Short answers, pulled from the story.
Han Fei (c. 280-233 BC) was a prince of the Han state during the Warring States period and is considered the greatest representative of the Legalist school of Chinese philosophy. His writings, collected in the anthology known as the Han Feizi, synthesized earlier Legalist doctrines and continued to influence every Chinese imperial dynasty even after Legalism was officially condemned by the Han dynasty.
Han Fei's political framework rested on three concepts: shi (positional power or authority), shu (administrative technique), and fa (law). He drew these from three predecessors, taking Shang Yang's emphasis on law, Shen Buhai's emphasis on technique, and Shen Dao's ideas on authority, and argued that a ruler needed all three together to maintain firm control of the state.
Han Fei died in 233 BC in a Qin prison after being forced to drink poison. His former classmate and rival Li Si had him imprisoned by using Han Fei's own essay, "Preserving the Han", as evidence of loyalty to the enemy state. Sinologist Paul Goldin concluded in 2013 that Han Fei was "executed in 233 B.C.E., after being entrapped by Li Si".
King Ying Zheng of Qin read Han Fei's essays and declared that if he could make friends with their author, he could die without regrets. According to Sima Qian, Ying Zheng went to war with the state of Han specifically to obtain an audience with Han Fei. The king later regretted Han Fei's death after Li Si forced him to commit suicide.
The Han Feizi is an anthology of writings traditionally attributed to Han Fei that synthesizes Legalist thought. Modern scholarship is open to the idea that Han Fei authored at least significant portions of it. Sinologist Herrlee Creel argued in 1970 that it is geographically plausible that a real Han Fei, as a prince of the Han state, was well positioned to write chapters such as Chapter 40 and Chapter 43, which discuss his predecessors Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, and Shen Dao.
Han Fei's ideas are compared with those of Niccolò Machiavelli, author of The Prince, because both thinkers approached political power in pragmatic, realist terms rather than moral or idealistic ones. Han Fei argued that rulers should steer subjects through punishment and reward rather than relying on personal virtue, a stance that parallels Machiavelli's advice on effective princely rule.