机关算尽太聪明，反算了卿卿性命

jī guān suàn jìn tài cōng ming , fǎn suàn le qīng qīng xìng mìng

if one is too calculating, it will be the cause of one's own undoing (famous line in "A Dream of Red Mansions" 紅樓夢|红楼梦[Hong2 lou2 Meng4])

机

jī

(bound form) machine; mechanism

关

guān

mountain pass

算

suàn

to regard as

尽

jìn

to use up

太

tài

highest

聪

cōng

(literary) acute (of hearing)

明

ming

bright

，

,

反

fǎn

contrary

算

suàn

to regard as

了

le

(completed action marker)

卿

qīng

high ranking official (old)

卿

qīng

high ranking official (old)

性

xìng

nature

命

mìng

life