Once upon a time there lived a young man who worked as a small servant for a rich merchant family. As the merchant was kind and the young man’s mother lived nearby, the merchant allowed his servant to return home every day in the evening.

This young man was named Gu Yao. His family of two was poor and lived in a small house. In the evening, after leaving his master’s house, he would buy two steamed buns as dinner for himself and his elderly mother.

One day, however, he saw a dirty man in rags squatting by the roadside. Feeling sorry for him, Gu Yao went up to him and offered one of his two buns.

“Uncle, if you are hungry, please take this and eat it,” said Gu Yao. Then he felt a little shy. “I would also offer you the other one, but it’s for my mother.”

The man nodded and accepted the bun. Smiling, he offered Gu Yao a flat, empty pouch.

“This uncle has no use for such a thing anymore,” said the man, pushing the pouch into his hands. “Although it’s empty now, I hope you’ll find it useful in the future.”

Gu Yao thanked the man and hurried home to his mother. He gave her the remaining bun and told her he had already eaten earlier.

Gu Yao put the pouch aside and forgot about it. As the days passed and the New Year rolled by, his master gave him a day off and told him to spend it with his mother. This Lantern Festival the prince himself would be hosting a celebration in the centre of the city, and he had invited everyone in the capital to attend, both nobles and commoners alike.

When Gu Yao got home, he heard his mother sighing.

“What’s wrong, mother?” asked Gu Yao, concerned. Again, the old woman sighed.

“A-Yao, your mother wants to go and celebrate with the others, but if we went, we would only be an eyesore,” lamented his mother. “I would feel bad wounding the eyes of others.”

Gu Yao looked and he found that his mother was right. The two of them were very poor, so even their best robes were very faded and had some irreparable holes in them.

He thought and thought about a way to be able to take his mother to the capital, and was just about to give up when the pouch, which had been lying nearby and forgotten on an old shelf, started rattling and making loud noises.

Gu Yao was alarmed, as was the old lady. However, worried that an animal might have accidentally gotten trapped in it, Gu Yao went to inspect the pouch and opened it so that he could release the unfortunate creature.

When he opened the pouch, there wasn’t an animal in it. However, the pouch that had been previously looked empty now looked bulging and full. In it were some pieces of brightly coloured fabric.

With a belly full of curiosity, Gu Yao pulled out the pieces of fabric from the pouch. To his astonishment, they were not simply pieces of fabric at all, but two beautiful, flowing robes!

The old woman was overjoyed. Now they could go to the centre of the city and no longer worry about being an eyesore and pricking other people’s eyes. Pleased that his mother’s wishes had come true, Gu Yao helped his mother into hers and put on the other one.

How glamourous they looked! The robes were flowing and shining, and even in a place choked full of nobles, they didn’t lose out. Gu Yao had a gentle and handsome face, so he stood out even more among the other young masters.

The prince, who was there to greet everyone, immediately lost his heart. Because Gu Yao was considerate and kind to everyone, he fell even more in love as he observed the other from afar.

However, before the prince managed to pull away from the others and approach this charming stranger to ask him for his name, Gu Yao had already left because his mother’s legs were feeling tired. Sad but undeterred, the prince decided to go around the city and neighbouring counties to look for him.

Unfortunately, fate was fickle. He wasn’t able to find the young master he had fallen in love with even though he had visited every imperial and noble family. From the looks of his robes he must have been extraordinary. The prince’s family, friends and servants all comforted him and said it might have been a deity who had visited the mortals for a day. Despite that, he was still unable to give up.

One day, as the prince was riding down a hilly path, returning from yet another fruitless day of searching, the land gave way and became a landslide. He fell off his horse and hit his head, falling unconscious.

It so happened that Gu Yao, who was walking down that same path on an errand for his master to deliver something, spotted him. Frightened and hoping that the man was still alive, he rushed to the scene and pulled him out of the mud.

The injured man’s pulse was weak. Filled with terror, Gu Yao got up and was prepared to run off to seek help when the pouch he had carried with him began to make loud, rattling noises. Immediately he opened the bag and pulled out some life-saving medicine and pills.

