visited Su Wu, he brought the news that Emperor Wu had died, which caused Su to mourn so hard that he vomited blood and almost died.