He pushed them into the man’s mouth, and the pulse started getting stronger. The mud-stained man seemed to breathe better too.

Unwilling to leave the injured man alone on the hilly path to be exposed to the elements, Gu Yao placed him on the horse and led it to slowly canter back to his house. When they arrived, he fetched some water for the horse to drink and brought the injured man indoors to help wipe him clean.

As he wiped the mud away, he was astonished to see that this man was none other than the prince himself!

Feeling the pleasantly cool, wet cloth touch his face, the prince woke up. At once he sat up with an exclamation and caught hold of Gu Yao’s hand.

“I’ve finally found you!”

The prince had immediately recognized the mysterious beauty he had fallen in love with during the Lantern Festival months ago. He was so happy he could not let go. It was only after he calmed down that he noticed the pouch by the young man’s side.

When he saw it, he gasped.

“Where did you get this?” asked the prince.

The pouch belonged to his imperial father, the Emperor. From this magical pouch, one could pull things that they needed or desired greatly out. It had been in the palace for the longest time, since his grandfather and great-grandfather’s days.

Gu Yao followed the prince’s gaze and saw that the prince was talking about the pouch. He smiled and brought it forward.

“I received it from an uncle by the roadside one day,” replied Gu Yao. “It was empty when I received it, but it’s a strange item indeed, in that it gets full sometimes and starts rattling on its own.”

The prince was speechless for a while, staring at it. At last he found the words to speak.

“This pouch belongs to my imperial father,” explained the prince. “I fear it might have been stolen and then given to you. I hope you can follow me back to the palace and return it to clear your name.”

Frightened to hear that he might have received a stolen item, Gu Yao immediately kowtowed to try to save his small life. Smiling, the prince made him stand up and stroked his hair.

“I’ll never let any harm befall you,” promised the prince. “After all, you have also saved my life. My imperial father is not partial and is a just person. Please feel at ease.”

Gu Yao got on the horse with the prince and the two made their way to the palace to have an audience with the Emperor. When he was brought forth and presented the pouch fearfully, much to the surprise of Gu Yao and the prince, the emperor began to laugh.

“You, rise,” said the Emperor. “Look at me carefully. My humble subject, could it be that so much time has passed that you can no longer recognize this uncle’s face?”

Startled, Gu Yao took a good look. Indeed, it was the same man he had met by the roadside that day!

Again, the Emperor laughed heartily. The Emperor had a peculiar hobby of dressing up in rags and dirtying his face before going out occasionally to mingle with the public incognito so he could see how his subjects were doing. It was how he managed to assess actual situations and help all relevant parties. This was also when he had met Gu Yao, who had taken the opportunity to approach the old man. Usually, people would avoid him or leave him alone as he was ragged and dirty.

Since the Emperor was not a person of much need or great desire, having many riches in his life and also a wholesome family, the pouch was never filled and therefore no use to him. Therefore, he had decided to give it to someone kind who would likely need it. With Gu Yao’s gentle and kind temperament, the Emperor was very certain that it would be put to good use.

And indeed it was! The pouch had been used to save his son’s life.

“A pouch like that is barely enough to reward you for saving my beloved son from tragedy,” said the Emperor. “Far from being afraid, you should be honoured with more.”

Then he sneakily nudged his son and whispered, “Isn’t this the ‘deity’ who had vanished from before?”

Unable to refute his imperial father’s words, the prince could only shyly smile and nod.

“Then it is decided,” announced the Emperor. “Subject Gu Yao, I hereby declare that from today onwards you will live with the prince in his palace. You will also receive cases of gold and riches, and a few estates besides. I hope that you’ll accept this reward.”

The prince was delighted. He looked at Gu Yao, who also looked back and smiled warmly. The two were a very matching pair.

The next day, Gu Yao and his mother moved out of their old house and said goodbye to the merchant to live with the prince. In a palace with several courtyards filled with pomegranates and peonies, the three lived happily ever after.